Chris

Bob Probert’s Funeral: Farewell to a Legend

by Chris on March 25, 2024
in Chris, Featured, Goons, GoonSquad

Update: 3/25/24: – Originally published 7/10/10
While it’s been 14 years since he left the box for the last time, we though of Bob Probert today, and decided to refresh this old post from the earliest days of our blog. Godspeed, Sir.

Bobby Has Left The Rink

Yesterday, in Windsor, Ontario, arguably the greatest hockey enforcer of all time was laid to rest.

It is hard to put into words what Bob Probert’s death means. I didn’t know the man personally, but when someone who is arguably the best at what he did, and that something he did is a passion of your own, it means something.

Think Elvis and Sinatra in music. Dale Earnhardt in racing. Ted Williams in baseball. To me, Bob Probert’s death is that big, and I don’t think I am alone.

Sometimes people will ask me about Goonblog, and just what the heck it is we do here. To the people that share my passion for hockey, and particularly enforcers, it’s a great opportunity to chat about favorites, both old and new. In those discussions, it is only a matter of time before Bob Probert’s name comes up. As in, I have to say, my all time favorite is Probert. Or, You have to have some stuff on Bob Probert.

To the people that don’t know what a goon is, I say, We write about people like Bob Probert. The point being, he’s the household name for enforcing, and for my money, there has never been a better enforcer than Bob Probert.

Godspeed, Bob.

Look at the man’s fight card over his career, and it’s a who’s who of enforcers. Go on YouTube right now, and put in Bob Probert. Last time I did that, I didn’t realize I had been watching fights for over three hours until I went to stand and pee, and my legs were both asleep. The guy fought, and more often than not, beat, every tough guy in the league for almost 20 years. It’s incredible looking at his fight card. He fought all comers, night in, and night out.

Last Hurrah: Andre Nazarov vs Bob Probert

One of his last bouts. I can remember like it was yesterday in the 2001-2002 season – when Andre The Russian Bear Nazarov bloodied Probert. For a bit. And then Bob ripped his helmet off.

While Nazarov was the worst enforcer ever, and as we all know, you win some/lose some in the fight game. He bloodied Probert early on, and then held on for dear life. The hanging on for dear life was pretty much par for the course for Nazzy, but because he first bloodied Bob Probert before he tried not to get himself killed, the media went crazy around here. Real fans knew he got lucky, for Probert, it’s just another day at the office.

Ex-Red Wings, Blackhawks tough guy Probert dies - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Probert’s Legacy

More than his grit and dependability as an enforcer though, was the fact Probert could actually play the game a little bit too.

163 goals, 221 assists, 3,300 PIM in 935 NHL games is something to be very proud of.

What Bob Probert can be even more proud of, is his legacy as a great teammate, and a father to four kids. Sure – he had his legal problems over the years, but he seemed to have his stuff together for a long time, and I’m not one to cast stones in the booze department.

One thing’s for certain, Heaven’s hockey club just got a whole lot tougher. RIP, Probie.

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Return of the Goons

by Chris on June 11, 2013
in 2013 Playoffs, Chris, Jarome Iginla, Pittsburgh Penguins, Sidney Crosby, Toronto Maple Leafs

I guess we can call this the Goonblog 2013 Stanley Cup Special, or, 2013 Playoffs: How I lost all Respect for Sidney Crosby. Either way, I’m feeling creative, so, here we are. Where have I been you ask? You care? Let’s get up to speed.

