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.

Mr. Excitement is the nick name of one of the guys on my team at work. We are aptly called, The Radiators, because we are bringing the heat! Mr. Excitement like a lot of things, chief among them, video games. Oh and eating contests. Now seems like a good time to mention, Mr. Excitement ate 18 donuts in an 8 hour work day. Doesn’t sound all that hard, but I assure you, it ain’t easy. Anyway, he’s been all over me about getting NHL ’09, caring not that I don’t have Xbox, or Playstation or whatever the hell systems you play these darn fool games on. After pestering me for days, I gave him the homework assignment of playing and reviewing NHL ’09 for the Goonblog readers that might play video games. In typical Radiator fashion, Mr. Excitement brought the heat. Nice works on this…now get back to work….

NHL 09 Review for Xbox 360

I’ve heard many people say that “Oh, sports games are stupid; it’s the same thing every year with just updated rosters.” These people have not tried NHL 09 yet. This game is simply amazing. What jumps to me about this game is the amount of depth this game has. There is your standard vs. play where you pick a team and play against another team. If this game just had this one feature, I’d still be happy with my purchase. Beyond the stellar graphics and true to life physics of the game, it’s just plain old FUN. The action is fast paced and there are tons of big hits in the game.

But the new addition to this years game is the “Be a Pro” mode. When you first start up the game you are prompted to create your player. Naturally I created myself to the best of my abilities, although I’ll admit that my created character is about 20 pounds lighter than my true self and twice as jacked. You are given the choice of your “player type” Your created character can be a playmaker, sniper, grinder, power forward, or a dangler. Or if you create a defensive player you have the option to be a offensive or defensive defender. Even your equipment is customizable; you can select the curve on your stick which affects how you shoot and the length of the blades on your skates which will affect your speed vs agility.

After spending oh, about an hour toying around with the create a player options, I decided to make myself be a sniper on the wing (because I am selfish and love to score goals). After everything was loaded up and ready to go, I decided to get together with some of my friends to test the new 6v6 online feature where everyone on the ice is controlled by another human, and yes, that includes the goalie.

At first we were unable to yield a full 6 to go on the ice because well, not all my friends are huge video game nerds. So we decided to join up on some random team with 15 dudes. Although I am not an advocate of making friends over Xbox Live, I felt this was necessary if I was going to get the full NHL online experience. So after playing a few games online, I’ve come to the realization of a few facts:

1. A lot of people are puck hogs
2. People are stupid.

The first fact shouldn’t be too shocking, I myself am guilty of it. Lots of times you’ll be streaking ahead of your teammate expecting a sweetly timed pass for you to crash to the net. What happens instead is that he holds the puck, while you drift offsides. The ensuing conversation usually happens a couple times a game:

“dude, fucking…stay on sides”
“fucking pass the puck you hog”
“fuck you”

Etc, etc, etc…

My 2nd realization is that yes, people are stupid. Don’t get me wrong, there are people who are out there who want to play a true game, with positioning and passing….and then sometimes you get into games where…..well hmm how do I describe this. It’s akin to 1st grade gym class soccer. The ball is kicked in one direction and you have about 15 kids running after it….you do run into those types of games here sometimes….you also get people who refuse to play any position other than offense….

“Yo let me play center”
“Nah, I’m playing center, be one of the defensemen or goalie”
“FUCK THAT, I’m quitting”

Needless to say, a lot of games starting with a full boat of players usually end with about…4-5 players total sticking around.

