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?

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.

Sean Avery, and Steve Ott are punks. This is not breaking news. I wanted to get it out on the table. Last night was a bit of “Old Time Hockey” at the Boston Garden, and Steve Ott and Sean Avery were the chief punks on the Dallas Stars. As an aside, when did Ott turn into such a punk? I don’t remember him being the type of player I saw last night. Is it Avery’s influence that has turned him into a total punk?

Anyway, here is a great video recap of what happened in Boston last night. It was a bit of “Old Time Hockey”, but I can’t help but wonder. If this were “Old Time Hockey”, would it have taken as long as it did for the line brawl to erupt? Also, why is Krys Barch doing Steve Ott’s heavy lifting? I am thinking back in the old days after the slew foot by Ott at the end of the first on Petteri Nokelainen (not seen on this video) Ott would have had to answer the bell at the start of the second. He wouldn’t have been able to run and hide like a punk, instead, he’d have to fight like a man. Kudos to both Shawn Thornton and “Sheriff” Shane Hnidy for trying to get Ott to be accountable for his actions. It isn’t their fault he is a pussy.

I am very glad Andrew Ferrence laid Steve Ott out, and I am not surprised Sean Avery came to his defense. He’s a big man finally picking his spot to fight against Ferrence. Pussy. Go read some more Vogue. I am very proud of the way the Bruins all stood up for one another last night, and I am man enough to admit, I might have been wrong about this bunch.

After publicly calling out Milan Lucic, and the rest of the team, they responded by scorning a Hat Trick (Lucic) to win an uneven affair at home, and playing 8 superb periods (the 2nd in Calgary being the blemish) on the road. Last night’s game really can be the type that cements a dressing room. The boys all stood up for one another, and gave the home crowd something to cheer, and talk about. MOL and I were completely entertained, and agreed it was the best game we’d been to in years. So, I apologize to the black and gold. Keep up the good work boys.

I don’t get it. Seriously, if I am being a homer, please tell me. Shawn Thornton and Georges Laraque had a very spirited dust up the other night in Montreal. As an aside, I think we will see much more of this in the season upcoming. Anyway, I have now watched the fight probably 50 times. I am scoring it as a win for Thornton, hands down, but a lot of my fight friends and other fight websites have it as a draw or a win Laraque. WTF? Am I scoring improperly?

I give it to Thornton for the 5 very hard right hands he lands on Laraque. Big Georges gets a couple off after the takedown from Thornton at the beginning, but it doesn’t look like they land cleanly. Then Thornton gets in 4 hard rights, and executes a nice under-over move and lands his 5th hard right hand to Larague’s dome. That’s when they get tied up, and Laraque gets in about 7 shots to the license plate before, and while they are bent over the dasher. To me it also looks like Thornton gets in another shot while on the boards. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m a crazy person, but I have it scored a clear win for Boston’s Shawn Thornton. I have posted the scrap below, and I want comments. Seriously, if I’m being a homer and you think I’m wrong…let me know. If you’re with me on this, let me know. Either way, looks like this rivalry is back eh?

I have an expression of sadness after hearing the news of player coach, and Charlestown Chief Legend, Reggie Dunlop’s passing. I found out yesterday while at a wedding in Vermont. (Congratulations Kyle and Jill. Thank you so much for having MOL and I.) Slap Shot is my all time favorite movie, as I’m sure it is for a lot of Goonblog readers.

I have often wondered where Reg played before Charlestown. I assume he probably played Junior in Canada, and I bet he played 5 or 6 years in the NHL before bouncing around the American Hockey League, and then hung around in the lower minors until he retired from hockey after 2 seasons in Minnesota. From there, I saw him going behind the bench where his unique “tactics” were a real shot in the arm for fledgling franchises.

The old mind fuck probably worked only so long though, and I think Reg probably bounced around a bit before he and old Francine retired to Florida. Like Reg says in the bar when the sale to Florida seems eminent, “Hey, we’re really gonna miss you guys.” Right back at you Reggie.

