GoonBlog.com

Hockey fight blog with humorous, blow-by-blow commentary on goons, enforcers and donnybrooks

Hockey fight blog with humorous, blow-by-blow commentary on goons, enforcers and donnybrooks.

AHL

The fights stay in the Picture


in AHL, Chris, GoonSquad
For whatever reason, whenever there is a holiday on a Monday, my Hockey News gets all messed up. As such, I got two issues on the same day last week. No, wait, three. Anyway, one of them was the debate on fighting, and where it has a place in the game of hockey. I read the issue with an open mind, and a willingness to listen to both sides of the argument, and I have come to a conclusion that fighting most certainly has a place in hockey, and I hope it still does for years to come. Listen, I am sorry Don Sanderson died. From everything I have read about him, he sounded like a hell of a nice young man. Loyal to his friends and family almost to a fault. He wasn’t the best hockey player on earth, but he knew his role. I have to ask though, why is there a role of enforcer in a senior A league? Am I wrong, or is this a glorified title for men’s league? Don was not getting paid to be there, in fact quite the opposite; he paid his own way to games. It is essentially a weekend recreation league, and I have to agree with Wayne Gretzky on this. Why was he fighting in this league in the first place? In the wake of this tragedy, there is a ground swell to ban fighting in hockey. It gives the media another chance to take shots at our beloved game by showing fights in which people get taken down and land on their head sans helmet. The beating Kevin Westgarth gave Garret Klotz was as ill timed as a fart in church. I’d like to use logic to help solve this issue if I may. Don Sanderson was killed in a fight in a league WHERE IT IS ILLEGAL TO FIGHT. This is not a league where you have a dust up, and go feel shame for 5 minutes. A fight in the OHA results in a game ejection, so really, what will a ban on fighting do? Not a thing. Instead, here are some ideas I have on the matter. 1. Remove visors for anyone with over 100 PIMS the previous season in the AHL. Part of the problem and dangerousness of fighting is the code of honor under which these guys operate. When a fight ensues in the AHL, a lot of the times the boys shed sticks, gloves, and now helmets. Why? They don’t want to shred their knuckles on their opponent’s visor. Plus, one shouldn’t be fighting with a shield on. It’s against the code, and in fact, there is an extra penalty given to any player that instigates a fight with a shield on, on top of the instigator penalty. My solution is to give players that have amassed over 100 PIM the previous season to sign a no visor waiver. With the guys doing the heavy lifting visor less, they are free to fight without having to remove the bucket. 2. Remove the instigator. I have said this so many times, I will now try in another language. El removeo el instigatoro. Part of the argument people are making against fighting is they like fights, but not the staged ones. Why are people fighting 2 seconds into a game they ask? Well, because there are scores to settle, and if there is no instigator, those scores can be settled in the heat of battle without having to resort to staged fights. Personally, I love a good opening faceoff donnybrook, but maybe that’s because I understand what is happening more than the average bear. 3. Assess an extra penalty for take downs. I score no points for takedown in a hockey fight, and it’s become more and more a part of the strategy as of late. Perhaps it has something to do with a lot of the tough guys doing MMA training in the off season. From what I understand, takedowns are a huge part of the strategy in MMA. Watch a fight from the 80’s or 90’s. More of those fights were 2 guys squared up throwing punches at one another. When they got tired, they grabbed onto each other, and the stripes came in and separated the exhausted combatants. Of course you can find fights to the contrary, but look at the fights today. Two guys drop mitts. They size each other up forever. Then they try and get in tight on one another. Body shots ensue, then the take down. They aren’t as interesting as they once were, and maybe if the takedown rule is implemented that might change. It would be kind of hard to enforce, and some takedowns would be questioned, but I think it’s worth a shot. Hell, the NHL did a ton to open up the game after the lockout, why not try to make fighting more exciting while we’re at it? Once again, I am very sorry for the loss of Don Sanderson. It’s tragic and sad, but let’s not has a knee jerk reaction and ban fighting because of it. It’ doesn’t sound like something Don Sanderson would have wanted.
{ 9 Comments }

