Michael Russo: Russo leaves Star Tribune; to join The Athletic

[Lapa]

****.

Click to read more...

 

[Nsjohnson]

Wow. I just saw this on Facebook.


Very bittersweet day for all MN Wild fans (those who like Russo).


I have followed him for almost his entire tenure as the Wild's beat writer and I always appreciated his integrity and straight forward thoughts on the Wild, whether I agreed with him or not.

I wish him much success in the future. I wonder what his job offer is.

 

[gphr513]

Damn. Figured it was coming sooner rather than later. He's very talented, I'll miss him on our beat. Interested to see what his new opportunity is.

 

[DANOZ28]

i really liked him because he wasn't afraid to ask direct & hard questions to wild mgmt. i felt we got the best & most accurate info available. he'll be missed.

 

[Engebretson]

So, Jeremy Rutherford (Blues beat writer) left his paper last week and Russo had retweeted it at the time. I noticed that and thought they they were just good friends, but a part of me is wondering if they're not trying to do something like Craig Custance did when he started The Athletic with other hockey writers this year or even possibly joining him. The timing of it all just seems odd as training camp is right around the corner.

 

[Ban Hammered]

Sucks big time.

 

[rafterman]

Yup, probably The Athletic starting up a MN branch. I wonder who they'll poach for the other sports...

 

[Loopy0ne]

For me, he was the best sports writer in town as soon as he started. Hockey writing (obviously), but, overall as well.

Does this mean that he will be writing elsewhere about the Wild or just hockey in general?

****

 

[Caior89]

Woa!!

Thats definetely a big news. If i want to know what is happening with the wild the first place i go is his tweet.. cant process it right now. Wonder what is this new proposal and what/who he is going to cover.

 

[ThatGuy22]

I'd bet a decent sum of money he's joining the Athletic and they are opening a Twin Cities version. They always poach atleast one big name writer when they start up a new site, and they have a bigger hockey bend than most sports publications.

So in all likely hood, his coverage will remain. You'll just have to pay to read it now.

 

[MuckOG]

Not surprised. Someone as good as he is was bound to get a better opportunity....just hope he still gets to cover the Wild in some capacity.

 

[Uberdachen]

Bothers.

 

[Pastor Of Muppets]

Canucks fan here..just to chime in that Russo is one better hockey journalists out there...He is usually on the radio when the Wild come to town..and always has good insight to the game..

 

[tomgilbertfan]

Huge bummer.

 

[kfan22]

This sucks big time! Not many out there like him. Im probably more upset about this than I should be!

 

[BigT2002]

Didn't expect to see that! Wow. Wouldn't be surprised if he got a big name spot with NBC, NHL or even TSN.

EDIT: Looks like it is the Athletic. Wow.

 

[ThatGuy22]

If he was leaving the Wild beat all together his thank you statement would have included Fletcher, BB, Carly Peters, etc.

He's just changing the outlet he's going to be covering them for.

 

[Hall of Faber]

You'll just have to pay to read it now.

I wonder if twitter will start a subscriber based following plan because I feel very much up to date with the happenings just through twitter.

 

[Minnesnota]

He's joining The Athletic.

 

[Engebretson]

Didn't see that Aaron Portzline has already joined The Athletic as well. He, Russo and Jeremy Rutherford were always held in high regard amongst NHL beat writers.

Anyone have a link to Russo joining The Athletic?

 

[Avder]

Kind of figured he'd end up leaving sooner or later. He's too talented to not get poached by someone.

 

[FVM]

Holy ****. He's passed so many opportunities elsewhere I kinda assumed he'd be a Star Tribune lifer.

 

[kfan22]

KFAN said it is the Athletic and that he would still be covering the Wild? Not sure if that means full time?

 

[NHL1674]

KFAN said it is the Athletic and that he would still be covering the Wild? Not sure if that means full time?

God I hope so. Because every other journalist in this town sucks in terms of covering hockey. When he had days off and what's her face was covering for him, she'd tweet maybe one or two times during a game. She'd just go missing. No updates, no info, no personality. It was beyond pathetic. If he doesn't cover them, we're TRULY on our own.

 

[gphr513]

What is The Athletic, exactly?

From browsing their site, it looks like all the country's various sports pages mashed up into one.