This just in, from the AP:
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Minnesota Wild hired a 24-year-old sports writer on Wednesday as director of hockey operations.
Chris Snow, who covers the Red Sox for the Boston Globe, covered the Wild for the Star Tribune of Minneapolis during the 2003-04 season.
This is a pretty stunning thing. There have been some broadcasters who have gone over to working for a team (Larry Dierker comes to mind), but I can't think of another case where a sportswriter has been hired to a key role running a pro sports franchise.
It will be interesting to see the reaction of the old hockey hands out there. If this were to happen in baseball -- for instance, if I had been hired as Director of Operations for the Yankees in 1997 -- the establishment would lose its mind.