It was a typical weekend at the Paul. Friday featured a fairly listless performance by the beloved Lockmonsters. They dropped what could only be described as a snorer to BST, bringing the season total to 0-8 against BST, getting only one point in 8 contests. Pathetic. Sunday was a bit of a different story.
The Hartford WolfPack were in town for a Sunday afternoon tilt. These two teams have some very bad blood between them going back to last season. Also, anytime Joe Rullier is around, something is bound to happen. Maybe it’s because he’s a little nuts? The AHL went with a two referee system for the game. Two poor referees as it were. I was convinced I liked the AHL better than the NHL for a reason. I had a theory, and until now, I hadn’t shared, but here it is: It’s the single referee system. One set of eyes allows for a ton of stuff to be let go. Two sets, and they see freaking everything. This game was no different. It was, drop the puck, and the parade to the box begins. Scoring may be up in the NHL, but no one seems to mention, 5 on 5 hockey is down. I for one, think it stinks, and I don’t like it. These two zebras called everything. That includes calling Mikko Viitanen for a roughing penalty when he was standing at the blue line during a scrum behind the net. Um, Mr. St. Pierre, do you mean 23, John Morlang? No? Fair enough. Did I mention they called everything? Well, they did, except the elbow Joe Rullier threw at David Gove.
I couldn’t really see what happened, as it was all the way at the other end of the ice. Rullier and Gove were fighting for the puck behind the goal, and the next thing you know, Gove was down and out. And I mean OUT. I am not sure if he knows where he is as of today. It was clear he had his bell rung real badly. Once they got him off the ice, they lined up for the face off, and I saw Lowell’s Andrew Ladd begin to back up, and drop his gloves. It was right in front of the Lowell Bench, and as it was far away from me, I couldn’t really see who he was squared off with. As Ladd moved right, I could see he was engaged with Hartford’s Joe Rullier.
I regard Rullier as one of the most underrated fighters in the A. I have posted to that effect on a few occasions. He has very quick hands, and due to the fact he is a little crazy, he really enjoys fighting. I had heard Ladd could defend himself a bit, and I know he had a fight earlier in the year. As has been typical of the Monsters this season, it was on the road, so I missed it. I was eager to see what the kid could do, and he didn’t disappoint. Both guys threw some very hard right hands. Rullier got young Ladd pinned up against the dasher and was unloading some very quick rights. Ladd pushed him off, and tagged hem with a strong right hand. Rullier countered with three quick right of his own, and Ladd came back with another hard right. The boys on the ice got in my way, so I missed the finish, but it ended with Rullier having Ladd up against the glass again. The stripes got in, and Rullier and Ladd were taken to the box to thunderous applause. A great scrap. I love when guys stick up for teammates, and Ladd did very well in the go. I call the fight a draw, as did some other Judges at ring side. I heard when they were in the boxes, Rullier was yelling over at Ladd in broken English, "Hey, why don’t you take off your bucket like me? Don’t be a pussy." That is the stuff I love about enforcers. This guy gets in a great scrap, and he’s pissed the other guy didn’t take off his helmet. Then again, Rullier is a little off.
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