I trust everyone had a great Thanksgiving? It’s funny, my buddy JD called me Wednesday afternoon and said something to the effect of, “I liked this holiday more when it was a homecoming.” I couldn’t agree more. Back in the day, we’d start the Monday before, and wouldn’t stop until January 2nd. Then take the customary dry out until the Daytona 500. In my mind, there is no greater party night than the night before Thanksgiving. Since I haven’t had a drink in thirteen and a half months, and I’m 35 years old, the holiday is now about what it’s supposed to be about. Spending time with friends and family while reflecting on what one has to be thankful for. Pretty much the same as before, without having to excuse yourself from the dinner table because your profuse sweating and stale beer smell is upsetting Grandmother Charlotte. At any rate, however you spent the weekend; I hope it was a great holiday.

In the spirit of giving thanks, I would like to give thanks for hockey players like the newly recalled Matthew Corrente of the New Jersey Devils. Usually I loathe praising a Devil, as there is only one team for which I hold more contempt than New Jersey, but this kid Corrente is my kind of player. He’s had a few fights in the American League, and has been playing his game, so the call up is much deserved. Since his recall, he’s been eager to get in his first NHL fight, and he did so fighting Tim Jackman of the New York Islanders yesterday.

New Jersey had a 2-1 lead with a little over 4 minutes to play in the second when this tilt starts. I am not 100% sure what got it going because it was behind the play. I suspect it was Corrente recognizing a guy that would go was on the ice in Jackman, and Jackman knowing his role and the score obliged the rookie. It looks like Corrente lands some nice rights at the beginning of the scrap but as Jackman begins to get into the fight he starts pushing him against the glass. When he does so, he lands a very hard right hand right to Corrente’s eye socket. Um. That hurts. No other way to say it. Corrente keeps on his feet though, and tries to get some more in before the zebras get it separated. It looks like Corrente is talking after the fight. Probably just some thank yous and good go’s and so forth. In the end, I would call the fight a draw. Perhaps a slight advantage to Jackman for landing the really hard right, but Corrente showed up and got the first one out of the way without embarrassing himself.

Good on you Matt, keep up the good work. The NHL needs guys like this now more than ever. Fans, if you can sit through a Devils game, I suggest trying it. Ah, forget it, that just ain’t right. I’ll take the bullet for you here and let you know how the kid’s doing. Now you Goonblog readers all have something to be thankful for. You don’t have to watch the Devils.

What would you believe as a plausible answer for where I have been since my last post?
1. On a whirlwind hockey adventure in which I saw parts of 12 games?
2. Starring as Kenickie in a production of Grease on Ice?
3. Drunk in a bar?
4. Jail?
5. Getting drunk in a bar, after being released from Jail?

Which one was the least believable? Number 2? Yeah I thought so too. If you guessed number 1, you are absolutely correct.

Hockey Week in Acton has become as grand a tradition as Hockey Day in Canada. They usually coincide with each other as luck would have it. My Hockey Week in Acton began last Friday night in Lowell in which I saw kind of a weird fight, and finished up last night at the Hub of Hockey with a real “Old Time Hockey” type game against the Ducks. Truthfully, it’s still going on as MOL is out, Milan is chewing my shoe, and the Habs are losing 2-0 to the Flyers. For the sake of this post, it ended last night.

Friday February 20th: Hartford at Lowell.
You would think with Sean Avery in town there would be a buzz in the building eh? I guess you’d actually need people in the building for that. Avery behaved himself, and only took a 2 minute penalty for something. Hooking maybe? Either way, he seemed pretty content (Habs scored, 2-1 Philly. I hate both these teams) to just play some hockey, and ignore some pretty creative signs. My favorite was the one with Rachel Hunter (FUCK 2-2. Good time for a fight) and Elisha Cuthbert on both side, and the words, “Sorry Sean, these girls only date NHL players.” Pretty darn funny. PL3 did ask him to go once, but he ignored him like he wasn’t even there.

