Last week I wrote a little piece about Columbus signing Brandon Sugden (they also signed Darcy Verot by the by) and how I wasn’t exactly sure I would make the trip to Albany to see a Syracuse tilt. My contention was the Albany didn’t really have anyone to fight him and I wasn’t sure I wanted to drive that far to be let down. I said it was more of the same for Carolina. One tough guy, and how willing was he going to be to drop em. Well, I am a moron.

I was perusing the lineups of Carolina and Colorado yesterday. Obviously Carolina added Stephen Peat the other day, but I totally forgot they signed Jesse Boulerice earlier in the off season. I would imagine those two will have some battles in camp to decide who stays. While I love the signings, I have to question the motivation? Peat played four games I think for Lowell after he was traded. Boulerice was in the Press Box for most of his time with the Canes last season. Did the Canes see something in the Season and Playoffs with regards to toughness or lack thereof? Or, is this a move to keep the AHL Team tough? Sort of a break glass in case of emergency type thing? The Capitals added Donald Brashear to protect Ovechkin. Carolina has them 8 times next year, and has had some battles with them as of late. I know Boulerice asked to stay in Lowell when he was sent there because he likes Tom Rowe, and wanted to play, and I would assume that had a lot to do with him signing. In regards to Peat. He didn’t seem very pleased to be there last year. Granted he was hurt and all, but he walked around with a scowl on all the time. He was also by himself a lot. I only saw him with his Old Lady. I never saw him with any of the boys. I think he is going to fight extra hard to stay in the Show. I would suggest getting to a Scrimmage at Canes Camp if you are near there.

Let’s not forget about Albany’s other Parent Club, the Colorado Avalanche. They have Mitch Love, and Cody McLeod both on the roster. Mitch told me at the end of the year party for the Lockmonsters last season that he turned down a couple of guys because he was the only one doing the heavy lifting. Then by the time McLeod came along, Mitch was already hurt. McLeod did OK for himself. He’s young, and needs experience in the AHL, but I think he’ll be OK. He did very well in a game against Hartford when Joe Rullier and Martin Grenier were running him at every turn. As an aside, I thought it was pretty cowardly of both those guys. That was the game when Boulerice had been sent down, and neither one of them would go near him. At any rate, McLeod squared off with Rullier in that game, but Rullier got hit in the eye with a clearing attempt before they could get going. McLeod got his eggs scrambled in Albany by Barry Tallackson, but who doesn’t from time to time? I like the kid. I think he’ll be good.

So, with Albany possibly having Stephen Peat, Jesse Boulerice, Mitch Love, Bill Kinkel, and Cody McLeod in their line up, I have re thought my idea on driving out there to see them take on Syracuse, or anyone for that matter. Who’s coming with me?

The Goonsquad was well represented in Lowell Saturday night, as Dave (on his maiden voyage to the Paul) and myself were in the house for a thrilling 4-2 shootout win by the hometown Lockmonsters over the dreaded Wolf Pack of Hartford. I think Dave has some good pictures to post later. Naturally his camera didn’t work for the fights, but if you like pictures of Zambonis and stuff, he’s your guy.

I noticed very early on that Martin Grenier had a very big shiner under his left eye. I guess his bout with Danny Bios of Binghamton the night before was pretty serious. I also noticed he was wearing 27 this season. I am not sure why the number change. I think Brushback follows the Pack pretty closely, maybe he can chime in. Anyway, it didn’t take new Lockmonster Ryan Jorde (LOW) long to find anyone to go with, as he and Martin Grenier (HFD) got into it 5 minutes into the opening stanza.

I think Marty gave the youngster a bit of a slash, and Jorde asked if he’d care to have a dust up. Grenier obliged, and off they went. Jorde hung in pretty good against Grenier. I was really surprised, as Marty is a much bigger man than him. Jorde was throwing a lot of nice left hands, while Grenier was countering with some rights of his own. He landed a couple of really hard punches as Jorde was seen sporting a mouse under his left eye for the rest of the game. The fight had started along the boards right next to the Monster’s bench, and Jorde seemed to tire a lot faster than Grenier. The penalty box attendant for the home side reported that when Jorde came in, he reported he had broken his shoulder last season, and this was his first fight in over a year. He also reported that he was only doing his job, and that’s what he was there for. That is good to hear for us Lowell fans, as they haven’t had a true enforcer, someone who really enjoyed the job, since Trevor Gillies was there several seasons ago. All in all, I would score the fight a win for Martin Grenier, but a good showing by Jorde gets points in my book. I would look for these two to go again next meeting.

Anyone that has followed the AHL for the last couple of seasons knows very well that Hartford and Lowell do not like each other. The bad blood between the two boiled over about 8 minutes into the second period. As the play stopped, a little scrum started to the right of the Hartford goal. It started like any typical after the play scrum, face washes, guys pushing each other. I am sure you have seen it a million times. Here’s the thing: it didn’t stop. The boys just kept pushing each other, and then some gloves came off, and punches got thrown from around other guys. Eventually Dave Liffiton (HFD) and another Lockmonster newcomer Tomas Slovak (LOW) paired up, and Mitch Love (LOW) and Craig Weller (HFD) squared off as well. The Liffiton and Slovak match up looked like it was a lot of hugging, but Love and Weller seemed to be chucking and trading some decent punches. Love loves the uppercut, and tried to land a few, but it doesn’t look like he landed any. They traded two to three punches each, back and forth. Eventually, they got tired and the Zebras came in to separate them. I would say both fights were a draw, but I love line brawls like that. The only thing that would have made it better, would have been if the goalies got involved.

The last fight of the night happened in the third period when Bruce Graham (HFD) and Cody McCormick (LOW) got into it along the dasher in the Hartford end. Graham had just leveled Ryan Jorde behind the Hartford goal, and Cody took exception to the hit. He jumped Graham, and they got into it hot and heavy. I really couldn’t see the fight from my vantage point, but a friend at ringside scored the fight a win for McCormick. From what I saw, it looked like he did in fact land more punches, but again, I really couldn’t see, so maybe I am being a homer.

I love the Hartford and Lowell rivalry. These guys clearly hate each other, and I find Marty Grenier awesome to watch. He is just a massive guy, and is always in the middle of everything. Dave really enjoyed himself, and may or may not be getting season tickets as we speak. Also, big ups to Dave for donating the Best of Will Ferrell video for our troops overseas. This update is coming two days late because we went to a party after the game, where the GoonSquad almost had a go of their own. I will just say that there was a difference in political opinions in the room, and they almost came to a boil. Call it a scrum in the corner if you will. Dave accidentally got hungover, so we spent yesterday watching the Patriots and trying to drink the pain away. I hope eveyone had a good weekend. I am hoping for a Colton Orr tilt Thursday against Toronto. I would think he’d be a marked man after his tilt with Belak last time. Lowell has Albany on Wednesday. They had some bad blood last time, and I hope it continues. Any updates, can be found here. Take care all.