Hockey is not just the national pastime and passion, it’s the embodiment of Canadian values. It’s about work ethic, team play, physical conditioning and mental toughness. It’s also about knowing when to leave all of that on the ice and move on. – Dave Burwick

A very happy Canada Day to you all from the shores of the Big Rideau Lake. Here is an appropriate picture that was taken on Saturday as I pulled the pontoon boat out of the lift and one of my new puppies stared at our big light up maple leaf in awe of her first boat ride and first Canada Day fireworks celebration (all the good stuff surrounding the holiday happened over the weekend).

If Chris gets his butt up here as he claims he’s planning to, we’ll dust off the mics, pick a couple of 2-4s up at the L.C. and then have us a rip-roaring summer podcast edition. Do I miss Boston? Definitely. Do I regret the move back to Canada? What do you think? I go to bed every night listening to loons singing and wake up 10 feet from one of the coolest and most historically important water systems in North America. I love this country and sincerely hope that Chris and M.O.L. make it up here so I can share my silly wildreness world with them. If you’re with me, leave him some encouraging comments – I trust it will be worth our reader’s while in terms of the silly content that would be produced as a result.

Can you spot the Canadian girl?

It’s an 8-9 hour drive, no big whoop. Leave at 8am and you’re here by 4pm. Mass Pike to NY Thruway to Syracuse, north on 81 to Gannanoque and you’re practically here. I regret having to resort to the blog to get you motivated, but I also hope you get brow-beaten by the Goons into submission. Haze, bully, namecall. Work with me on this one guys – I miss me some Chris!

TKO a longtime Goonblog reader, and member of the Boston Bruins 2008-2009 bandwagon (he was on at the end of this year but every time he watched they lost, so I made him stop) sent me a text last night during the second stanza of the Penguins game. It was simple, but totally summed up the game. It was one word: Scrappy.

Now, I love the word scrappy. Or, scrap. Or scrapping, as in, “Why should she care what anyone thinks about her? She’s just scrapping.” Scrappy Doo was a cartoon dog I could have done without, and had I been Uncle Scooby, I’d have kicked his little ass all the way around the world. The little fucker was always getting the gang into trouble. You think the rest of them took Scooby aside, and was all,”um, yeah. Scooby? About Scrappy. He can’t roll with us anymore. Scooby Dumb was one thing, but this guy is going to get us killed.” Scrappy is a great word, and I think it summed up the Flyers and Penguins game last night.

The “Cold War of the Keystone State” had been luke warm at best. Riley Cote is absent from the lineup, as is Steve Downie. There was a good Middleweight bout Sunday, but for the most part, it’s been pretty typical playoff hockey. I was sure these two teams were going to try to kill each other, as they, well, want to kill each other. To say there is a natural rivalry between these two is a bit like saying I need a brew after a month plus of not drinking. For those analogy impaired, it’s an understatement.

Philadelphia’s back was against a wall last night in a lose and break out the golf clubs kind of way, and they responded by playing a physical clog the neutral zone game. Pittsburgh did not play as well as they had, and despite a near comeback on the back of Jordan Stall, looked a little over matched. The end of the game was particularly nasty and even featured a good fight between grizzled veteran Derian Hatcher, and scrappy Ryan Malone. Mike Richards tried to stir the pot again with Sidney Crosby at the end of the game, but the two couldn’t really get going. If Philadelphia wants to keep playing hockey this spring, I might suggest inserting Riley Cote for Sunday, as someone has to answer for Richards going after Crosby, and playing a physical game from the start. Pittsburgh on the other hand, needs to forget last night ever happened, come in loose, and get ready for some home cooking in a building that has been very kind to them in this playoff year. They are 9-0 right now, and haven’t lost in 11 games on home ice going back to the regular season. Should be a dandy on Sunday. Let’s hope it’s scrappy!

Live from Goonblog HQ in Acton, MA! It’s the Canadiens and Flyers! Game three should be a dandy. MOL is at the germ factory, and I am at home enjoying my leftover chicken noodle soup from the Chang An in Concord. It’s delicious. Usually, it’s a little bland, but I doctored it with some salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes. It’s given it quite a zip. In past times when un-supervised, I would have been at the Gin Mill until it was time to report home and pretend I wasn’t holed up drinking for about 4 hours. Alas, I have given up the sauce, and that’s what brings me to tonight’s game.

