Live from Goonblog HQ in Acton, MA! It’s the Canadiens and Flyers! Game three should be a dandy. MOL is at the germ factory, and I am at home enjoying my leftover chicken noodle soup from the Chang An in Concord. It’s delicious. Usually, it’s a little bland, but I doctored it with some salt, pepper, and some red pepper flakes. It’s given it quite a zip. In past times when un-supervised, I would have been at the Gin Mill until it was time to report home and pretend I wasn’t holed up drinking for about 4 hours. Alas, I have given up the sauce, and that’s what brings me to tonight’s game.

The Habs series has a real old time hockey feel going to it, for a couple of reasons.
1. The Flyers are the dirtiest team ever. Always have been.
2. Tom Kostopoulos is a bitch, and threw a sucker punch at a Flyer the other night after the oft suspended team scored.

I do not like either of these teams at all. In fact, I hate them both. As a lifelong Bruins fan both has been a thorn in my side at one point or another. I guess if you made me pick who I want to win, I’d say Philadelphia, but honestly, I just want to see some rough old time playoff hockey. I think we may see that tonight in the “City of Brotherly Love.” It’s all tied up 1-1, and TK’s cheap shot has blood boiling. If I am the Flyers coach, I start Steve Downie, and if I am Montreal’s coach, Kostopoulos has to do his dirty work and have a go right off the hop tonight. If they don’t settle this like men right away, and I am a Flyer, I am running Saku Koivu and Alexi Kovalev all night. Both teams’ websites, here, and here, are hyping the bad blood. Hopefully everyone is all riled up. I’ll be here enjoying my soup and a few Pink Lemonades….stupid no drinking…..

Here’s the idea I had. I think it’d be cool if Sunday evening before the late games start, I can do a Goonblog weekly wrap up. I’m thinking it can be some odds and ends stuff we on staff may have missed, or just some things on my mind. This week will be a little different because there aren’t any late games, but MOL is watching Desperate Housewives, so I pretty much have nothing better to do anyway.

The NHL regular season got underway with all the fanfare of a new Dunkin Donuts opening in Massachusetts. One day there was no Dunkin Donuts, the next, there was. They pop up so often around here no one notices anymore. My point being, the new season started and I bet if you asked 100 people, I’d say maybe 5 would know the season is underway. I have Center Ice once again, so I got Saturday’s game, and I found it to be a sloppy, Special Teams affair. I love the new NHL! Not. This just in NHL, in order to grow your product, you need to advertise, and make sure what you are selling doesn’t suck. Negative on both.

Saturday night I got my first live game of the season. MOL and I had a prior engagement. When our plans changed, I went to the Devils and Soundtigers pre season tilt in Lowell. It was a fairly decent game actually. We had decided we were not going to the Bruins on Sunday due to Thank You cards, and a visit with my mother, so I was especially happy to be in the building. There was even a fight which was a pretty good tilt. Does anyone know what is up with Gordie Dwyer and the Islanders? I saw he didn’t play today, or yesterday for them. I don’t think he played Friday night either. Was he released? Sent to Bridgeport? I didn’t see him in Lowell with the scratches, or on the ice. Any info would be appreciated.

Sunday I watched the “nationally televised” (if you can call VS. national) debut of NHL ’08. This game was equally sloppy, but at least we saw some even strength goals, and hey, there was even a fight. George Parros and Scott Thornton got into it in the second with the Ducks up big and Thornton trying to spark his Kings. Thornton I think won the battle, landing some very good punches. Parros landed a few of his own, and got the takedown, but I scored it for Thornton for more thrown and landed. Alas, the Ducks won the war winning 4-1. They are back on VS. Wednesday against the Red Wings, while the Kings are off until Saturday. I like the Kings. They have some young talent worth watching. They will be a West Coast favorite I feel. I also love the Ducks in your face style. I will keep tabs on them as well.

Finally we have the Steve “Don’t Call Me Gord” Downie issue. Frequent reader, poster, and Goonblog friend, Todd St. Louis sees it as a guy in the show trying to finish a check. I agree with him to a certain degree. Downie is a young guy trying to make a team, and to do so, he needs to finish checks. On the other hand, I feel he did a little more than finish a check there. He left his feet to do it, and hit a guy in the head hard enough to bounce him off the boards. I am 1000% sure he didn’t mean to hurt McAmmond, and has called to apologize, but it doesn’t change the fact he could have very seriously hurt Dean McAmmond.