Speaking of fights (DAMMIT 3-2 Habs), there was kind of a weird fight in this game. After drilling Hartford’s Brodie Dupont, Lowell’s Matthew Corrente was engaged with Hartford’s Jared Nightingale. The two dropped mitts and were about to square off when Dupont took decided he was going to do his own dirty work and fight his own battles. He dropped his gloves and went right after Corrente. Nightingale just kind of stood there and picked up his gloves as the other guys had at it. Very weird indeed. Not sure how Dupont didn’t get a third man in call, as Nightingale and Corrente were clearly engaged, but whatever. OK little scrap. I like Corrente a lot. He is afraid of no one, and is a good little hockey player to boot. I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the black and gold some day.

Hockey Day in Canada. Saturday February 21st. Started with Pittsburgh at Philadelphia, ended with Nashville at St. Louis with stops in LA, Dallas, and Florida.

I saw most of the Penguins game, except I missed the fight. The third period of the Dallas game, all of the LA game, all of the Bruins game, and the third period in St. Louis. I missed the fight in Philly due to a lunch break and the fight in the LA game because Milan had to poop. MOL was sick and asleep on the couch, so I parked it and flipped around. It was a superb way to spend a Saturday. I heard a couple of “Edwardsisms” all around the NHL. Obviously they were all over the Bruins game, but I heard two “layers of defense” and a few “half boards.” I am forgetting one. George, help me out here.

Sunday February 21st. First period of Pittsburgh at Washington. Worcester at Lowell. Third period of Boston at Tampa Bay. Lowell lost in a game best described as zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and Boston sucked in Tampa. Mark Stuart got beaten so badly coming out of the corner on Tampa’s 4th goal, I’m not sure his jock strap made the trip back to Boston. I just missed Shawn Thornton’s fight with David Koci in between periods, and I saw the replay of Stuart’s tussle with Gary Roberts. Needless to say, after the Bruins trip, I was concerned about the game against Florida Tuesday night.

Monday February 22nd. San Jose at Dallas. I could only muster the first period of this one, as MOL was kind enough to pass her cold onto me, and Milan and I could barely keep out eyes open. At the first intermission I asked her if she wanted to go to bed. She barked twice for yes. Then we went to bed, and she decided to bark at shadows in the bedroom for 30 minutes. Not good times. She is cute, but like her daddy, not bright.

Tuesday February 24th. Florida at Boston. This one found George and me in the Hub of Hockey and Hungry for Hockey. Like I said, there was great concern heading into this one. Good thing for us, and all the Bruins faithful (by the way, still plenty of room on the bandwagon) at the Garden. We were all hoping for the team we saw in November and dreading seeing the one we saw as of late. Luckily, they gave us the Marty McFly treatment and went back in time to the November club. Just a dominant performance by the boys, featuring a scrappy Nick Kobasew getting into it with Keith Ballard. He is playing like a man that doesn’t want to be dealt. The star of the evening was Byron Bitz. He chipped in 2 goals and had the 17,000 faithful chanting his name for the trick. They tried to give him a chance at it by putting him out on the ice at the end of the game, but it wasn’t to be. Still, Bitzy has played very well, and I expect great things from him in seasons to come. I have been very impressed with him and I hope he kicks the shit out of Huggy Bear tomorrow.

Wednesday February 25th. Lowell at Worcester. Yes, I willingly traveled to Worcester to see the Devils. What can I say? I’m sick. After some heavy apps. At Pizzeria Uno’s we settled into the DCU Center for what turned into a pretty interesting tilt. There were no fights on the night despite some serious chatter between PL3 and Worcester’s Brad Staubitz. Both clubs seemed pretty content to just play some hockey, and referee Terry Koharski seemed eager to get into his trusty green cooler of Bud Light as not a lot was called.

Thursday February 26th. Anaheim at Boston. George and I were back at the Hub of Hockey, and obviously, Hungry for Hockey. 4 dogs, some cookies and 2 sodas. Not a bad haul. Anyway, the Bruins are back baby! Notice to the rest of the NHL: if attempting to intimidate the Boston Bruins, I might suggest a different strategy. I love the Ducks aggressive strategy, but I love it even more when the Bruins respond. It was a rough and tumble affair the featured 2 fights and one Marc Savard taking matters into his own hands in self defense. Oh, plus a 6-0 bloodletting by the hometown team.