The Habs series has a real old time hockey feel going to it, for a couple of reasons.
1. The Flyers are the dirtiest team ever. Always have been.
2. Tom Kostopoulos is a bitch, and threw a sucker punch at a Flyer the other night after the oft suspended team scored.

I do not like either of these teams at all. In fact, I hate them both. As a lifelong Bruins fan both has been a thorn in my side at one point or another. I guess if you made me pick who I want to win, I’d say Philadelphia, but honestly, I just want to see some rough old time playoff hockey. I think we may see that tonight in the “City of Brotherly Love.” It’s all tied up 1-1, and TK’s cheap shot has blood boiling. If I am the Flyers coach, I start Steve Downie, and if I am Montreal’s coach, Kostopoulos has to do his dirty work and have a go right off the hop tonight. If they don’t settle this like men right away, and I am a Flyer, I am running Saku Koivu and Alexi Kovalev all night. Both teams’ websites, here, and here, are hyping the bad blood. Hopefully everyone is all riled up. I’ll be here enjoying my soup and a few Pink Lemonades….stupid no drinking…..

Happy Birthday to Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe. The man with the sharpest elbows to ever play the game turns 80 today and Gonnblog is proud to wish him good health, and many more to come. This is a man that played hockey at the highest level until he was 52 years old. I will be in a home, drooling, and ranting about how I’ve never seen the Bruins win the Cup when I’m 52, and this guy was still playing hockey. Simply amazing. To celebrate the occasion, please enjoy the video of Boston Bruin 7th player award winner, Milan Lucic scoring a “Gordie Howe Hat Trick.” I love the fact that Milan got his first NHL goal in a game when he had an assist, and a wicked scrap. What a fitting tribute from a kid that is a Gordie Howe prototype, to pot his first goal like he did.

Meantime, things have been crazy over here at Goonblog HQ. We’ve had a lot to do MOL and me, and I haven’t been paying enough attention to this blog. I tell you what; this hockey season has been a great one so far. The beloved Bruins are keeping us entertained enough to keep watching and I think Jack Edwards may have a stroke on air this season.

For those of you not in New England, Jack Edwards is the NESN announcer, and to say he is a homer is an insult to homer announcers everywhere. This guy LOVES the Bruins, and he LOVES the fights, which makes him number one in my book. I can’t decide what I like better. Edwards going mental over a “bad” call or the fact that his partner, Andy Brickley, pays him zero mind when he gets fired up. I want the Bruins to win the cup this season for a couple of reasons, and one of them is to see just how emotional Jack Edwards gets when Zdeno Chara gets handed Lord Stanley’s Cup. Of course it won’t happen, but I can dream.

The first annual Hockey Week in Acton is over. I did four games in four nights, and watched another three on television. The highlight was obviously Saturday’s tilt against Washington. MOL, my brother and I were there for the old time hockey showing in Boston. I actually called it in Halftime Pizza that they would go right off the hop, and damn I am glad I was right. Lucic is now officially a God in Boston. Some other highlights and low lights of the week.

-The woman in Ray Bourque’s entourage in Lowell last Wednesday. I don’t know if it was Chris’s girlfriend, or his daughter, or who the hell she was, but she was easily one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Jaw droppingly hot.

-Seeing Trevor Gillies wearing the Captain “C” in Worcester Friday night. I don’t think anyone wanted a piece of him. Tom Rowe loves him, and it was cool to see.

-I still can’t get over how disrespectful the Toronto fans were during the National Anthem Thursday.

-Speaking of Thursday. That was the worst game of the week. Here they are in order. Worst to first.
Bruins vs. Toronto
Bruins vs. Washington (Monday)
Bruins vs. Florida
Bruins vs. New York
Albany vs. Worcester
Lowell vs. Hershey
Bruins vs. Washington (Saturday)
Bruins have a lot of games upcoming, and they look out of gas. If they make the playoffs, it’ll be one and done I feel. I am looking forward to the tilt Saturday against Philly. I’d give a lot to be there. Anyone that can hook me up, I’d give them a free Goonblog T-shirt? No?