In 2011 my daughter Caroline was born – and the Bruins went on a magical run to win Lord Stanley’s Cup. Fast forward to the end of 2012, and Victoria is born. Now the Bruins are marching their way back to the coveted Cup once again. Every time I have a child, the Bruins win. Apologies if they don’t win ever again after this year. MOL and I are done. Speaking of MOL, she is doing well. MVP of this house, for sure. Other than those two major life events I have nothing to report. I mean other than the Bruins are winning the 2013 Cup. In 2011, I was brimming with confidence. Go back and read some of the old posts from that run. I don’t think I ever wavered for a second. I was telling everyone I knew to remain calm, and all was well. When Boston went down 2-0 to Montreal round 1. Remain calm. When Bergeron was concussed against the Flyers, and were up 3-0 in the series, people were nervous for a repeat of the collapse the year before. Remain calm. Who saw Tampa giving the Bruins all they could handle in the Eastern Conference Final? Yeah, me neither. Remain Calm. Then they made it to the big stage, promptly lost the first two games, and got a major player hurt in game 3. Looked bleak. I still maintain Horton being drilled by Aaron Rome was the Bruins version of Shilling’s bloody sock, or Brady for Bledsoe back in 2001. Either way, remain calm. What happened? They won the whole friggin thing! The 2013 playoffs, on the other hand, I have not kept the faith as well. I didn’t think Boston was getting out of the first round. I didn’t like the way their season went, especially at the end of the year when they had about 547 chances to win the division – and couldn’t. Maybe all the Marathon tributes were too emotional, or, maybe they really weren’t up for winning the division, I don’t know. I just know I thought they looked crappy, and I was sure Toronto was beating them in 5 games. Well, we all saw what happened. I was almost right about them in the first round. Game 7 of that series will be known as the greatest comeback in hockey for me. What a gutsy effort to get the elusive one goal at a time. In hockey, there are life lessons all over the joint. Game 7, Round 1. Never give up. I was super impressed, and officially almost back on the Bruins bandwagon. It wasn’t until game 1 of round 2 that I was officially back driving the bandwagon. It’s not a knock on the rest of the league, and Chicago fans (me being one of them) don’t take it personally when I predict the Bruins to win it all again, it’s just, when the Bruins play the game they’ve been playing, there is no one that can beat them. They are a battle tested group, built for the playoffs. They’ve been here before and they act like it. The timely goal tending of Tuukka Rask, and swarming nature on defense, coupled with their hard fore-check and opportunistic offense combine to make them remarkably deadly. Having said all that, it made me curious to know why everyone was saying Pittsburgh was going to smoke the Bruins. Let me understand this for a second. The Bruins had just ripped through the early season Stanley Cup darlings, featuring the greatest goaltender to ever put on pads, EVER, and they were heavy underdogs against a team that had all they could handle in the New York Islanders. The Islanders feature such a no name group you’d be hard pressed to find anyone off of said island who could accurately identify more than 4 players. Oh, and don’t forget, their starting goalie got pulled after looking shakier than a meth addict coming down from a 3 day bender. Then they throttled an inexperienced Ottawa team featuring a goalie who decided to let his game go to shit at exactly the wrong time. Meantime, all Boston did since the third period of game 7 against Toronto was surgically take apart opponents like Buffalo Bill – and they are the underdogs? Better put some more lotion in that basket. Or something. Well, we all say what happened. The Bruins took their game to the Penguins who had absolutely nothing waiting in terms of a response. This is where I lost all respect for Sidney Crosby – and gained a ton more for Jarome Iginla. Look – I have always been a Crosby fan. I think he is a super hard competitor. While I don’t like his on ice face, I have always been in his corner. That was until he started making more excuses than Jake Elwood at the end of the Blues Brothers for why they weren’t winning. Iginla on the other hand was giving credit where credit was due in saying the Bruins were good and the Penguins needed to be better to win. While we’re here, Bruins fans, can we lay off Iginla please? If I were in his shoes when he had to make that decision, I would have chosen the Penguins too. At the time, they looked every bit the team to beat in the East, whilst the Bruins were doing their, hey, let’s get up 3 and blow it routine on a nightly basis. So, here we are. The 2013 Finals are upon us. I think this is going to be one for the ages, with the Bruins prevailing in a very hard fought 6 games. I can’t stress enough – that isn’t a commentary on Chicago; it’s a commentary on the Bruins’ game right now. They are playing like world beaters… and this juggernaut will not be denied. Follow along with the action here at Goonblog. Hell, if this goes well, maybe Dave and I will put the pads back on full time.