Goonblog Book Club


in AHL, Brendan Walsh, Brennan Evans, Chris, Colton Orr, Dennis Bonvie, Dennis Bonvie, Goons, GoonSquad, Gordie Dwyer, Jan Vodrazka, Jeremy Yablonski, Lowell Lockmonsters, Mike Hoffman, Mitch Love, Ryan Flinn, Steve McLaren, The Face of Toughness, Tom Rowe, Trevor Gillies
Guys, I think we should start our own Goonblog book club eh? First we have Howard Shapiro’s excellent Hockey Player for Life. Of course there is The Code, and now from my good buddy Ken Babbitt comes The Face of Toughness, a 40 page book told mostly in photos on some of the toughest AHL enforcers from 2001-2006. Kenny was the Lowell Lockmonsters photographer, and had the best seat in the house for the games in the Tsongas Arena perched between the benches on the red line. It gave him an unobstructed view of The Face of Toughness up close and personal. Ken sent me the link, and I think I was the first to buy one. I can’t wait to get my hands on this, as I have seen most of the games and players featured in the book. Trevor Gillies, Brendan Walsh, and Dennis Bonvie have already reached out to Ken to say how much they are looking forward to it, as well as to tell them they are honored to be a part of the project. Just another testament to the character of these players. I sent Ken some questions I had about the book, and he answered them below. I hope you enjoy our interview and please click the link to buy your very own copy of The Face of Toughness. Ken this is a long time coming. I can’t wait to get mine in the mail! Why do this book? Why now? The idea of doing a book, at least in some form, has been in the back of my mind for a few years, but the primary reason for doing it now is that I had a large archive of great photos from my six years in Lowell that had never been seen by anyone other than myself and a few people in the front office, so it was pretty much there’s no time like the present! How much trash talk is there between the benches? It would really depend on the teams involved. If Providence was in town there was a good chance that there would be some interesting chatter, and even that would depend on who was with the Lock Monsters. They never had any great bench jockeys that I can recall. The best work always came from the visiting bench. What is the funniest thing you ever heard? Wow.do you have a few hours? Just remember that with the crowd (in Lowell, what crowds?) noise, they had to be pretty close to me to hear anything. I always said that they should have had a microphone on Dennis Bonvie and Brendan Walsh every game. It’d be some of the best comedy ever produced. But, if I have to narrow it down to a few, I’d say that one of the funniest things came from Mr. Bonvie. During a shootout during the lockout season of 04-05, with Dennis about two feet away from me, Eric Staal skated by the visiting bench after having his effort denied, and he tells Staal that that was the reason the he only got a bonus of $895K, instead of a millionbecause he couldn’t finish. I almost soaked myself in the box. Walshy was a classic, as well. He started from pre game and didn’t stop until the final horn. It must have been a team thing, but the Lock Monsters were all sporting facial hair, at least the guys that had to shave, and he skates by asking if they were havin’ a 2 for 1 sale on goatees. During his one game as a Lock Monster, he gave Peter Kanko a line about wanting extra lettuce on his taco. What kind of relationship did you form with these guys over the years? There were several guys that I got to know a little bit over the years. Trevor Gillies, Brendan Walsh and Jan Vodrazka were the guys that I spent the most time talking with. Either on the ice during pre game or in the hallways there were many of them that I spoke with over the years. I would always joke with the tough guys at center ice during pre game, like joking with Ryan Flinn when he came to the red line to see who he may have to fight that nightI’d tell him not to bother, that there was nobody on that side for him to play with. These guys were all very pleasant to deal with in the short time that I had to talk with them. I’d make it a point to tell Bonvie to stir things up for me, and he’d give me a wink, or he’d come back to the bench telling me that he’d tried! Who were your all time favorites? The three guys that I’ve already mentioned were always my favorite players to shoot. Gillies, Walshy and Bonvie. Colton Orr was another guy that you couldn’t take your eyes off of, as well. He seemed to really like to get things going in Lowell. During the later years, towards the end of the Lock Monster run, I really liked shooting, and talking to Mitch Love and Gordie