You occasionally run into absolute idiots that don’t even know the rules. Now myself, I have never played an organized game of hockey but I know enough of the basic rules to not make an ass of myself. What happened is that we were in a game, and we had a quick counter attack…as we passed the blue line ::Whistle:: Offsides…..WTF? Oh, there was a guy in the corner of the rink, blatantly offsides….No biggie, everyone makes mistakes, we play on. Not less than a minute later, we get another counter attack going. This same idiot is again blatantly offisides…my teammate, realizing this holds the puck in the neutral zone, waiting for the idiot to get onsides. But this guy just keeps….skating around, waiting for the pass. It got to the point where I was screamed into the mic, “GET THE FUCK ONSIDES.” This player soon realizes what he is doing, and then we play on……

Now onto the fighting system…The fighting in NHL09 is a fun little side game which you can basically do anytime. Basically you just press the slash button, and the whistle blows and theres this short cinematic scene where the two combatants circle each other while dropping their gloves. Basically there are three buttons: Grab, Punch, and Dodge. Fights, albeit fun are very short….you can usually knock (or be knocked out) in about 2-4 punches. In my “Be a pro” mode, I have already knocked out a few local AHL players, namely Olli Malmivaara of the Lowell Devils and Brad Staubitz of the Worcester Sharks…..twice!

Overall, playing this game can be summed up by this simple analogy: NHL 09 is a lot like sex…when it’s good, it’s fucking amazing. When it’s bad…well, it’s still pretty good.

I subscribe to the theory you never wear another man’s uniform, which is one reason why I don’t buy or wear team jerseys. One exception is my Syracuse Bulldogs sweater. Its part of a Halloween costume the year I went as Oglethorpe. I wore the jersey, and a giant afro wig. For about 15 minutes. Anyhow, having said that, the Carolina Hurricanes unveiled their third jersey today, and I gotta say its pretty fucking sweet. I might consider lifting my ban on wearing and buying another man’s uniform. I love the hockey stick flag pole, and how the emblem looks like its being blown by Hurricane force winds. Kudos to the all black deign too. Really sharp. Did you know the only other teams in the NHL to never have donned a third Jersey? New Jersey (obviously. That would be fun and God forbid Lou have any fun) and the Detroit Red Wings. It’s true. You can look it up. I think Boston was going to do another third this year. I saw a design of it on TV and it looked pretty snazzy too. Still, Carolina really captured the spirit of the thing here. Tell you guys what. Trevor Gillies makes the big club; I will get a third jersey with his number on it. I swear, I’m not mental.

MOL, George, and I went to Feng Shui for a very serious throw down, two Mai Tai’s and the division of Bruins tickets for the upcoming season. If you are in the Chelmsford area, I highly suggest stopping in. In fact, here is a quick ranking of my top 3 local Chinese restaurants.

1. Feng Shui. Chelmsford, MA. Try the General Gau’s shrimp, salt and pepper shrimp, and the house rice. Very strong Mai Tai. Nice buffet on weekends
2. Bamboo. Westford, MA. Johnny is the heat! Strong Mai Tai. Excellent shrimp tempura, salt and pepper pork, and lo mein. Excellent buffet as well.
3. Makaha Acton, MA. Excellent Pu Pu. Mai Tai strong enough to run your car on. Excellent Juke Box. If you’re looking for a dark place to get a Pu Pu and get loaded…this is it. No real redeeming qualities other than they let me drink in there when I was 16.

In keeping with the Public Service spirit, I thought it appropriate to let you know the games in which I have drawn. Reason being, if you are a faithful Goonblog reader, you might want to stop by and say hi, or if you are a faithful Goonblog reader you know what happens at these games when I go, so you might want to avoid being in the City of Boston all together. Should be a great season, and I am getting more pumped by the day. I can almost hear the roar of the Zamboni, OK, the propane whine, of the Zamboni!

I have 9 games on my own. I’ll probably need a date for 8 of them. MOL will go to opening night, and that’s about it for her. Maybe I’ll run a contest. Go to a Bruins game with a guy that is trying to disprove Dean Wormer’s fat, drunk, and stupid theory…..that’ll be cool.

George has 10 solo games. We were very surprised how easily the schedule was divided. It just kind of fell into place easily. No arguments at all. Sort of the opposite of MOL and me.

We will both be in the house for 20 games, and are giving away 2 games that neither one of us can attend. It looks like January is going to be a busy month of hockey for me. Between the Bruins, and the Lowell Devils, I will be at 15 hockey games. That’s a lot of hockey. This is going to be great. Breakdown is below.