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Turn out the Lights

by Chris on October 16, 2011
in Arron Asham, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Gregory Campbell, Jay Beagle, Pittsburgh Penguins, Trevor Gillies, Uncategorized, Washington Capitals

Finally the Bruins have gotten on the board with a fight last night in Chicago. Nice work by Gregory Campbell to try to spark the boys. Not much of a scrap, but good on Soupy to get it started. The fight I wanted to talk about happened Thursday between Pittsburgh’s Arron Asham, and Washington’s Jay Beagle. It was a bit of a one sided affair, and the fight got the hockey world talking. Personally, I thought it was a good scrap, and had to be done, but others don’t see it that way.

The fight started after Beagle cross checked Kris Letang, then hit him up high hard enough to knock his helmet off. Asham was on the ice, and in his role as enforcer, he went to Letang’s aid. My buddy Brendan and I had a somewhat heated debate about this Friday. It’s Brendan’s position that Letang A. didn’t do enough to Beagle to require Asham’s aid, and B. It’s not like he’s Gretzky. People can hit Kris Letang. My position is Arron Asham is an enforcer. It’s his job to protect teammates on the ice against any perceived injustice. Asham starts picking and choosing who he sticks up for, and we have a system that breaks down, and chaos reigns supreme. As far as Beagle being a non-enforcer? Well, it’s not like Asham beat up Alexander Semin. Beagle is a big guy that’s been in a scrap or two. He will definitely think twice about any liberties he might want to take with Penguins players or any team’s players for that matter after the beating he took, moving forward. Beagle rang the bell, Asham answered it. These two teams will have a lot of time to think about things as they don’t play each other for over a month. You can bet your bottom dollar DJ King will be in the Caps line up when they meet again. Asham has to answer to someone for this beating.

One more thing about this fight and you can get back to whatever it is you were doing before you stumbled across this madness. The Pittsburgh Penguins announce team of Paul Steigerwald, and Bob Errey, and the whole organization for that matter, has got to be the most hypocritical in all of sports. Let’s say for a minute that Trevor Gillies beat up Paul Martin in the same way Asham beat up Beagle the other night. Steigy and Errey would have been coming down from the press box with pitch forks with Mario Lemieux right behind them. When it’s their guy, who showboated like a punk after turning out Beagle’s lights by the way, they are talking about team toughness and so forth. Can’t have it both ways Pittsburgh. Either way, I’m looking forward to this rematch.

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Turning the Page

by Chris on October 8, 2011
in Chris, Brandon Prust, Goons, GoonSquad, Kyle Clifford, Los Angeles Kings, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Zac Rinaldo

We are now 9 games into the NHL season, and there has been a total of 1 fight. One. Uno. That’s not a lot. It was a decent scrap in yesterday afternoon’s contest between LA’s Kyle Clifford, and the Rangers Brandon Prust. I am not here to offer any analysis on why there has only been one fight, I’m just saying, there hasn’t been many.

The Flyers and Bruins sure could have used one the other night. I was certain Andy Ference and Zac Rinaldo were going to have it out at one point, to no avail. I am not sure if Rinaldo told Ference global warming is a sham, or what, but after Rinaldo finished his check on the North End’s Favorite Son he said something to him that really pissed him off. Maybe he was asking if Ference got noticed in the women’s department of Marshall’s buying that gawd awful yellow shirt he was wearing for his day with the Cup. My word, I had no idea Andy Ference was into that. Tree hugging hippie yes, but this freaky fashion is going a bit far. At any rate, I would have liked to have seen that tilt. Rinaldo can throw hands (and I suspect he’s probably taken the soon to be waived Jody Shelley’s spot) and Ference, when prompted, is good for a spirited bout.

While we’re on the topic of the Bruins and Flyers, I have to say, the banner ceremony was pretty cool the other night. I have mixed emotions on all the players skating with the cup one last time. On the one hand it was cool to see them with it on home ice. On the other, they didn’t earn the right to skate it around in front of the home fans. It was a nice touch having Recchi there, and I thought Neely killed with his speech. The home crowd took the opportunity, not all, but some, to boo owner Jeremy Jacobs. Nice work Boston, way to be classy. Like him or not, the Bruins won the Cup. Stop booing.