Dwyer. Were there any you didn’t like? Of the fighters?? Not one of them. They were all great guys, and the reason that I made sure to get them into the book. There was only one player over the years that I took an instant dislike to, and he was from a town near where I grew up south of Boston. Were there any guys that didn’t like you? Thatyou’d have to ask the players, but not to my knowledge. For the most part I was pretty invisible to them once the puck was dropped. What was the best fight you saw? The thing about shooting the fights is that one eye is closed so I miss a lot of the action, and only really see it when I’m editing the images following the game. The five on five with Springfield, I want to say that was 03-04, was one of them. There were five fights going on at once. Brennan Evans going with Niko Tselios and Patrick DesRochers pounding on David Leneveu in a great goalie fight. Photos of both are in the book. Who was the toughest in your opinion? There were a lot of guys that you could put in that category. Steve McLaren, Jeremy Yablonski, Ryan Flinn, along with Trevor and Bonvie. I could list a number of other guys, but because I shot in Lowell, I never saw some of them fight. These guys are all tough and anyone could beat anyone on a given night. My hometown kid, Mike Hoffman, has also come a long way as a fighter. Were there a lot of reluctant enforcers? That’s a good question. I think that there were guys that were forced into the role for one reason or another. I know that Mike Hoffman told me as he was just starting up as a pro, that he knew that he’d have to fight because of his size, but he is a pretty good player. Another thing, especially in Lowell, it seemed like there were guys who may have been a little reluctant because they were the only tough guy on the roster, so they had to carry the whole load themselves. That’d make it tough to show up and fight night after night. Were there any guys that made you nervous? There was only one, but his name won’t be mentioned here. He was very polite, a good guy, but just a bit off. When he skated up his wing I made sure that I was up against the glass on the side of the box. It was weird, too, as I had never given it a thought prior to that game, or after. Were the coaches ever involved with the trash talk between the benches? I can’t recall anything specific. I know that Tom Rowe got into it on the ice when they were in Norfolk. Was there any talk that went over the line? (Sisters, mothersthat sort of thing.) Never, within earshot of me. But I know that it did happen. I saw Dennis Bonvie bark like a dog during warm ups once. Is that pretty standard behavior? Standard? I’d say no. I missed that one, but heard plenty about it. It was that incident that made my pre game routine change over the years. There were certain guys that if they were in the building, I was in the box for pre game skate. How much intimidation happens during those stretches, or is it more cordial, how’s the family stuff? I’m sure that some guys make it a point to be on the red line to let the boys on the other side know that they’re in the barn, but I also heard plenty of the latter. There wasn’t much that ever happened during pre game, but there was one time that Provi was in town and Tomas Malec made it a point to skate over the red line, and Walshy took a shot at him, saying that he wasn’t mad at him, but to stay on his side. More comedy from # 36. Who do you think will like this book? First, I hope that the players and their families like it. The guys that I know that have seen the preview of the first 15 pages have said that it looked good. I tried to show them, not just the fights. Fight photos are great, but I also want to be able to see into the players’ eyes. And there are enough of both to keep everyone happy. I think that people forget that these guys are human beings, and see them just as tough guys. Naturally, I want the fans of these guys to like the final product, as well, as it’s geared to them, too. I set all of the photos with a black background, so it should look pretty good to the autograph collectors. What is your position on fighting in hockey? I’m old school with my views on the subject. I believe that there is, and always will be, a place for fighting in the game. It serves a purpose both on the ice and off. The enforcers make it easier for the first and second line guys know that someone has their backs, mess with them and there’ll be a price to pay. Off the iceit puts butts into the seats!! The NHL could do worse than to have some of these guys marketing the sport. They’re always one of the most popular players on any given team, with the fans.
{ 4 Comments }

