james mirtle

It's the end of the blog as we know it Introducing From The Rink

2008-10-20T10:05:00.002-04:00

I'll certainly miss this place.After almost four years and 3,967 posts, this site is joining SB Nation and will be relocated to fromtherink.com for the foreseeable future. I'm taking on the title of manager of NHL blogs, with the goal of building up the site's small offering of hockey sites into a community of 30+ bloggers producing quality content for every team.So if you love blogging on the

The Mario-Boots relationship

2008-10-20T00:19:00.000-04:00

"We have talked about it. I think Mario feels similar to the way I do. We feel bad about the situation because we trusted Boots and got along very, very well with him. Mario is a very bright man. He was as shocked as I was when this whole thing happened."— Olympic hockey great Mike EruzioneAnother very good piece on the Del Biaggio situation from The Tennessean. Reporter Brad Schrade has done

The blog police

2008-10-19T20:09:00.003-04:00

If you missed the hullabaloo at Covered in Oil over the weekend, there are certainly quite a few places to check out the discussion.I liked what David Staples from the Edmonton Journal had to say, if only because he does a nice job incorporating the Oilers' perspective on things here:The issue of bloggers being treated as mainstream reporters is not a simple issue for the Oilers, or any

Quote o' the day

2008-10-18T16:02:00.003-04:00

"I don't know how many — 18,000, 19,000 here — and in Russia it's never like this. I was really excited and maybe a little bit nervous before the game. After warmup, I was OK."— Nikita FilatovConsider that one vote against the KHL.Filatov potted his first NHL goal last night against the Predators and looked like he was having a great time out there. He only played just more than nine minutes, but

Greene signs extension

2008-10-17T16:43:00.004-04:00

The Los Angeles Kings have signed defenseman Matt Greene to a five-year contact extension that will carry into the 2013-14 season, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.>> team releaseGreene's been getting quite a bit of ice time for the Kings so far this season and they're apparently happy with his play to this point.He came to the team along with Jarret Stoll in exchange

Melrose approaches Code Red

2008-10-17T15:03:00.003-04:00

Very funny post today over at Barry Melrose Rocks, where the blog's namesake is advised like so:So be warned, dear reader. You must proceed with caution if your name is Barry Melrose. But then again, Barry likes to throw caution to the wind. So maybe proceeding with caution is out of the question. Ah, hell with it. Let's take this thing head on. Bull by the horns. Stuff like that.It's getting

Mason has appendectomy

2008-10-17T13:33:00.002-04:00

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced today that goaltender Chris Mason underwent emergency appendectomy surgery on Thursday night. He is expected to miss approximately two weeks.>> team releaseEither Marek Schwarz or 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop will be called up to backup Manny Legace..

Calder race opens up as Stamkos sits

2008-10-17T00:41:00.005-04:00

Normally I wouldn't delve into something like the year-end awards this early into the season, but it's becoming crystal clear who probably isn't going to win the Calder Trophy this year.Steven Stamkos.Even against the Islanders on Thursday night, coach Barry Melrose parked his prized rookie at the end of the bench, where Stamkos twiddled his thumbs for all but 9:22 of a game that ended in

Savard out in Chicago Quenneville named coach

2008-10-16T13:59:00.008-04:00

The Chicago Blackhawks have named Joel Quenneville the 37th head coach in franchise history, replacing Denis Savard, who was relieved of his duties earlier on Thursday.“This was an extremely hard day for this organization and for me personally,” Blackhawks General Manager Dale Tallon said.>> team releaseYou wonder why they even let him coach four games.The Thrashers firing Bob Hartley six games

Goal and shot differential

2008-10-16T11:19:00.004-04:00

It's early, with Edmonton, Minnesota and Florida having only played two games, but here's a peek at goal and shot differentials for all 30 teams through the first week of the regular season: Team GP G/G GA/G Gdf Rk S/G SA/G Shdf Rk 1 BUF 3 3.67 1.00 2.67 1

Brunnstrom nets hat trick in debut

2008-10-15T22:59:00.012-04:00

Talk about quieting his critics.Fabian Brunnstrom didn't exactly light the NHL on fire in the preseason, scoring one goal, adding two assists and going minus-3 in six games, and the Stars stuck him in the press box for their first two games of the regular season. Down 0-1-1 and heading into a game against the Predators tonight, however, they deployed their secret weapon.Brunnstrom scored a hat

North Americans could avoid KHL Death raises questions about league's safety

2008-10-15T13:59:00.003-04:00

"Definitely, thinking about it now, they don't pay attention to a lot of the little things that are an everyday thing in the NHL. You always see an ambulance here. They might have been there, but I can see something like this happening. For a [Canadian] guy like me, you'd think about it a little it harder now if you're going to make that choice to get over there."— Jamie LundmarkBut [TSN analyst

Steen falls short in MP bid

2008-10-15T02:52:00.005-04:00

As former Winnipeg Jets go, Thomas Steen is way, way up there in terms of notoriety. He put up the second most points in franchise history (817) and is the only Swedish player to have his number retired.Given his popularity in the city, even all these years later, a career in politics makes sense.The former Jets captain ran for the Conservative Party in yesterday's federal election in the