It all got started at 8:20 of the second period. After watching Princeton grad, former teammate, and resident tough guy, Yanni, er, George Parros flatten Marc Savard; Shawn Thornton went right over the boards despite it not being his shift to make big George pay for what he’d done. Thorts hopped over, and went right after Parros. They dropped mitts and had at it. Thornton did pretty well trying to get inside on the bigger Parros to take away the drastic reach advantage. It looked like a couple of shots were landed to the license plate on Parros, and Thornton got the takedown. (No points scored, and in MY NHL, would be an extra penalty for Thornton. The crowd loved it however, so I’ll move on.) Kudos to Thornton for doing his job, and reason number 7829 why I enjoy him so much.

The fireworks continued at the 14:49 mark. There was a little battle for the puck in front of Anaheim’s goal, when Mike Brown decided to cross check Milan Lucic (not my dog. That would be crazy) and then sucker punch Gino. Naturally, Milan went right after Brown, and pummeled him down to the ice. Normally, I take issue with a fighter continuing to throw punches when the other combatant is down, but when you jump someone like Brownie did, all bets are off. Sheldon Brookbank got the gate for being the third man in whilst trying to remove Lucic from his teammate by force. Then everyone, except the Captain of the Bruins, came in to get in on the action. I will never understand why Chara feels the need to stay on the periphery of such events…I guess I should stop expecting him to jump in on stuff like that, but in my mind, they should still be trying to separate him and Brookbank. Alas, the dust up was cleared. Gino went to his box in obvious pain, and anger, screaming at Brown the whole way. Brookbank was shown the door, and play resumed.

It resumed, but it wasn’t long until Scott Niedermayer and Marc Savard were involved in a little tussle. While standing at the far blueline, Niedermayer took it upon himself to plant 3-4 cross checks on the small of Savvy’s back. Having just about enough of that behavior, Savard decided to do something about it. He engaged Niedermayer and both dropped the gloves. It doesn’t look like either guy threw any punches, or the old fart took Savvy down, landing on him. Both were given roughing minors, and Savard did not return. If I may, NIEDERMAYER! DEAD! I really can’t explain how cross I will be if Savard is out for an extended period of time. If Niedermayer is traded back to New Jersey as per one of the rumors I’ve heard, someone on the Bruins better go after him when they return to town next month.

So, there it is. Despite learning all of Kinickie’s songs, and dance moves, I have been on a hockey binge that continues with a very good Flyers game right now, and will continue with the Blackhawks when this one is over. Then to Vancouver for the Tampa Bay matchup at 10. Really, does it get any better than spring hockey?

Thank you to everyone for the comments on my last post. It’s good to know people are still reading the blog. As such, I thought this was a good time to introduce one of my favorite new enforcers. If I may borrow Dave’s Don Cherry impersonation for a moment (Happy 75th Grapes) gotta tell ya. I like this Matt Clackson.

Matt was in Lowell last week with the Philadelphia Phantoms, and had a decent scrap with Pierre-Luc LeBlond in the first period. It looks as if both guys threw and landed a couple of nice punches. I don’t think PLLL liked him throwing the couple he did after they went down. The five minutes Clackson spent in the box wasn’t his only time there either. He got four minutes later for getting put in a head lock by Lowell’s Barry Tallackson and defending himself, then the slew foot on Lowell defenseman Anssi Salmela (called a hook) got him another two. After 54 games played, he has203 PIM, and is second in the league to San Antonio’s Francis Lessard.

What I like about him, is he seems to relish being the pest, and tough guy. I was close enough to him when he was in the box that I could see him smiling at PLLL every time he looked over. I also had a chance to speak with him, and was asking about who the toughest guys in the league were. He told me they were all tough, but did single out Brandon Sugden as one of the toughest he’s fought. When I asked him if he ever fought my other new favorite enforcer, Lowell Devil Matthew Corrente, he said he hadn’t because he likes to fight the bigger guys because it’s more fun that way. This is a very sick man, and I for one love it. I enclosed the Lowell fight from the other night, but do yourself a favor and YouTube the name Matt Clackson. Matt, should you read this blog, e-mail me your address and I’ll send you a T shirt. More importantly, keep up the good work, and don’t forget to stay goony.