Then…depression set in. It’s all over until October, well, September when camp opens. Congratulations to the 2007 Champs, the Anaheim Ducks. I like this club for a couple of reasons. One being they honor the military history of the area by having various colors of the armed services on their uniforms. Notice the red stripe on the pants? Same blood stripe on the USMC Dress Blues. I dig it. Secondly, I like the Ducks because they love to fight in the regular season. Brian Burke gets my vote for GM of the year.

I thought the final series was a good one. All of the games, with the exception of the last one, were entertaining and there was a lot of emotion, and skill. I can’t believe there were no fights though. Back in the old days, no way Pronger gets away with the elbow on Dean McAmmond. If he tried that 10 years ago, Brain McGratton would have killed him. This day and age, McGratton doesn’t even dress. That is a discussion for another day. I have some notes on the series.

The Senators were a beaten bunch. They came out in game 5 totally flat, and despite a period of time in the second period when they controlled play, they were awful. They looked like a team that had already accepted the fact they were going to lose.

Jason Spezza is a baby. He needs to learn to play more of a team game. Sure he is a pure sniper, and a gifted goal scorer, but he is selfish, and needs to grow up.

Ryan Getzlaf is my Conn Smythe winner. S. Nieds was a weird choice I thought. This was a big coming out party for Getzy, and Andy McDonald too. Like I said abut Getzlaf. I saw him in the A last year and he was atrocious. He’s really picked up his game, and will soon be one of the best in the NHL.

The NHL is in trouble. From the horse racing incident to the fact about 5 people were watching the finals, not including, me and Killer, this league needs a shot in the arm. A resurgence like they had in the expansion era of the ‘90’s would be nice. To do that, they need to make some changes in the game I feel. I personally thought the playoffs were great, but I still think the game needs work.

I am depressed I only have baseball for the next couple of months. This sucks. See you in September.

Will they or won’t they? That is the question in Ottawa tonight, and around the hockey universe. What will happen tonight when Buffalo is in town? Will it be ugly? Or is it all hype? I have been warming up all day by watching brawls on Youtube. I apologize in advance to MOL if at our wedding I agree to take Youtube as my loving wife. To have and to hold. I loooooooove you Youtube. Anyway. This is what the NHL wants with the unbalanced schedule. A buzz about a divisional game. Even Crosby/Ovie didn’t have the hype this game does. Usually these games are all hype and no follow through. Lindy Ruff was fined 10K for putting out the goons the other night. I would suspect McGratton will be dressed for Ottawa. Should be good. I will be watching the Bruins, but checking in on Ottawa. Check back for updates. Killer. Call me.

Killer Called me. We just saw McGratton and Peters. Good scrap. I am topless.

UPDATE: This never got updated again last Saturday because I got plastered. Shocking.

Brian “Block Head” McGratton. I like it. Nice ring eh? Good tilt between Block Head and Erksine. I am planning on sticking with this one until the Whale take on the Oil at 9:30. Anyway, back to the fight. It started with Erksie hitting Block Head along the half boards, and the go. The two heavies traded some and they went down. After they got back up, Block Head took control of the tilt. He gives Erksie a few good rights, and then lowered the boom with a very hard right hand that definitely stunned Erksine and sent him to the ice. Win Block Head.

I’m not kidding, that boy’s head is like Sputnik. Do you think it hurts to hit him? I bet it hurts like a bastard. He’s a big boy, and can chuck em. Having a giant melon is another advantage over the other guys. This game could get ugly. Both teams have guys ready, willing and able to get down and dirty.

Domi is on TSN right now talking about Laraque wishing Ivanans good luck last week. He liked it, but said he never would have said anything like that. Especially to Probert. Probably a good idea. MOL is out. I will be here all night. I am going for the Jameson!

Happy Veterans Day everyone. If you are a Veteran, I would like to say thank you. If you know a Veteran, please be sure to call them and say thanks today. They do so much for us, and don’t get the kind of coverage in a positive light as they should. They are the world’s enforcers, and we all owe them a debt of gratitude.

