The Atlantic Division is going to look a lot different than in the past few seasons. Joe Rullier is gone to Manitoba. Martin Grenier is off to Philly. The Worcester Sharks are coming to town, and who knows what they’ll look like. In the six years since I have been following the AHL, I have never seen the Syracuse Crunch, but the news of Columbus re signing Brandon “Sugar” Sugden, has got me thinking about making a trip to Albany.

Here’s the problem. I have been there, and done that. Is it worth my time to drive all the way out to Albany in anticipation of Sugden and…..who? Bill Kinkel? Never seen him go, don’t know much about him. What I do know is I have seen many an enforcer sign with Lowell/Carolina and not drop the gloves. See: Dwyer, Gordie. Myhres, Brantt. Looking at what has gone on in Albany in the off season, it looks like it will be more of the same. Only one tough guy. How inclined is he going to be to hop over the boards if it is just him?

I am a bachelor for the next few days. MOL is off working, so it is up to me to drink all the Maker’s Mark. Order the Center Ice Package. Watch Deadwood. Enjoy some fight tapes. You know all the important stuff that keeps a house running. Um. Could someone do a wellness check on me tomorrow? Thanks.

My office blocked ESPN a while ago. I guess they want us to actually work or something. It’s total bull shit I realize. Anyway, since I can’t get on ESPN and read Sports Guy I catch up on the weekends. I came across this article, and I must say, I totally agree.

August sucks. It really does. The Sox blow right now. I went to the Patriots Pre Season game last night. It’s cool to go during pre season because the weather is usually real nice, and I could care less if they win or lose. The problem is it’s just not hockey.

There is no face washing in football. Nor Baseball. The speed isn’t there either. Very few fights. Nothing compares to hockey. With it’s unparralled speed, grace, and grit it is the best game on Earth, and I am really starting to miss it. I want to put it to a vote. Can we please just lose August from the calendar? Let’s go July to Training Camp. I took the liberty of renaming September “Training Camp”. I hope no one minds.

I went to get a coffee at 3 today with 3 ladies from my office. They were talking about girl stuff as I was trying to listen to Home Ice on XM. I caught the tail end of where Gordie Dwyer had been invited to Camp. I cranked up the radio to hear what I knew. Gordie spent the last two years in Lowell. His best season in the NHL was with Montreal where he scored six goals. Big whoop. Where was he going?

It was 3, and I had nothing to do. I called Tweener. Where was Gordie going? No idea. I looked everywhere, and I finally found the info. Gordie has been invited to attend Canucks Camp next month. I found it on a forum that was pretty critical of Dwyer, and of the whole Canucks’ organization for the signing. Apparently Gordie played Junior for new Canuck Bench Boss Alain Vigneault, and from what it looks like Vigneault wants to give him a shot. Plus with Wade Broobank gone, they need someone in Vancouver to do some heavy lifting.

I have said several times on this forum, there isn’t a more approachable person on Earth than a Pro Hockey player. Among the nicest, and most approachable, is Mr. Gordie Dwyer. Anytime you see Gordie he always stops and talks hockey, snowmobiling, or anything. He is a class act, and a guy I would love to see stick at the NHL level. I am not going to say if I think he will or won’t, or bash the Canucks for signing him or anything of that nature. I will say again, I hope Gordie makes it, and at the very least, I hope he can be successful if he is signed and sent down to Manitoba. From what I have seen of him in Lowell the past couple of years, he is a guy that still has a great passion for the game, and when healthy, plays full tilt.

I think the situation in Lowell was one where he didn’t want to be the only guy doing the heavy lifting. Hopefully for Canuck, and Moose fans, they get to see a rejuvenated Gordie Dwyer. Good luck Gordie. If you are still with the Canucks December 21, the Goonsquad will be at the Garden to cheer you on.

You take the good, you take the bad, take em both, and there you have. I got this news today. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great news, and like the song says, you take the good with the bad. I think it really ushers in a new era for the Bruins, but why can’t we just let the old guard ride off into the sunset? Hopefully Harry gets the same role as Tom Johnson, i.e., drinking and playing golf on the Cape.

Hello kids - Ref here to let you all know we’ve set up a GoonBlog MySpace profile. Now I know what some of you are thinking - “I’m not a 13 year old girl, so what the heck do I want with MySpace?” Since you asked, I’ll tell you. It’s the most popular of the social networking tools, and lots of real live celebrities and hockey players have their own profiles. As podcasts and interviews are going to be a focus for us in 2007, we figured we’d get on to the old bandwagon. So deal with it, buddies.

If you have a MySpace profile, please add us as a friend and we’ll do the same. There’s now a link to GoonBlog’s in the top left navigation menu. Come on - We’ll be your best friend…

The season is almost here boys. I have been putting on the foil, and I am ready to go. The Ref and I got pints last night, and came up with some beauty ideas for the site eh?

We are adding a countdown to opening night if we can figure out how the hell to add it.

We talked about doing a Podcast a month. The Ref comes from a nerdery so he got a little nerdy when explaining the popularity of podcasts, but it sounded like a cool idea.

We’d like to do some tough guy interviews. Here’s the tricky part. I have the ability to get close to some tough guys that I think would be willing to sit down with us and talk. Having said that, there are some guys I’d love to talk with that I have no idea how to contact. Anyone that could help steer us in the right direction, that would be cool for us and the site.

Finally. The T shirt update. These are coming. The Ref promised me last night they’d be ready for opening night. When we get them going, we’ll let you know. Hope everyone is having a great summer so far. Luckily, winter is just around the corner!