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.

In my first prediction, well, wish for blood. There was none. There was a little pushing and shoving. As Doc would say, there was a snarl. But no blood. Fighting in the playoffs doesn’t happen a lot anymore. The Habs and Flyers pushed and shoved a little, and eventually the game ended without a fight. That series is now over with the Flyers beating the hated Canadiens last night. They awaited their fate today, and found out in exciting fashion, it would be the hated in state rival Pittsburgh Penguins that stood between them and a trip to the Cup Finals. I have to say, I’m as giddy as a little girl thinking about this series. Or maybe it’s because I am typing this dressed as Little Bo Peep. Either way.

I do not need to tell the hockey fans out there how much these two teams hate each other. Really, it needs no words. They are like cats and dogs. They just do not get along. One of the best games I saw all year was a penalty filled affair on Versus that featured the worst acting job since Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls. Georges Laraque “lost an edge” and did the worst “oops I fell over into the goalie” routine EVER at the end of the game. They kicked him out for it, probably so there could be no more fights. Truly a great sight. This kind of thing is always bubbling right below the surface when these two teams collide, and I for one will be glued to my television.

I guess I will have to make a new prediction for a cup winner since Montreal lost out last night. I am very excited by that by the by. Fuck them, and Carey Price’s new stupid glove. Their game went to hell in a hand basket, and Price was the reason why. Like I said before, for a guy that is supposed to be unflappable, he looked totally flapped. Pretty sure I made up a word there, but you get the picture. Lapses in judgment, and a weak glove hand from the 20 year old was Montreal’s undoing. In time, this kid is going to be something else, but I think he’s gonna need a few more seasons before anointing him the next Pat Roy up in Montreal. So that leaves Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Detroit, and either San Jose, or Dallas. I think Dallas ends it tonight, and I get to watch because I am totally unsupervised for the next week….hence the Little Bo Peep outfit. MOL is in Texas visiting her mother, and I am left to my own devices. Killer, I will need a wellness check every other day please. She showed me how to use the stove before she left, so I should be OK for food. Mostly I’ve been using it to slightly melt my green Army guys that have run afoul of the flame thrower guy. What? I am a 33 year old man; I haven’t been playing war in my living room since my wife left. That’s what crazy people do. Where was I? Oh yeah. I think it’ll be Dallas and Detroit with the winner being Detroit, and I am up in the air about the Battle of Pennsylvania.

Philadelphia is getting timely scoring from RJ Umberger, and superb goaltending from Martin Biron. Pittsburgh has so many weapons they can hurt you with it’s hard to pick how they get it done. Crosby has been good, not great in the second series, while Geno Malkin has been superb. Jordan Staal found his game in the back of his closet, and Fluery has made saves when they need it. If the series gets rough, I like the Pens in it. Laraque is a presence, and Jarkko Ruutu is an Uber pest. I think it’ll be a tight, rough and tumble affair with Pittsburgh winning in seven. In the final, I just don’t see anyone stopping Detroit right now. They look like they are firing on all cylinders, and I think it will be them raising Lord Stanley’s Cup next month. Either way, I think the Eastern Conference Finals will be the kind of series us Goonblog fans love. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think the Northern Army is trying to advance on the couch, and they must be stopped.