The two fights in the Bruins game got me thinking about the rivalries the NHL is trying to start up again with the new schedule format. I like it, and it’s one of the only changes I do like.

The first tilt was the main event. Colton Orr (BOS) and Brian McGratton (OTT) got into it early in the first. Amazingly, these guys had never fought in Pro Hockey before. It was the right time to do it, as the Bruins were down one early. The fight was too close to call. Orr landed some really hard right hands to the huge mellon of McGratton, and Brian countered with some heavy rights of his own. McGratton showed some great technique giving Orr some quick lefts to the teeth while holding the Boston enforcers jersey. He showed some real savvy with that move, and it was distracting Orr from getting the scrap started again. This was a very long fight, and both guys were winded after the tilt. Orrsie playfully had his tongue out, and a smile on the way to the Sin Bin. No one can say he doesn’t like his job!

The second fight featured the worst player in the NHL, Hal Gill (BOS) and Chris Neil (OTT). This one happened near the end of the second period. Gill should have smoked the much smaller Neil, but instead got fed his lunch. As the bigger combatant the play should be to stand in there and throw as many hard punches to the other guy’s grille as possible. The smaller guy is trying to punch his way in. As the bigger guy, it is your job to not let him in. Instead Gill does the Sean Curry hang on to the other guy’s jersey and get my head as far away as possible from the punches being thrown at me routine. It’s a great way to get knocked the fuck out Hal. Next time, throw a punch. Pussy.

What I liked about the two fights is, first off, they were fights. Secondly, the first one was a guy trying to get his club going after a flat start. Plus, it was the two toughest kids on the block, and they just had to go. The second fight was a rematch from when Havlat kicked Gill in Ottawa during the first meeting. If you remember the game, after Gill got kicked, he pushed Havlat. Neil came to Havlat’s defense and went after Gill. Hal Gill, being the worst player in the NHL and all, fell down before they could really get going.

This is what the NHL wants in the new era of rivalry based scheduling. Games in October that have emotion. The next time these teams play, I will remember the two fights, and the Boston loss, and I am only a fan. The boys in the room are going to have it on their minds even more, and that will cause emotion, and hopefully some more fights. At the very least Orr and McGratton are tied, and need a rubber match for supremacy, eh?

The Ref has been putting off mentioning Domi’s Saturday night defeat at the fists of Brian McGratton for a reason. As we all know, denial is not just a river in Windsor. Is my man finally over the hill? Has Domi decided to take a back seat to Belak? Am I rattling off useless hypothetical questions like it’s my job in addition to referring to myself in the third-person like a pompous pad-sniffer?

The answers to all of these questions are open to interpretation (except maybe the last one), but GoonBlog feels that Saturday’s incident, and elements of Domi’s season thus far in general, are no reason to count him out just yet. You win some, and you lose some. And there’s no refuting Domi’s place in the hearts and minds of his fellow thumpers.

Tie’s introduction to the NHL was as an enforcer, but over time he evolved into an aware player who can rack up goals right alongside the KO’s.

"Tie Domi is kind of a role model for guys who play this role… He’s a huge part of the team. I respect a guy like Domi because he came into the league as a tough guy and has made himself into a player who contributes. That’s what we’re all trying to accomplish. You can’t just fight and expect to stay in the game." - Andrew Peters.

Kids who start playing the game at a young age, but outgrow their peers due to genetics and see their roles change, don’t always have to choose between aspiring to being either a goon or a Gretzky. And that fact is going to be increasingly more relevant in the perceived New NHL where the brutality is taking a backseat. Oh we still need the size and the strength, but you’ll have to be a well-rounded producer to boot. It’s simple evolution, like it or not. And the future holds a lot more guys like Tie.

And let’s remember - that was a pretty disrespectful taunt by the sinister Senator. To the entire Leaf team. I didn’t see anybody else get off the bench to answer the call.