The NHL free agency period has been open for 11 days now, and there has been some movement by teams looking to get tougher or stay tough that I have found interesting. Sure there are some serious players left unsigned, but I’d rather know where Derek Boogaard is playing over some guy named Kovulchuk any day. This was a big season for UFA tough guys, and so far, I have not been surprised or disappointed by the movement of these tough guys to date. I have been particularly excited by the moves in the Eastern Conference. Let’s take a look at how the rosters are shaping up.

In a nod to recently passed Bob Probert, I think it fitting the Atlantic Division be renamed the Bob Probert Division. Here is the breakdown by team. New additions are bold.

NJ-PL3, David Clarkson
PITT-Eric Godard, Mike Rupp
PHI- Jody Shelley
NYR- Derek Boogaard, Brandon Prust
NYI- Trevor Gillies, Zenon Konopka

Gee whiz – that is a lot of goonery. The Rangers and Islanders already don’t like each other, and those four names up there are not going to help the civility at all. Gillies probably wants a giant piece of the Boogeyman after Boogaard scrambled Trevor’s eggs in his first NHL game way back when Gillies was Anaheim property. I am sure those guys will tangle at least once. I am excited Jody Shelley is staying east too. I enjoyed his work with Columbus back in the day, but couldn’t follow him as much when he was dealt to the Sharks. Same with Derek Boogaard. It’s going to be awesome having him on the East Coast, and with Brandon Prust in New York as well, I will follow them closely. Prust is an exciting, scrappy middleweight that will fight up a division. He and Boston’s Shawn Thornton should match up well should Thornton not want a piece of the Boogeyman. The Islanders were one of my favorite clubs to watch last season on Center Ice, and looking at this division now, I will have them slated night in and night out as my Center Ice team.

One of Bob Probert’s biggest rivals, or at least a guy he fought a lot, was Craig Berube. I have renamed the Northeast Division the Craig Berube Division. Some good tough guys here and a message to Buffalo, and Montreal. Add some toughness. Quick.

OTT- Matt Carkner, Chris Neil
BOS- Shawn Thornton, Jeremy Reich
TOR- Colton Orr, Jay Rosehill

Boston welcomes back Jeremy Reich! The REEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIICHEEEEERRRR! Love it. He brings nice energy and a veteran presence to the dressing room in Providence if he goes down. Colton Orr and Matt Carkner had a well documented rivalry last season that shows no signs of slowing this season. Jay Rosehill had a great tilt with PL3 last season, and is a very big guy. Chris Neil might feel he owes Boston’s Milan Lucic one as well, but after the beating Lucic gave him last year, he may not want to go there. Speaking of Lucic and not wanting to go somewhere, I think he owes Colton Orr one after the fight he had last year. You remember the scarp? It was the one where Don Cherry was in the house and accused Lucic of “quitting.” I think Boston wins the division on team toughness on paper right now, but Toronto has it based on enforcer tough. Colton Orr, in my opinion is the reigning heavyweight champ in the NHL right now. I’m interested to see if anyone can take the belt this season.

The Southeast Division will be renamed the Andre Nazarov Division. They need to get tougher if they want to hang with the true heavies, but have enough experience to win some every now and then.

ATL- Eric Boulton, Ben Eager
CAR- Tim Gleason
TBL- Mitch Fritz

Atlanta should dominate the division physically, as they have been reaping the rewards of the Chicago Blackhawks fire sale and have gotten better, and tougher. Carolina never really has a tough guy on the roster, but Tim Gleason can do the heavy lifting if needed. Mitch Fritz may be the worst skating NHLer ever.

So there’s the Eastern Conference right now. On paper it looks to be a very exciting, and fight filled season. I called Comcast, and not only are they not taking Center Ice deposits right now, they suggested I might want to calm the fuck down. Looking forward to a great season of goonery galore!

