
James Mirtle
Jul 30, 2008 May 26, 2012 5409 4094
Originally from Kamloops, B.C., James is a sportswriter for The Globe and Mail in Toronto. He is also a senior editor with McKeen's Hockey magazine and the former manager of hockey blogs at SB Nation.
His blog was voted one of the top three sports blogs in 2006, 2007 and 2008 in the Canadian Blog Awards.
website: Leafs Beat
email:
a fan of
Toronto Blue Jays
Kamloops Blazers
Canada
RSSUser Blog
Tale of the Tape
My crazy in-depth breakdown of the Blackhawks and Flyers and what I think each team needs to do to win the Cup.
Mirtle Mailbag No. 1
Editor's Note: Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Mirtle Mailbag here at Pension Plan Puppets. Thanks to everyone that sent in questions. If you don't see yours answered it's because there were so many to choose from. Definitely keep trying when the call for questions goes out again. You can read James' writing at the Globe and Mail as well as on the Globe on Hockey blog where you can find the features that you loved like the Playoff Push. The easiest way to track his writing is through his eponymous blog which has been resurrected. Without further ado:
1. Given the Leafs/Sharks game on Monday, Bobby Orr being in town (Kaberle/Setoguchi), SJ reputedly wanting to move Ryan Clowe and us having Alexei Ponikarovsky ready to go, can you envision a huge multi-player deal here, and if so, what would you do/like to see?- Kidkawartha
What, you want more?
I do think we're going to see more deals made by the Leafs, but I doubt they'll be "huge" ones unless something shifts with Kaberle. (Then again, who saw the Phaneuf deal coming?) Alexei Ponikarovsky and Lee Stempniak either need new contracts or to be moved out, and I think the organization's leaning toward letting them go.
I think they should move Kaberle, but it doesn't have to necessarily be by the deadline. Maybe he fetches more in the off-season when there are more teams in the mix?
The Leafs appear to pretty much have their top five on the blueline figured out at this point (Phaneuf, Beauchemin, Schenn, Komisarek, Gunnarsson) and with Kaberle's minutes down into the 17, 18 minute range lately, I don't see him as an integral piece going forward. Yes, he's produced points, but I can't help but look at his QCMP and GA/60 at even strength and think it's time to move his salary for some help up front.
Bosh wins race to 50k Twitter followers
Chris Bosh beats out Charlie Villanueva in the race to 50,000 Twitter followers at about 3 a.m. ET. No word yet on what fate awaits Charlie V., but Bosh sure wanted to win this thing.
Here's a couple of his triumphant Tweets:
"50,000 WE DID IT!!!!!!!! BOSH TWITTER ARMY WE DID IT!!!!! I LOVE YALLL!!!! WE WINNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RETWEEEEEEEET"
"IF IT WERENT FOR ALL MY TWITTER BOSH ARMY WE COULDNT DO THIS! WE WIN, NOW WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE CHARLIE V AS IN MY NEXT VIDEO?"
"I will personally challenge anyone who wants to get to rid of fighting to a fight."
Canes Country joins SBN
I'm very excited to announce that Canes Country has joined SB Nation, giving this network one of the best sites on the web for all things Hurricanes. Bubba and Cory are terrific bloggers and will be a big part of what we're building going forward.
Welcome to the group guys!
Canes Country joins SBN
I'm very excited to announce that Canes Country has joined SB Nation, giving this network one of the best sites on the web for all things Hurricanes. Bubba and Cory are terrific bloggers and will be a big part of what we're building going forward.
Welcome to the group guys!
Introducing Stanley Cup of Chowder
I'm pleased to introduce Stanley Cup of Chowder, which launched early this morning as our new Bruins blog. Evan did a great job over at his blogspot site and will give us some excellent coverage of the best team in the Eastern Conference heading into the postseason.
Also helping out with our Bruins coverage will be James Murphy, an accomplished broadcaster and writer from Inside Hockey, NHL.com and other publications.
Welcome Evan and James. Glad to have you onboard.
Introducing Defending Big D
SBN Hockey is proud to introduce our newest addition to the roster, Brandon Worley, who will be bloggin' on the Stars at Defending Big D. Brandon comes by way of Blogging the Boys, where he's been a big contributer to the Dallas Cowboys site.
Please welcome our new Thrashers blog!
