news/notes

Taking a much-needed break this week - I'll be on board for the finals starting on Monday night, and I'll have a quick preview up by that afternoon.

I'm glad I stuck with game 6 the other night, as the last 10 minutes were riveting to see whether Detroit could pull out that last tying goal.

Potentially the biggest news today though is that Research In Motion's Jim Balsillie has reached an agreement to purchase the Nashville Predators:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie might get his NHL team after all.

The co-CEO of Waterloo, Ont.-based Blackberry makers Research in Motion Ltd., has reached a tentative agreement to buy the Nashville Predators, a source close the negotiations confirmed to the Canadian Press on Wednesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The deal would have to be investigated and approved by the NHL's board of governors before it became official.

Despite the inevitable protests from the offices of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres, the Niagara Frontier is very likely to have a new team within a year or two and that should be an absolutely fantastic thing for hockey and the NHL. I only hope the league finds a way to put the team into the Northeast Division, making the Leafs/Sabres/? (St. Pats? Fincups? Blackberries? - no I'm kidding, please no.) develop a fantastic 3-team regional rivalry.

Edits:

with thanks to James Mirtle, RIM recently (and quietly) made a land purchase in Cambridge, about an hour west of Toronto via the 401.

here's some excellent perspective from Stephen Brunt at the Globe and Mail.