Steve Downie has had a very rocky road to the NHL. The kid has a shit load of talent, and I see him as a Sean Avery type player. The type of guy that gets under your skin in a big way. Right now, he’s just trying to make the club and is doing whatever he thinks he needs to do to get on the NHL roster. When looking at it over and over, I think what he did was cheap, and is the wrong way to go about making the Team. There is finishing a check, and there is a cheap shot, and I think Downie laid a big cheap shot on Dean McAmmond. If and when he gets up to the NHL, I suggest he have his head on a swivel when facing the Senators. They will most assuredly be after this youngster.

So that’s the week that was. Off to the office tomorrow for my first day back in a week. I’m pumped. I hope you are picking up my sarcasm. Lots of games this week. Killer, bring the wings Friday for the Bruins, I got plenty of beer. We’ll need it for this edition of the Bruins.

Well folks - it’s official. Steve Downie is a goon. We first noticed Downie when he contributed to the World Juniors in 2006, and he was quickly labeled a future “character player” which is a polite way of saying that he’s a bit of a head case. Still, we welcomed him to the fray as his loose-cannon personality was consistently backed up by his on ice antics. The antics are entertaining until someone gets seriously hurt as has now happened several times. The latest incident occurred September 25th when Downie opened a can of creamed corn on Dean McAmmond of Ottawa, leaving him blacked out behind the net.

Bryan Murray made a few comments that hit home with me. He mentioned Downie had been “laughing after the hit” and that the “history of this young man” would play a role in how his punishment was handed down. That punishment, it was just announced, will see him suspended for 20 games. Let’s look at some of the facts of the case here, and then I’d like our readers to sound off.

Downie is going to spend a long time trying to live this down, and maybe it’s good that he’s having his hand slapped early. On the other hand, he was indeed trying to lay a hit on a player who had the puck - albeit a ferocious one. It’s kind of his job. So let us know where you stand, GoonSquad. Is 20 games too many or two few? Is NHL Corporate going to use this as a further tool to eradicate the physical play of the past? Is Downie’s considerable skill on the ice doomed to be overshadowed by his quick temper and rough style of play? Do you like movies about gladiators?

I’m up in Toronto for the holidays, or “Christmas” as many people still call it, and am hunkered down to watch Steve Downie and the boys battle it out with the Swedes this afternoon. So they blew a 2 goal lead on Friday - they probably just had visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, and not nearly enough visions of battering those Nordic bastards. It didn’t help that Steve got called twice for misconduct and Freddy Pettersson led the offense against Canada like a man possessed.

“I don’t know where he’s going to go in the draft, but someone will step up to take him and they’ll get a character player as soon as he puts their jersey on.” - HockeysFuture.com

Let’s talk about Steve some more. He’s an extremely physical player, as well as an amazing forward, and for this reason GoonBlog took an early shine to him. But if he wants to make untold millions in the NHL, and become a fan favorite, he’s going to have to reel it in a bit. Just a little bit. His edgy, skilled play stands out but he causes unnecessary headaches with officials which is going to hurt him in the near future as he hopefully succeeds in transitioning to the Flyers show. Keep your head on straight, buddy - you’ve got what it takes and then some.

You know you’ve established yourself when you start to get comment-spam. I’m deleting ‘em as quickly as I catch ‘em, people. It’s almost flattering though. And enough with the penis enlargement ads, you spamming bastards. Who the hell have you been talking to?

David and Goliath - Downie and Malkin. No relation to Gord, the Super-Pest helped Canada in their 5-0 pimp-slap of the Russians, as you may or may not know. I don’t watch a lot of World Junior Hockey. In fact, I’ve never watched any. But Downie’s performance, spunk and grit reeks of a little Goon in the making.

…Downie and Khudobin were chirping back and forth, an exchange that ended when Downie took his glove off and held up four fingers."He was saying something, I couldn’t understand him," said Downie. "I know it must have been good, so I just gave him the four-goal symbol. He didn’t say anything after that."

Technically he’s a promising star right winger - but Goon, as we like to bestow the title, can be about the ‘tude too. My Grandmother would call Downie, "cheeky", probably right before driving to his hometown of Newmarket for some gravestone rubbings. But regardless, if he were a little taller and heavier Steve would undoubtedly be a bonafide bruiser-to-be. And then there’s that silly little habit he has of attacking his teammates.

The rules have changed in the NHL (literally) and little Stevie could be a slugging star in Philly (by way of being kicked off the Windsor Spitfires) if he can get past all the cross-checking in the head nonsense. This tournament win may have redeemed his tattered reputation, has definitely ensured him a chance at the show, and I suppose we’ll see where the bugger ends up. Be it the Flyers or be it anger management counseling. It’s Friday night and I’m rambling. Have a great weekend, everyone.