Congratulations to the Kings

2008-10-15T01:34:00.005-04:00

You have to hand it to Los Angeles and new coach Terry Murray, who managed to pull out their first win of the season against Anaheim tonight despite icing a defence core that looked like so (with minutes played):Tom Preissing 23:56Sean O'Donnell 22:03Peter Harrold 17:55Matt Greene 16:06Denis Gauthier 15:56Drew Doughty 15:52Doughty apparently left this one with flu-like symptoms, which at this

Edmonton's crowded crease

2008-10-14T14:32:00.007-04:00

The Oilers, of course, will open the season with three goaltenders: Garon, Dwayne Roloson and Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers.Roloson and Garon are both in the final year of their contracts, while Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers is in the first year of a two-year, one-way deal. Drouin-Deslauriers has yet to play an NHL regular-season game, but did turn heads during the pre-season.— Edmonton JournalAside from

The Wings at the White House

2008-10-14T14:18:00.003-04:00

Kukla's Korner points us to a live streaming feed of Detroit's visit with George W. Bush today at 2:30 p.m. at the White House.Ty Conklin and Marian Hossa, who played for Pittsburgh during last year's finals, won't take part in the ceremony but plan on hanging around..

All eyes on the dollar

2008-10-14T01:10:00.003-04:00

The Canadian dollar has been going cuckoo lately, along with a lot of other things, and at one point on Friday afternoon was below 83 cents — its lowest point since the spring of 2005 when the NHL was still locked out.In the past two weeks, the dollar has dropped more than 10 cents. Heck, on Friday, it fell by 4.5 cents at one point, the first time in 47 years that it had decreased by more than

Cherepanov dies during KHL game

2008-10-13T16:06:00.009-04:00

New York Ranger prospect Alexei Cherepanov collapsed on the bench at or near the end of Omsk's Kontinental Hockey League game and died a short time later, he was 19.Omsk head coach, Wayne Fleming said Cherepanov collapsed on the bench during the third period of the game and did not see anything that happened on the ice that may have contributed to it.— TSN.caA horrible tragedy.Kukla's Korner,

The other Johnson goes down

2008-10-13T16:05:00.001-04:00

The Los Angeles Kings have placed defenseman Jack Johnson on the injured reserve list with a shoulder injury, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today. Johnson, 21, was injured in the first period of the Kings-San Jose Sharks game last night at STAPLES Center. He is expected to be out of action two to three months because of the injury.>> team releaseBad news for the Kings,

The Panthers' great ticket giveaway

2008-10-13T00:49:00.002-04:00

We've seen all sorts of wacky promotions in the NHL, especially from teams that have traditionally had trouble selling tickets, but this season in Florida, they're literally giving them away.All you need is a driver's license:The promotion advises that: "It may be your first game, but it won't be your last." The small print goes onto say that the invitation is "good one time only" and that the

No. 5 wins Anthem Challenge

2008-10-11T21:31:00.002-04:00

Canada, you have a new hockey anthem! Following an overwhelming response from Canadians coast-to-coast, Canadian Gold — composed by Colin Oberst — received the majority of votes in CBC'S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA Anthem Challenge final round of voting, and is Canada's new official hockey song. Don Cherry made the historic announcement tonight on CBC'S HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA, kicking off the first

Isles become front-runners for Tavares

2008-10-11T14:27:00.005-04:00

The New York Islanders received some unwanted news just one game into the new season as the team learned that goaltender Rick DiPietro has swelling and fluid around his surgically repaired left knee.DiPietro, who has been plagued by knee injuries throughout his career, underwent meniscus surgery in June and played in only one of the Islanders pre-season games.— TSN.caThe Islanders are playing

Kopitar gets seven-year extension

2008-10-11T14:00:00.006-04:00

Kings star Anze Kopitar has signed a great, big seven-year extension, a contract that will lock him up until 2015-16 when he will still be just 28 years old.Kopitar's still got a pretty low profile in the league, likely because of where he plays, but he's going to be a superstar in the NHL for a long, long time. Last season as a 20-year-old, he put up 32 goals and 77 points on a last-place team."

On the air

2008-10-11T07:53:00.001-04:00

Just a quick note that I'll be on the radio this afternoon for the Inside Hockey Radio Show, 2-4 p.m. on “NHL Home Ice” XM 204 and Sirius 208, The Team 990 in Montreal, and 1120 AM WBNW in Boston.A bit of a season preview, among other things..

Canucks extend Edler

2008-10-10T13:57:00.004-04:00

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike Gillis announced today that the club has signed defenceman Alex Edler to a four-year contract extension through the 2012-13 NHL season. Edler enters his third season as a Vancouver Canuck.“Alex is a gifted puck-moving defenceman who sees the ice extremely well for such a young player,” said Mike Gillis. “He has made great strides in his career and we look