RLD has reached its final stop

After four-plus years of the site’s existence, today marks the end of the Red Light District Hockey blog.

I never hoped this day would come.  And at the same time, I never thought RLD Hockey would live to see this day.

When I started this blog in 2008 I was a senior in high school looking for a place to share my thoughts and predictions on the NHL and game of hockey.  I thought I’d keep it for a month or two.  Upwards of 3,500 posts later, here we are…

At no point did I ever believe RLD Hockey would become what it is today.  In June of 2010, RLD Hockey was credentialed for the NHL Awards in Las Vegas, the first of five league-wide events (including the last two Winter Classics) I was fortunate enough to cover for the site.  On top of that, the site was credentialed by the Nashville Predators for the past two seasons.  As a result to that access I gained with the Predators, I started a team-centric site called Smashville 24/7.

Throughout the course of this past season, I found myself enjoying covering the Predators more than the daily grind of RLD Hockey.  Running two sites at once on a daily basis became a hassle, which is the main reason why RLD Hockey is closing up shop today.

From this point forward I will be focusing full-time on the Predators at Smashville 24/7 and a new role at Sportsnet, which will allow me more free time to enjoy the game of hockey (and other things) instead of writing about it non-stop.

Over the last two years, I was lucky enough to be able to add some talented writers to the staff here at RLD Hockey.  I would like to thank each and every one of them for helping keep RLD Hockey afloat until now:

Christian Arnold

Tab Bamford

Dan Berlin

Carolyn Christians

Anthony Curatolo

Patrick Hoffman

Brian Huddle

Alexander Monaghan

Jackson Oakes

Michael Perkins

Bryan Reynolds

Christina Roberts

Erika Schnure

Michael Smith

David Strehle

Chris Tremulis

Chris Wassel

Bill Whitehead

There are also a few people I’d like to individually thank:

Patrick Hoffman & Alexander Monaghan… When either things got hectic for me at Smashville 24/7 or when I was on vacation, these two did all of the behind-the-scenes work to keep this site going.  I can’t thank them enough.

Buddy Oakes… Buddy, from Preds On The Glass, didn’t write one word for RLD over the years, but he was an inspiration.  He convinced me to join Twitter to branch out in social media.  He also convinced me to keep at it when I wanted to give up blogging altogether.  Buddy and I also co-hosted over 70 shows on our podcast, ‘RLD Hockey Talk’.

NHL / Predators PR… Thanks to the NHL and Nashville Predators PR for not only believing in RLD Hockey, but bloggers as a whole.  They have both embraced bloggers/online media, and they helped this site grow into a bigger entity.

Chris Wassel… In the early days when 5-10 people came to the site every day, Chris was one of the handful of people that visited RLD Hockey.  He endlessly promoted the site pre-social media and is a big reason why I even kept it going after a few months.

It was a fun ride, but now it’s time for RLD Hockey to come to an end.  Thanks to our readers, thanks to everyone for your hard work, and we’ll see you around the NHL blogosphere soon enough!

Sincerely,

Ryan Porth

Managing Editor and Founder, RLD Hockey

Kings’ stunning postseason won’t be forgotten

Hours after the Kings won their 16th game of these playoffs, forward Anze Kopitar, in the midst of the euphoria, tweeted: “Top of the world!!!!!”

Indeed.

Morning Skate: June 12

The Morning After:

Yesterday’s results:

Kings 6, Devils 1

Kings capture their first Stanley Cup

The saying goes that there is a first time for everything.

Tonight, the Los Angeles Kings won their first Stanley Cup in franchise history by defeating the New Jersey Devils by a score of 6-1 in Game 6 to take the series 4-2.

Stuart's intangibles could fill much needed role in San Jose

“When we signed Rob Blake, we wanted Rob Blake to be Rob Blake. We didn’t need him to be a mentor or a king for all the young princes. We needed him to be Rob Blake. That’s all we wanted.”- Todd McLellan


Two years and two days ago, the San Jose Sharks lost veteran Rob Blake to retirement. Blake played a bulky role on the team's blue line, and his absence left a gaping hole.

Although the Sharks replaced Blake statistically-- they maintained a solid goals against average over the last two seasons-- they missed icing a legitimate minute-eating, two-way defender. However, GM Doug Wilson recently took strides in filling that gap by acquiring the rights to impending unrestricted free agent Brad Stuart.

Morning Skate: June 11

New Jersey Devils @ Los Angeles Kings

Stanley Cup Final, Game 6

8:00 ET… TV: NBC, CBC

Devils halfway to historic comeback

In retrospect the NHL probably should have stuck with its’ old Stanley Cup Final campaign, “history will be made,” because the New Jersey Devils are on the verge of doing just that.

Morning Skate: June 10

The Morning After:

Yesterday’s results:

Devils 2, Kings 1

Devils win Game 5, make it a series

There were a lot of ‘firsts’ that came from tonight’s 2-1 Game 5 win for the New Jersey Devils.  Most importantly, for the first time this postseason the Kings looked outside of their element and have watched the Devils inch back into the series.

Saturday Faceoff: Biggest playoff disappointment?

It has certainly been a weird postseason.  Not only are a No. 6 and 8 seed battling in the Stanley Cup Final – first time in current playoff format two non-division winners have met in the Final – but there have been a lot of teams and individuals that have disappointed along the way.  Who has been the biggest disappointment this spring?  Tab and I debate…

Morning Skate: June 9

Los Angeles Kings @ New Jersey Devils

Stanley Cup Final, Game 5

8:00 ET… TV: NBC, CBC

Can Tambellini finish what he started?

This week, the Edmonton Oilers made a bold move and extended oft-criticized GM Steve Tambellini to a multi-year pact. Tambellini, hired almost four years ago as the successor to Oilers legend Kevin Lowe, has yet to prove himself as a league general manager, but his legacy is only beginning.

Scariest part of suddenly-dominant Kings

When the Los Angeles Kings take the ice Saturday night in Newark for Game 5, they have a chance to win their first ever Stanley Cup.  If they can’t wrap it up then, they’ll have two more cracks at it.  As a No. 8 seed, some may say the Kings are a fluke.  They aren’t – far from it.  In fact, this could be the start of something special for years to come.

Conn Smythe Trophy Watch

Through four games of the Stanley Cup Final, here are the top contenders for the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is given annually to the NHL’s postseason MVP.

A look at off-season defense market

Less than a month from today, the free agent frenzy will commence; it will be here before we know it!  Where will Ryan Suter land?  Who will ‘replace’ Nicklas Lidstrom in Detroit?  Here’s a quick look at the market for defensemen this summer…

Devils stave off elimination in Game 4

It wasn’t an overtime winner, but it sure felt like it.

Adam Henrique’s game-winning goal in the latter stages of Game 4 lifted the Devils to a 3-1 win that saved the team’s season and forced a Game 5 back in Newark on Saturday.

Morning Skate: June 7

The Morning After:

Yesterday’s results:

Devils 3, Kings 1