MOL and I spent the past weekend up at her mother’s place on Little Sebago Lake in Maine. Not a shabby way to spend a weekend when it’s a frickin thousand out. As an added bonus, I have gone from her mom and I sizing each other up at center ice, to the Golden Boy. Seriously. I can do no wrong. It’s a new twist for me, and I dig it. We went on a couple of booze cruises, ate some steak, and enjoyed the water. A very nice weekend indeed.
After the cruise Friday night, we all sat down to watch the end of the shelling the Red Sox were taking at the hands of the Oakland A’s. They got killed, but the TV there is 103″ so it wasn’t all that bad. So during the 7th inning I think, up comes the Big Hurt himself. Mr. Frank Thomas. I always liked Frank Thomas. I am not sure why. He used to kill the ball, and seems like a decent enough guy. Back in his day, I can remember being terrified everytime he came up to the plate. This at bat was totally different though. There he was in his classic Frank Thomas stance, but it looked totally weird because of his uniform. For me, Frank Thomas was the White Sox. It was like living in bizarro world to see him in any other colors than black and white. It got me thinking about Georges Laraque.
This upcoming year it will be strange for me to see Laraque in a Coyotes uniform. I totally identify him as an Edmonton Oiler. It’s where he made his name, where he cut his teeth, and where he gained his reputation as the Heavyweight Champion of the NHL. From what I understand Laraque was willing to take less cash to stay in Edmonton but wanted a no trade clause in his contract. The Oil weren’t willing to give it to him, so he went to Phoenix. Let me say here, he would have looked awesome in the black and gold. Yet I digress. So let me ask you this. Is hockey going to become like baseball and football with players jumping all over the place due to the salary cap? I think it is inevitable. But with hockey players, it a bit different.
How does a guy like Laraque go from protecting the Oilers for years, to now protecting the Desert Dogs? I realize it’s his job and like any other job change you make adjustments. I am always curious about this kind of stuff. Is there a guy on the Oilers he always hated that he is going to absolutely run next year? Does he take it easy on friends? Does he fight friends just for fun? That is the part of the job these guys do that I find fascinating. I remember when Trevor Gillies fought Jeremy Yablonski in Worcester a couple of years ago. I missed it because I was at the bar, but I have heard several people say it was one of the best fights they have ever seen. I asked Trevor about it, and apparently he and Yabo are best friends. In fact, Trevor told me he called Yabo and told him they were fighting that night. Can you imagine that? It is one reason I love fights, and the enforcers of the world. They do what they can to help the team, and in this case, showcase what they can do to get to the next level. So I guess this October Georges Laraque will do what he always does. It’s just going to look strange to me him doing it in maroon and white. Did I mention he would have looked AWESOME in black and gold?
yes it will be very interesting to see him back in edmonton and hopefully he will send a message to how stupid kevin lowe is