I hope everyone is having a very Happy 4th of July, and Happy (belated) Canada Day to all the Goonsqud in the Great White North. So far free agency has been open for a couple of days. What has developed has been a new GM putting his mark on a franchise, another two or three reasons to hate the Canadiens (as if any were needed); Boston fixed some problems on defense by not signing two guys, and a lot of tough guys switching uniforms. Let’s take them in order shall we?

One hour and thirteen minutes into free agency is exactly how long it took Toronto GM Brian Burke to make the Leafs a “Brian Burke” team. The Leafs are looking to get tougher, and they are doing so by adding Colton Orr for 4 years, at 1 million per season. Having Orr in the blue and white should make the six times Boston plays them next season watchable at least. Shawn Thornton of the Bruins was originally drafted by the Buds, and he’s on record having said he tries to play extra hard against Toronto to prove them wrong. I’m giddy. I’d stand upright now, but I don’t have a math book with me. A few hours after adding Colton Orr, Toronto signed defenseman Mike Komisarek. Komisarek, you will remember, is off Milan Lucic’s Christmas card list, after cross checking the burly winger at the end of game 4. It was a move out of frustration that he will certainly have to answer for when the 2009-10 season emerges from its summer off. The question is, after asking Milan to go in the very same game 4 he was obliged by a one punch to the mind administered by young Lucic after he asked Komisarek if he really wanted to do this, will he answer the bell that most certainly will toll for thee? Where the hell is my math book!?

Hal Gill is a Canadien. I will say it again. Hal Gill is a Canadien. Having Goonblog’s least favorite son don a Habs jersey should be enough to get the blood at a boil, and the hatred to a nice simmer, but those frog pussies go and add Scott Gomez via trade, and sign Brian Gionta. In the hockey pecking order of disliked teams, it goes, Montreal in first, New Jersey a close second. I don’t really need any more reasons to dislike the Habs, but I just gave myself three. Good luck in Montreal, Hal. You suck.

It looks like the organization might be willing to give Eddie Shore Winner Johnny Boychuk a legitimate shot to make the big club this season, as Steve Montador, and “Sheriff” Shane Hnidy were both allowed to sign elsewhere this past week. Both Boston blue liners played poorly in the playoffs, and essentially are the same exact player anyway, so both were allowed to leave. I like what Hnidy brings to the ice and the room from a leadership standpoint. He’s a cagy veteran that is willing to stand up for a teammate at anytime, and that’s my kind of player. Same with Monty. He dropped em a couple of times for the black and gold, but they need an upgrade on defense, so they are allowed to walk. I certainly wish both guys the best of luck this season in Minnesota, and Buffalo. This leaves Boston in need of at least one more defenseman. Could they still be trying to swing a trade for Kessel to TO for Kaberle? Stay tuned.

Finally, some tough guys are on the move. We spoke of Colton Orr trading in Ranger red, white, and blue, for the blue and white in TO; there have been some other notable goon signings. It looks as if Donald Brashear will be counted on to fill Orr’s spot in New York signing with the Rangers for 2 years at 1.4 million a year. Ian Lapierriere will be looking to stir it up in Philadelphia with Riley Cote for the next three seasons. That is one agitating pair there. Mike Rupp is the new Sheriff in Pittsburgh tasked with protecting Crosby and the like. He was allowed to walk after New Jersey signed PL3 earlier this off season. Speaking of filling roles, David “Crazy Eyes” Koci will be taking Lapierriere’s role in Colorado after singing on for 575K. He played for about half the league last year, so look for him to wind up elsewhere at the end of the year.

Finally, I’d be remiss if we didn’t say a good Goonblog farewell to “The Reicher” Jeremy Reich. Jeremy signed with the Islanders, and has a legitimate shot to crack their roster next season. Had it not been for Blake Wheeler coming out of nowhere this season, Reich could very well have been with Boston all season. He took the demotion like a man, and Captained the Baby Bruins to a very fine season indeed. Good luck Reicher, we’re pulling for ya!