Sid the Goon?


in AHL, Chris, Florida Panthers, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Milan Lucic, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tony Twist, Washington Capitals
I heard on Versus the other night that fighting in the NHL is up 30% this season. I love that stat. It tells me the guys are starting to police themselves once again. After the lockout, I think a little snarl has been taken out of our beloved game. The NHL needs to stop pandering to casual fans, and work on keeping the die hards they have. You get new fans by doing the wildly successful New Year’s Day Winter Classic (viewership up 12% this season for a Blackhawks collapse) you keep the fans you have by allowing the Old Time Hokey games to be played. Could this be the year the instigator is finally gone? One man wishing for no instigator today, is number 87 himself, Sidney Crosby. After being announced as the starter for the East All Stars (voting is a total sham, and I will not watch this game. Carey Price? Really?) Sid the Kid took out some serious frustrations regarding the Pens recent skid on Florida’s Brett McLean. With the Pens down 4-1, and in the midst of a three game losing streak, Sidney decided to send a bit of a message to the group that he’s tired of losing, and isn’t going out like that. I like this fight, and don’t like it for a couple of reasons. 1. As the Captain of the team, sometimes one has to take matters into his own hands. It’s part of earning the C. For Sidney he earns it by being arguably the best player in the world on any given day, not by getting 19 minutes in penalties. 2. When Crosby does decide to fight, he’s not all that bad at it. Now before you guys go all crazy on me here, consider this. Last night’s fight was Crosby’s second career fight. I saw his first one live in person when he beat up Mr. Green of the Boston Bruins. He has pretty good balance, and doesn’t throw slaps like a baseball player charging the mound. I am not anointing him the Champion of the league, I’m just saying. For a guy that does what he does, he’s not bad at it. 3. I don’t like it, because he’s arguably the best player in the league. I read The Code, and in it, Tony Twist was telling a story about Brett Hull getting in a fight. When Hull came back to the bench, Twist said something to the effect of, Hey, good fight. Don’t ever do it again. Point being, that’s Twister’s job. It’s the enforcer’s job to enforce. I applaud him for taking matters into his own hands, but it’s his job to score. Someone else should be doing the fighting. Speaking of slaps charging the mound, another non enforcer had a fight last night. Washington’s Alexander Semin got into it with the Rangers Marc Staal. There was a little pushing and shoving, then, hilarity. Watch this fight. If it doesn’t make you laugh, you don’t have a sense of humor. As an aside, I am not 100% sure Craig Laughlin, the color analyst for Caps games, wasn’t drunk last night. He called Marc Staal Eric three times, and when Semin got the gate for not being tied down, he had no idea why he was getting tossed. Is it just me, or should the color analyst be all over that? Andy Brickley would have known exactly why Semin was being tossed, as well as had an interesting anecdote about playing for the Baltimore Skipjacks, while Jack Edwards stroked himself to a Milan Lucic glossy photo. PS: Go to Youtube and watch the MSG feed of this scrap. Trust me. I’m off to Lowell today for the Devils. Good job last night Sid. Bummer you had to take matters into your own hands, but you got some points from Goonblog for doing so. Maybe you can start a little fight club. Your first student? Alexander Semin.
{ 5 Comments }

Get well soon Brian


in AHL, Binghamton Senators, Brian McGrattan, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Shawn Thornton
Best wishes going out to Phoenix tough guy, Brian McGrattan today. Brian entered the league’s substance abuse program willingly yesterday for an undisclosed reason. Hopefully he’ll be able to get the help he needs and get his career back on track. I had the chance to speak with him a few years ago when he was in Lowell with the Binghamton Senators. While I admit I was terrified of the man due to his sheer massiveness, I found him to be a pretty cool guy to talk to. I really shouldn’t be surprised. Most of the guys that do the work he does are the nicest guys on earth. For your viewing pleasure, I have posted a fight between Brian McGrattan and Shawn Thornton. I believe this is the first time these two guys have ever fought in their careers. Simply amazing considering how much time they both spent in the AHL. Anyway, get well soon Brian. Hopefully we see you back on a NHL roster soon.
{ 1 Comment }