My solo games in BOLD in case you want to enter my Fat Drunk and Stupid contest.

Oct. 20th. Opening night. Penguins. Probably MOL’s only appearance of the season. Come see her in all her glory.

Oct. 23rd. Maple Leafs. George wasn’t too happy about this one. He saw every Leafs Bruins tilt last year, and admitted the 10-1 or 10 something loss the Bruins took at the hands of Toronto was the only time he’s ever left a game early. Can’t blame him. I was there too, and I left early.

Nov. 1. Stars. Sean Avery is a shit disturber, and I love it.

Nov. 6th. Leafs. George couldn’t take it (seeing the Leafs again), so I took one for the team here.

Nov. 13th. Canadiens. Now way either one of us was missing the Habs, or Georges Laraque’s debut in the Garden as a Canadien. This one will be electric.

Nov. 28th. Islanders. I love the annual day after Thanksgiving game. Kinger and I had a blast two years ago. MOL might actually want to come to this one.

Dec. 8th. Lightning. I am interested in seeing Steve Stamkos.

Dec. 18th. Maple Leafs. See what I mean? George hates the Leafs.

Dec. 20th. Hurricanes. I am happy Tom Rowe has a job in the NHL. There are still a few faces left on this roster from the old Lockmoster days.

Jan. 1st. Penguins. MOL and I were going to Chicago, but decided a trip to Florida for a couple of Bruins games was probably a better idea. I can’t think of a better way to ring in the New Year than by watching the Bruins and Penguins slug it out. The last time I went to a game on New Year’s Day was against Philadelphia a few years ago. Dave, MOL and I went, and I assure you. It did not end well.

Jan. 3rd. Sabres. Not sure why I agreed to go to this game. I have an unexplained and unnatural hatred of the Buffalo Sabres. Not sure why.

Jan. 6th. Wild. Boogieman. That’s the reason I’m here.

Jan. 8th. Senators. This is going to be an interesting club this season. Eager to see how they react after all that has happened to them over the last season. Jason Spezza, when he wants to be, is a God.

Jan. 10th. Hurricanes. Love the Matinee.

Jan. 13th. Canadiens. Hopefully the bad blood is really boiling by now.

Jan. 27th. Capitals. If you have never seen Alex Ovechkin live, I highly suggest doing so. You can’t take your eyes off of him.

Jan. 31st. Rangers. Original Six matinee. Doesn’t get any better than that.

Feb. 10th. Sharks. Joe’s second trip as a Shark. His first one was short lived, but a great performance. If you remember, he got kicked out very early for “boarding” Hal Gill. Questionable call at best. I just don’t like Gill, so I was cheering wildly. Pretty sure the people in my section didn’t like it.

Feb. 24th. Panthers. What else is there to do on a Tuesday in February?

Feb. 26th. Ducks. George Parros and his awesome Porn ‘stache in the house. Can’t miss it.

Feb. 28th. Capitals. A matinee and the Caps?! I can’t lose!

Mar. 3rd. Flyers. Shawn Thornton and Riley Cote. I am looking forward to these guys having a go.

Mar. 5th. Coyotes. Probably my most anticipated game of the year. Todd Fedoruk, Brian McGratton, and Daniel Carcillo all on the same club? This could be my Center Ice West Coast team of the season.

Mar. 14th. Islanders. Nothing better to do.

Mar. 19th. Kings. This should be another interesting team. Revolving door in goal. Some decent talent in Dan Boyle, and Teddy Purcell possibly coming in. Very young on defense. Really could go either way.

Mar. 31st. Lightning. Barry Melrose will field a scrappy team. No doubt.

Apr. 2nd. Senators. We’ll know by this point if the Senators have put all their troubles behind them.

Apr. 4th. Rangers. Original Six matinee. Can’t miss it.

Apr. 14th. Canadiens. Great way to end the regular season.

So, there it is. I am really looking forward to this year. It should be awesome. I may need a good divorce lawyer after as that is a lot of hockey. I think MOL understands the psychosis by now though. Let’s get it on.