It’s been a big hockey weekend so far. Last night Milan Lucic and I watched the Bruins game, and some of the Calgary game. Then Milan woke up at 7 AM, so I took her out for a walk (she was super good by the way) and came in the house to find Youngblood on On Demand. It had been years since I’d seen it, and as I was telling Dean Youngblood’s skating was done by Peter Zezel, and why we hated him, I did my normal morning routine of looking at box scores. I was pretty happy to see two “Old Time Hockey” games last night in the NHL.

The beloved Bruins and Thrashers had 4 fights in the 7-3 Boston win. What makes this all the more interesting is these two teams face off again tonight at The Garden. It started about 3 minutes in last night in Atlanta. Eric Boulton and Shawn Thornton got into it after the Bruins went up 1-0. They were talking about it off the opening draw but decided against it. After the early lead taken by the Bruins, Thornton obliged Boulton’s request to have a go. It was a pretty good scrap that I score as a draw. Boulton fought again later in the game, and I score it a win for Boston’s Milan Lucic. Zdeno Chara’s fight was fairly lame that I guess was a draw, although I am not 100% sure any punches were thrown. It was more of a wrestling match, and obviously Jack Edwards mentioned Z’s dad was a former wrestler. He’s the biggest homer ever, and I love it. The fourth fight was Shawn Thornton again having a go with Atlanta’s hulking Boris Valabik. Looking at the tale of the tape on this fight, Thornton has to get credit for giving up the huge size advantage to the massive Valabik. I was quite impressed with the big Slovak. He handled Thornton nicely, and it was a clear win for him.

Not to be outdone on the score sheet, New Jersey and the New York Rangers had a slug fest at the Rock last night. They had 4 dust ups themselves, across all weight classes. Round one was the heavyweight division with Colton Orr and Mike Rupp getting into it. I liked this fight, and I score it a win for Rupp. He threw and landed more than Orr did. The next fight was in the light heavyweight division featuring two former Lowell Devils teammates in New Jersey’s David Clarkson, and the Rangers Aaron Voros. This could be the fight of the night. A lot of punches trade by each guy. I score it a draw, but nominate it for fight of the night.

Next up we have Travis Zajac getting fed 3 hard rights from Dan Girardi after Girardi leveled him. High marks to Zajac for standing up for himself. Quick tip: Let someone else do your dirty work. Yikes that was ugly. The final tilt was Jamie Langenbrunner of New Jersey against Ryan Callahan. Not a bad scrap that I score a win for Callahan. He threw and landed more.

So, we had two games, and 8 fights between them. These are classic examples of why I love fighting. Look at the Bruins and Atlanta first. There isn’t much of a rivalry there, and why would there be? They are not in the same division, and haven’t ever had a reason to dislike each other…until maybe last night. The Thrashers were sending a message to Boston: “you may be beating us on the ice, but we are not taking it lying down.” I love games like that, and it’s a big reason why I love fighting in hockey. I would not be surprised if these two have a fight off the hop in the Garden tonight.

Then there are the Devils, and Rangers. This is a classic natural rivalry game that got out of hand on the scoreboard, and frustrations were reflected on the penalty sheet. These two clubs don’t like each other, and when the score gets out of hand, this kind of thing happens. I for one love it, and it’s what makes hockey so unique. What happens in other sports when the score gets high? They can either let up on each other, or run up the score. In hockey, you have the element of having to stand up for winning or losing. The mentality being, “we are beating you on the scoreboard, now I’m sending you a message that we can beat you physically too.” Or, “ok, you are winning on the scoreboard, but I am not going down without a fight.” It’s a factor that makes hockey unique, and probably the least understood part of the game for non fans. Last night’s games are what we fans talk about when we say “Old Time Hockey” and I loved every second of it. So did Milan Lucic the dog. Here’s hoping Atlanta hasn’t forgotten last night yet, and will be looking to settle a score early tonight, and here’s hoping Boston is ready for it.