Milan and I love Old Time Hockey


in AHL, Aaron Voros, Atlanta Thrashers, Boris Valabik, Calgary Flames, Chris, Colton Orr, David Clarkson, Eric Boulton, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Mike Rupp, Milan Lucic, Milan Lucic (the dog), New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Old Time Hockey, Shawn Thornton, Zdeno Chara
It’s been a big hockey weekend so far. Last night Milan Lucic and I watched the Bruins game, and some of the Calgary game. Then Milan woke up at 7 AM, so I took her out for a walk (she was super good by the way) and came in the house to find Youngblood on On Demand. It had been years since I’d seen it, and as I was telling Dean Youngblood’s skating was done by Peter Zezel, and why we hated him, I did my normal morning routine of looking at box scores. I was pretty happy to see two Old Time Hockey games last night in the NHL. The beloved Bruins and Thrashers had 4 fights in the 7-3 Boston win. What makes this all the more interesting is these two teams face off again tonight at The Garden. It started about 3 minutes in last night in Atlanta. Eric Boulton and Shawn Thornton got into it after the Bruins went up 1-0. They were talking about it off the opening draw but decided against it. After the early lead taken by the Bruins, Thornton obliged Boulton’s request to have a go. It was a pretty good scrap that I score as a draw. Boulton fought again later in the game, and I score it a win for Boston’s Milan Lucic. Zdeno Chara’s fight was fairly lame that I guess was a draw, although I am not 100% sure any punches were thrown. It was more of a wrestling match, and obviously Jack Edwards mentioned Z’s dad was a former wrestler. He’s the biggest homer ever, and I love it. The fourth fight was Shawn Thornton again having a go with Atlanta’s hulking Boris Valabik. Looking at the tale of the tape on this fight, Thornton has to get credit for giving up the huge size advantage to the massive Valabik. I was quite impressed with the big Slovak. He handled Thornton nicely, and it was a clear win for him. Not to be outdone on the score sheet, New Jersey and the New York Rangers had a slug fest at the Rock last night. They had 4 dust ups themselves, across all weight classes. Round one was the heavyweight division with Colton Orr and Mike Rupp getting into it. I liked this fight, and I score it a win for Rupp. He threw and landed more than Orr did. The next fight was in the light heavyweight division featuring two former Lowell Devils teammates in New Jersey’s David Clarkson, and the Rangers Aaron Voros. This could be the fight of the night. A lot of punches trade by each guy. I score it a draw, but nominate it for fight of the night. Next up we have Travis Zajac getting fed 3 hard rights from Dan Girardi after Girardi leveled him. High marks to Zajac for standing up for himself. Quick tip: Let someone else do your dirty work. Yikes that was ugly. The final tilt was Jamie Langenbrunner of New Jersey against Ryan Callahan. Not a bad scrap that I score a win for Callahan. He threw and landed more. So, we had two games, and 8 fights between them. These are classic examples of why I love fighting. Look at the Bruins and Atlanta first. There isn’t much of a rivalry there, and why would there be? They are not in the same division, and haven’t ever had a reason to dislike each otheruntil maybe last night. The Thrashers were sending a message to Boston: you may be beating us on the ice, but we are not taking it lying down. I love games like that, and it’s a big reason why I love fighting in hockey. I would not be surprised if these two have a fight off the hop in the Garden tonight. Then there are the Devils, and Rangers. This is a classic natural rivalry game that got out of hand on the scoreboard, and frustrations were reflected on the penalty sheet. These two clubs don’t like each other, and when the score gets out of hand, this kind of thing happens. I for one love it, and it’s what makes hockey so unique. What happens in other sports when the score gets high? They can either let up on each other, or run up the score. In hockey, you have the element of having to stand up for winning or losing. The mentality being, we are beating you on the scoreboard, now I’m sending you a message that we can beat you physically too. Or, ok, you are winning on the scoreboard, but I am not going down without a fight. It’s a factor that makes hockey unique, and probably the least understood part of the game for non fans. Last night’s games are what we fans talk about when we say Old Time Hockey and I loved every second of it. So did Milan Lucic the dog. Here’s hoping Atlanta hasn’t forgotten last night yet, and will be looking to settle a score early tonight, and here’s hoping Boston is ready for it.
{ 4 Comments }

