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.

This is for you Dave: Heres to Clara Huges, Cindy Klassen and Kristina Groves for bring home medals on the ICE. Yes I was the person watching on Saturday night with my friend Smirnoff. Hats off to the Candian Women for the gold!

I would like all of you out there to sing the theme from "Welcome Back Kotter" While reading this. Having said that let me explain a few things.

First off, my mother isn’t really blind. She had some eye surgery yesterday, and her vision is compromised. I have to help her around and give her eye drops. She is tough as nails, and will be ready for Camp this fall.

Second. My prolonged absence. I have been unbelievably busy at work, and haven’t been home much, therefore, I have not been able to write. Dave is right though, getting some New York Times press was inspirational, and I will try to write more. Who cares if my productivity drops off? MOL doesn’t have expensive taste in anything….are you picking up the sarcasm? I should hope so, because I am laying it on pretty thick. OK, it’s time to drop em again!

You may be asking yourself what I have been up to. Glad you asked. Like I said work has been nuts. It’s crazy what happens when you actually try. I did have a lovely trip to Bridgeport to see Lowell a couple weekends ago. If you remember an earlier post, Bridgeport, and Lowell had a near bench clearing brawl some time ago started by Smart Mouth Keith Aucoin. Well, I was going to be in The Nutmeg State anyway to visit my brother, his wife, my niece Olivia, and future first rounder Nephew Thomas. The Monsters were playing Friday night, so I thought it would be cool to leave Mother and MOL with my brother’s wife, and the kids, and we’d go off and do manly stuff. Everyone agreed my plan was good, a first actually, and it was set in motion.

Brother Dave rounded up some of the UConn Huskies, Scotty, Dave, and Pat. Brother Dave, Pat and I had dinner and beers at 5:30 at Joe’s. Scotty and Dave trickled in up until leaving at 7:30 for a 7:30 faceoff. Nothing ever happens in the first few minutes anyway right? Especially when Lowell is involved. So, we get in to the arena, get some beers, and get our seats. Right away, it was apparent this was not to be Lowell’s night. First off they suck, and they can not find a way to beat the Sound Tigers. The boys were wondering aloud and often how I could sit through 41 games a year of this poor hockey. I really had no answers. If you are a fan of dominating performances by one team over another, this was your game. Bridgeport KILLED Lowell. It wasn’t even as close as the 7-2 score. Jeff Hamilton scored a beauty for BST (tired of typing either Bridgeport, or Sound Tigers. They are now BST.) that is one of the best goals I have seen all year. He put a toe drag move on Chris Hajt, the worst player in the "A", think Hal Gill, only smaller. And Worse. And roofed a beautiful wrister labeled for the top shelf. Just a pretty play. Great hands. Great goal.

The highlight of the game for me, was the fight between Johnny Boychuck (LOW) and Ryan Caldwell (BST). It happened after BST’s 4th or 5th goal. I can’t remember. Maybe because of the 412 beers I drank that night, or maybe because it was two weeks ago. Anyway, Lowell changed goalies, and after the delay, Caldwell, and Boychuck dropped em right off the faceoff. I have been impressed with Boychuck at times this year, and others, wondered aloud if he was better suited as a plumber. If he hits you, he cleans you out. Often times he misses, and takes himself out of the play. While he likes to play physical, he doesn’t play mean enough. I think the fight with Caldwell was only his second of the year. When I got back into town, I spoke to Monsters radio voice, Ryan Johnson, and apparently Coach Rowe called him out to that effect. Well, Big Number 3 got the message. The puck dropped and the boys dropped the buckets. I was very impressed with Boychuck in the fight. He hung on to Caldwell a little, but was giving him quick jabs to the face while having a fist full of jersey. Caldwell for his part did well also. The boys traded a couple then held on some, switched hands, and traded a few more. It was a spirited fight on both sides. If I had to call it, I’d say win Boychuck, but I may be being a homer. Either way, JB got the message from the Coach, and tried to put some emotion into his teammates. Didn’t work. As they were announcing the fighting majors, BST scored again. So much for the emotion.

After the game, the Huskies and I went to another bar. The plan was to have a couple and call it a night. Yeah, that worked. We played the One More game until last call, told some old hockey stories, and had a lot of laughs. I was in a very bad way the next day. Including having to take myself out of the game for a nap as my niece made brownies because the smell of food was making me sick. All in all, I give the weekend a solid 9.5 out of 10. Minus points for hurling in my brother’s bathroom…..sorry bro.

I know you’re busy Chris. I know the ball and chain, bless her, is a demanding harpy who keeps you chained to the chipped cherrywood bedpost. But you’ve got to start writing more often. Your fans demand it - and they are indeed out there. No one was as surprised as I was when I checked the server logs last night.