I'm pleased to announce that The Falconer and his new site, Bird Watchers Anonymous, the latest version of Do The Thrashers Have Large Talons?, have joined our merry crew here at SBN.
Matt's an excellent writer and has been producing some great Thrashers coverage for years now. Atlanta's the 18th NHL team represented at SBN Hockey, with three more soon to come.
St. Louis Game Time joins SBN
I'm pleased to announce on behalf of SBN that St. Louis Game Time for Blues fans has joined SB Nation.
Sean Gallagher and his crew do an excellent job covering all things Blues and are an excellent addition to our group. Please welcome them aboard.
Seventeen hockey blogs and counting.
Battle of California joins SBN
Please welcome the sensation that is BoC as the latest addition to SBN Hockey
Five For Howling joins SBN
Please welcome Travis and our new Phoenix Coyotes blog to the network as SBN Hockey continues to expand into the sunbelt :-)
The NHL by nationality
Fifty-two per cent of the NHL is Canadian born, followed by 19.9 per cent American, 6.9 per cent Czech, 5.9 per cent Swedish and 4.4 per cent Finnish.
Japers' Rink joins SBN
More fun from our corner of the blogosphere.
I'm very excited to announce the relaunch of Japers' Rink under the SB Nation banner, as J.P. has signed on to join as the blog of the Washington Capitals. Needless to say, this is big, big news for SBN Hockey.
Over the past three-plus years, Japers' Rink has been the top team-specific hockey blog out there and will be a big part of what we're building in the NHL wing going forward.
Welcome J.P.
SB Nation Launches Devils Blog
SBN Hockey announcement: We now have a Devils blog on the network in the form of John Fischer's In Lou We Trust. John did a great job over at his former home on Blogger and gives us 11 hockey blogs and counting.
Go bug him about Martin Brodeur.
Gilmour to coach Kingston
The Kingston Frontenacs are expected to name Doug Gilmour as head coach at a press conference today. Reports say Gilmour will replace Larry Mavety behind the bench.
The Frontenacs have five wins in 23 games and are last place in the Ontario Hockey League.
From The Rink
PPP Update: Here is the TSN report, Duane Rollins at Out of Left Field just woke up Neate Sager to get him on the case, and Two Belefears was where I saw it first.
Andrew Bucholtz takes a look at the local coverage of the move and the interesting tidbit that Killer had a cameo in Slap Shot 3: The Junior League. No word yet on whether the Frontenacs will be able to bring their f*cking toys with them on the road.
Neate Sager posts his thoughts and they are pretty much in line with what I had expected. Dougie! is stepping into an extremely difficult situation. All we can do is hope for the best.
BoC trade deadline roundup
| Anaheim Acquired | Gave up |
| G - JEAN-SEBASTIEN AUBIN | F - BRANDON BOCHENSKI |
| D - MARC-ANDRE BERGERON | RW - BRANDON SEGAL |
| D - JAY LEACH | 3RD ROUND PICK |
| FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS | 7TH ROUND PICK |
| 7TH ROUND PICK | |
| Los Angeles Acquired | Gave up |
| 2ND ROUND PICK | G - JEAN-SEBASTIEN AUBIN |
| 4TH ROUND PICK | D - BRAD STUART |
| 7TH ROUND PICK | |
| San Jose Acquired | Gave up |
| D - BRIAN CAMPBELL | F - STEVE BERNIER |
| 7TH ROUND PICK | 2008 1ST ROUND PICK |
| 7TH ROUND PICK | D - ROB DAVISON |
Still going strong...
And that's a good thing. (I think.)
In the meantime, let's allow the Sharks fans to lick their wounds in peace and head off to recruit someone we can all poke fun of: a Kings fan.
(As an aside, this blog's been up for a good 10 days so far and already has had about 2,000 visitors. I'd say that's a success considering I was the only one reading my site when it started.)
Playing the odds
Well, with the Anaheim Ducks advancing, Tyler at mc79hockey.com says there's a 68 per cent chance San Jose will join them in Round 3. Colby Cosh's big spreadsheet puts the odds at 61.9 per cent.
A win tonight over the Oilers, and that jumps considerably. A loss, and we're back into that muddled 50/50 range.
It's really, literally, all up to the Sharks now.
In the beginning...
Now taking applications for the BoC editions of Matt (South: Anaheim) and Sacamano (North: San Jose).
That's right boys, you're being (potentially) replaced.
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