Hi, I’m Kevin


in AHL, Chris, Detroit Red Wings, GoonSquad, Jeff Szwez, Kevin Westgarth, Manchester Monarchs, Philadelphia Phantoms, The Hammer
I am waiting on a couple of pictures to be e-mailed to me from last night’s Bruins game against the Red Wings. Once I get those you will get a full review of the weekend’s games at the TD Banknorth Garden. Quick preview: There were wedgies, and snowmobile talk. Plus Hammer booting. Twice. Good times. Until then, please enjoy this video Tweener sent to me. I must once again thank him for finding gems like this almost everyday and passing it on. What you are about to see is a beauty TKO from Manchester’s Kevin Westgarth on Philadelphia’s Jeff Szwez. As you can see, Szwez is out when Westy tags him hard with the left, but he gets in another hard right for good measure. Kudos to Szwez for getting right back up though. I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. Stayed tuned for the weekend wrap up, and as always stay goony!
{ 3 Comments }

Mission from God?


in AHL, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Grant Marshall, Jason Demers, Lowell Devils, Mike Moore, Olivier Magnan, Pierre-Luc LeBlond, Rod Pelley, Tom Cavanagh, Tyler Eckford, Worcester Sharks
Remember the scene in the 1980 classic John Landis picture, The Blues Brothers when Jake and Elwood are being chased by the Good ol Boys leaving Bob’s Country Bunker? They go flying by the two Illinois State Troopers and their SCMODS they had previously eluded in their old Mount Prospect Police car. One Trooper turns to the other and quips, I don’t believe it. It’s that shit box Dodge again. Well, that’s about the same way I felt last night from my seat in the Tsongas Arena watching the all new Lowell Devils. I had been hearing all summer how this team was going to be different. Gone were the Grant Marshall’s, Ian Moran’s, and other retreads. In were up and comers. Guys that could play a puck possession style. Gone was the dump and chase, defense first style. In was the freewheeling pursue the puck style. Oh, and they also weren’t going to get pushed around. Well, I have been going to hockey games in Lowell long enough to not buy this line of shit. It doesn’t matter what organization has been in that building, I’ve been hearing it forever. We aren’t going to get pushed around. LA did, Carolina and Calgary did, Colorado did, and the Devils most definitely did. Despite having a guy like Pierre-Luc LeBlond on the roster for almost two years, they got pushed around. Now, I’m not saying having LeBlond in the lineup would have stopped every team in the league from taking liberties with the smallish Devil forwards Sweet Lou seems to love, but it would have been nice to see him on the ice trying to stop it, as opposed to sitting in the stands signing autographs for the dozens of meat slappers. The point being, I was very skeptical about the 2008-2009 Lowell Devils being anything other than a bad hockey team, playing a very boring style of hockey while getting pushed around in front of 200 people a night. I am man enough to admit when I am wrong. Last night from the opening faceoff, it was clear this was a different team. It was like seeing a shit box Dodge to watch Devil forwards forecheck. I’m serious. I saw it with my own eyes. They actually went after a person with the puck after a turn over in their own end as opposed to immediately reporting to the neutral zone for trap duty. In Frickin’ credible eh? Oh, and they were physical too. I saw more body checks last night (along with goals, and fights.but we’ll get to that) in one game than I think I have in three years. I mentioned fights. There were THREE! No kidding three honest to goodness fights. Round one featured a very feisty Rod Pelley of Lowell, and a baby faced Mike Moore of Worcester. I didn’t see how it started, but Pelley got an extra two minutes for roughing. I looked up and the boys were going at it across from my seat very near the visitor’s penalty box. Both landed a few in close punches and there was a bit more wrestling than I like to see, but Pelley did land a couple of nice shots, and I’m a homer sometimes, so win Pelley. Scary moment as they went to the ice. The linesman came this close to getting kicked in the face. Scary indeed. Two minutes later, the square circle was open again, and stepping in this time was Lowell’s Tyler Eckford, and Worcester’s Jason Demers. Eckford came to the defense of team mate Nick Bergfors after Demers tried to take his head off against the home penalty box. Demers tried to run Bergfors, and went to the ice. Eckford came over, honored the code and let the man get to his feet, and then they had a spirited go. From my seat I couldn’t see much of the fight, but judges ringside said Eckford got in some nice shots while being handcuffed by his own jersey. I did notice Demers had a cut lip, and I could hear him say, It’s been a long time since I fought. I didn’t really get any off to Mike Moore when he got in the box. I can’t call a winner because I didn’t really see the scrap, but using the other judge’s scoring, he had it a win for Eckford. T o reap, that’s two fights. One game. Not the whole season. The third fight of the night started right in front of Lowell’s bench. After Lowell’s Stephen Gionta almost got killed by an attempted clothes line, Olivier Magnan of Lowell grabbed Worcester’s Tom Cavanagh and beat him like he stole something. This one wasn’t even close, as Magnan unloaded left after left into Cavanagh’s mind. The crowd went crazy as it was a perfect way to end the 6-4 thrashing. Cavanagh came up bloody and might think twice about trying that kind of shit in Lowell again. I realize it’s only one game, but I really enjoyed myself in Lowell for the first time in a long time. Come on down, and bring the kids as the New Look Lowell Devils face off against the Manchester Monarchs next Friday night. Good seats are still available.
{ 0 Comments }