Perhaps getting a shout out in the little known New York frigging Times is what you need to get the creative juices flowing again? If not, you’re a shell of a man who isn’t fit to write their own name. In purple crayon. The NYT site requires you to register, so I’ll quote the best part of Keith Gessen’s generous article for you here:

"In fact, the position hockey occupies within the sports world resembles nothing so much as the position literature occupies within the world of media. So what is needed now, for the sake of both hockey and literature, is more hockey literature. Not just books about hockey, like "The Game," but also books not about hockey, like "Amazons" — which is not about hockey in just the right way. It is like my favorite of the new hockey blogs, Goonblog, which purports to cover fighting in the N.H.L. but is, inadvertently, all about the inability of the site’s chief writer, who seems to live near Lowell, Mass., to actually catch a fight on TV. He drinks a little too much, for one thing, and sometimes his girlfriend makes him watch a Bernie Mac movie, but even when he does make it through a whole Bruins game, no one seems to be fighting. "Where is all the emotion?" he demanded earlier in the season. "I realize the fighting will be down because of the rules, but where are the scrums after the whistle? I have seen one good face wash, and I am not happy about it."

Get mad, you funny little bastard, and come back to the GoonBlog.

For those of you who thought "The Hammer" was dead and buried fear not, I was just on holiday.  I don’t know if it is watching hockey at 9 AM, or the bigger ice surface, but I have to sheepishly admit that (first I am not from Belgium) I like the Euro style hockey.  Fast action but not a lot of hitting - we need to find a happy meduim. Maybe make the AHL rinks bigger or show those Euro fruits how to drop the gloves.

By the way #25 still stinks and I don’t like him.

Call me crazy, but I think the Bruins are going to make a trade. I think it’s going to be Calder Cup winner, and confidence lacking goaltender, Andrew Raycroft. I realize I am not the first person to float this theory, but hear me out.

Boston traded Zdenek Blatny yesterday for goaltender Brian Eklund. My question is why? Blatny has spent time in the show with Boston this year, and seemed to be a decent prospect. The last thing Boston needs is another goalie. Thomas is carrying the load, and playing well. Hannu is back soon. Raycroft is the odd man out. Eklund was assigned to Providence, where he and Sigalet will share the duties. Isn’t that a sign that someone with the Big Club, isn’t going back to Providence. Let me ask you, if you have to make the decision today, who are you sending back? Rayzor or Thomas? I am sending Rayzor. Thomas has played better so far, and has earned a shot at staying in the show. The lockout has killed Rayzor’s career. I didn’t think he was ready for the NHL when he won the Calder Trophy, and was surprised by his play in his rookie campaign. His true colors might be showing.

If I am the Bruins GM, I am shopping Rayzor to anyone who will listen. Edmonton needs a goalie badly. Colorado has shown interest in solidifying the situation between the pipes. Rayzor, and Gill to Edmonton for Georges Laraque? Throw in a bag of used pucks?

Quick question. Does anyone know if Jesse Boulerice has reported to St. Louis? Since being traded from Carolina as part of the Doug Weight deal, he hasn’t dressed. I know he wasn’t skating much in Carolina, and it looks like more of the same in St. Louis. I’m getting a little worried.

Orrsie is back boys. The heavyweight tilt of the night so far just happened between Eric Godard (NYI) and Colton Orr (NYR). I don’t have any idea why Orr was out, but I do know this is his 4th game as a Ranger. Get the title now? I kill me. At any rate. I happened to flip over from the Bruins game. Downey is running around, stay tuned. Anyway, as I flipped over, Godard was going into the Rangers bench to get some one. Orr naturally took exception and they pushed and shoved their way to two minute roughing minors.

As soon as the minors ended, I hit record on the DVR. I shall get flowers for DVR for Valentine’s Day, oh and MOL. The two Heavies left the box and went right for each other. They dropped em right at center ice with Orr taking an early lead in the bout. Godard missed with two very heavy rights, and Orrsie countered with two of his own, landing both. Eric got Orr at arms length and lowered the boom a bit taking control, but Orr used his strength and got back in it. Orr clobbered Godard with a hard right, and Godard appeared to be stunned, as he turned his head to get away from the Big Ranger. Orr was trying to get back at him, and that’s when Godard scored the takedown. I score the fight a solid win for Orr. Godard was bloodied, and Orr showed no signs of wear. Godard did land a few hard ones of his own, and is always game to drop the mitts. I am sure these guys will be in each other’s ear for the rest of the tilt. The Bruins just went down 1-0 to the Habs. I have it set to DVR, so if Downey does get a taker, I will report back. Right now, watching the former Bruin Orr do his thing on the Island seems more interesting. Naturally, I will report back any happenings in either game.