R.I.P. Coach


in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Old Time Hockey, Uncategorized
I have an expression of sadness after hearing the news of player coach, and Charlestown Chief Legend, Reggie Dunlop’s passing. I found out yesterday while at a wedding in Vermont. (Congratulations Kyle and Jill. Thank you so much for having MOL and I.) Slap Shot is my all time favorite movie, as I’m sure it is for a lot of Goonblog readers. I have often wondered where Reg played before Charlestown. I assume he probably played Junior in Canada, and I bet he played 5 or 6 years in the NHL before bouncing around the American Hockey League, and then hung around in the lower minors until he retired from hockey after 2 seasons in Minnesota. From there, I saw him going behind the bench where his unique tactics were a real shot in the arm for fledgling franchises. The old mind fuck probably worked only so long though, and I think Reg probably bounced around a bit before he and old Francine retired to Florida. Like Reg says in the bar when the sale to Florida seems eminent, Hey, we’re really gonna miss you guys. Right back at you Reggie.
{ 1 Comment }

Mr. Excitment Reviews NHL ’09


in AHL, Brad Staubitz, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Mr. Excitment, Olli Malmivaara, The Radiators, Worcester Sharks
Mr. Excitement is the nick name of one of the guys on my team at work. We are aptly called, The Radiators, because we are bringing the heat! Mr. Excitement like a lot of things, chief among them, video games. Oh and eating contests. Now seems like a good time to mention, Mr. Excitement ate 18 donuts in an 8 hour work day. Doesn’t sound all that hard, but I assure you, it ain’t easy. Anyway, he’s been all over me about getting NHL ’09, caring not that I don’t have Xbox, or Playstation or whatever the hell systems you play these darn fool games on. After pestering me for days, I gave him the homework assignment of playing and reviewing NHL ’09 for the Goonblog readers that might play video games. In typical Radiator fashion, Mr. Excitement brought the heat. Nice works on thisnow get back to work. NHL 09 Review for Xbox 360 I’ve heard many people say that Oh, sports games are stupid; it’s the same thing every year with just updated rosters. These people have not tried NHL 09 yet. This game is simply amazing. What jumps to me about this game is the amount of depth this game has. There is your standard vs. play where you pick a team and play against another team. If this game just had this one feature, I’d still be happy with my purchase. Beyond the stellar graphics and true to life physics of the game, it’s just plain old FUN. The action is fast paced and there are tons of big hits in the game. But the new addition to this years game is the Be a Pro mode. When you first start up the game you are prompted to create your player. Naturally I created myself to the best of my abilities, although I’ll admit that my created character is about 20 pounds lighter than my true self and twice as jacked. You are given the choice of your player type Your created character can be a playmaker, sniper, grinder, power forward, or a dangler. Or if you create a defensive player you have the option to be a offensive or defensive defender. Even your equipment is customizable; you can select the curve on your stick which affects how you shoot and the length of the blades on your skates which will affect your speed vs agility. After spending oh, about an hour toying around with the create a player options, I decided to make myself be a sniper on the wing (because I am selfish and love to score goals). After everything was loaded up and ready to go, I decided to get together with some of my friends to test the new 6v6 online feature where everyone on the ice is controlled by another human, and yes, that includes the goalie. At first we were unable to yield a full 6 to go on the ice because well, not all my friends are huge video game nerds. So we decided to join up on some random team with 15 dudes. Although I am not an advocate of making friends over Xbox Live, I felt this was necessary if I was going to get the full NHL online experience. So after playing a few games online, I’ve come to the realization of a few facts: 1. A lot of people are puck hogs 2. People are stupid. The first fact shouldn’t be too shocking, I myself am guilty of it. Lots of times you’ll be streaking ahead of your teammate expecting a sweetly timed pass for you to crash to the net. What happens instead is that he holds the puck, while you drift offsides. The ensuing conversation usually happens a couple times a game: dude, fuckingstay on sides fucking pass the puck you hog fuck you Etc, etc, etc My 2nd realization is that yes, people are stupid. Don’t get me wrong, there are people who are out there who want to play a true game, with positioning and passing.and then sometimes you get into games where..well hmm how do I describe this. It’s akin to 1st grade gym class soccer. The ball is kicked in one direction and you have about 15 kids running after it.you do run into those types of games here sometimes.you also get people who refuse to play any position other than offense. Yo let me play center Nah, I’m playing center, be one of the defensemen or goalie FUCK THAT, I’m quitting Needless to say, a lot of games starting with a full boat of players usually end with about4-5 players total sticking around. You occasionally run into absolute idiots that don’t even know the rules. Now myself, I have never played an organized game of hockey but I know enough of the basic rules to not make an ass of myself. What happened is that we were in a game, and we had a quick counter attackas we passed the blue line ::Whistle:: Offsides..WTF? Oh, there was a guy in the corner of the rink, blatantly offsides.No biggie, everyone makes mistakes, we play on. Not less than a minute later, we get another counter attack going. This same idiot is again blatantly offisidesmy teammate, realizing this holds the puck in the neutral zone, waiting for the idiot to get onsides. But this guy just keeps.skating around, waiting for the pass. It got to the point where I was screamed into the mic, GET THE FUCK ONSIDES. This player soon realizes what he is doing, and then we play on Now onto the fighting systemThe fighting in NHL09 is a fun little side game which you can basically do anytime. Basically you just press the slash button, and the whistle blows and theres this short cinematic scene where the two combatants circle each other while dropping their gloves. Basically there are three buttons: Grab, Punch, and Dodge. Fights, albeit fun are very short.you can usually knock (or be knocked out) in about 2-4 punches. In my Be a pro mode, I have already knocked out a few local AHL players, namely Olli Malmivaara of the Lowell Devils and Brad Staubitz of the Worcester Sharks..twice! Overall, playing this game can be summed up by this simple analogy: NHL 09 is a lot like sexwhen it’s good, it’s fucking amazing. When it’s badwell, it’s still pretty good.
{ 7 Comments }

Boston, You’ve Been Warned


in AHL, Anaheim Ducks, Barry Melrose, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Derek Boogaard, Florida Panthers, Hal Gill, Los Angeles Kings, Lowell Devils, Lowell Lockmonsters, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins, Riley Cote, San Jose Sharks, Sean Avery, Shawn Thornton, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tom Rowe, Toronto Maple Leafs, Washington Capitals
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 loadedthis 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.
{ 0 Comments }