The banner itself is kick ass, and I am looking forward to turning my head slightly up and to the left to see it every night this year. Now with the banner up, and the page turned, it’s time to get down to business. Every team in the league is gunning for Boston right now, and they have to be ready every night, for every team’s best game. Other than the fact that it’s very hard to repeat in the NHL, I don’t see another reason why the Bruins can’t raise another banner next October. Tampa is in town tonight for a game 7 rematch.

Let’s see if the Bruins bring the game they need to bring, or if we’re talking about firing everyone, and the team having no heart tomorrow morning.

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Michael P. Russell 1975-2011

by Chris on September 28, 2011
in Chris, GoonSquad, Off Topic

Well, I hate to do it again with the bad news about a hockey player dying, but here we go. An old friend of mine from way back in the day was killed in a car accident last Saturday night. Of all the deaths over this summer, the death of Mike Russell hits the hardest. Mike was 36, had a wife and 2 kids, and was my best friend growing up. He will be missed.

I don’t know exactly when and where Mike and I met. I would assume it was the early 80’s, at either a soccer field, or a hockey rink. Mike’s dad, Jim, was a big soccer coach, and Mike was a great soccer player. I was a shitty soccer player, and I hated every second of it, but I’m off topic. Where Mike shined athletically, was hockey. He was gifted on the pond, the rink in his back yard, and on a rink. I remember going into the Russell’s house and the first thing that struck me, was all the damn equipment. Mike had 3 older brothers, and 1 sister that all played, and they had gear everywhere. They also had a sick trophy case in the basement, full of soccer and hockey trophies from all over the place.

Mike and I were inseparable. I am pretty sure the first time I ever drank a beer, I was with Mike. I know I smoked butts with him, and snuck out of the house to get into mischief with him all the time. We were always into something in Thoreau Hills, and around the West Concord area. Our hockey coaches hated having us in practice, especially Mr. Gray, and my dad, because we never paid attention and were always trying sick moves on each other, or fighting with the other kids. We were there to have fun, and since we were good players, we did what we wanted. While everyone was watching the Cosby show on Thursday nights, we were at Valley Sports making my dad miserable!

Once middle school hit, he went to Peabody, and I to Sanborn. We didn’t really see each other much because we fell in with different crowds, and I think our friendship turned into more of a rivalry. We fought each other a couple of times, but somehow we always came out of it as friends. Once Mike went to high school at Belmont Hill, we really didn’t see each other, but I always knew what he was up to through his family.

His family always treated me like one of their own. I am feeling so bad for them right now, I really can’t even describe it. To the Russell family I send my deepest condolences. This has got to be agony for them, and they are most definitely in my thoughts and prayers. The last time I saw Mike alive, I wasn’t very nice to him. I feel terribly about that right now. Russ, you’ll be missed buddy. When I see you on the other side, I owe you an apology. Like always after a handshake and a hug, we’ll be friends again.

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You Will Respect My Authority!

by Chris on September 24, 2011
in Chris, Chris Neil, Goons, GoonSquad, Jody Shelley, Matt Clackson, Pierre-Luc LeBlond, Trevor Gillies

Alrighty! Let’s put the negativity of the summer and my last two posts behind us shall we? Why? Its back. Hockey is back! NHL Network has been showing a couple of preseason games a night, and it’s great to see their commitment to the pre- season. It was also great to see Kathryn Tappen in studio, not dressed like a pilgrim. I think so far, the MVP of the pre-season has to be Brendan Shanahan. Shanny is the new Sheriff in town for the NHL, and he’s wasted no time dolling out his brand of justice. I’ve said before that hitting from behind is a huge problem in the NHL, and the re-written rules on boarding seem to corroborate my story. Shanahan doled out some serious justice the other night in the form of a 5 game suspension for Calgary’s PL3 and a 10 game seat in the press box for Philadelphia’s Jody Shelley. Of course, had either of the incidents involved Trevor Gillies, he would have been drawn and quartered, and possibly stoned to death on the site of Chuck Wang’s alleged Lighthouse project. Brendan Shanahan is sending a message: The old ways will not be tolerated, and I WILL make you respect one another. Good on the NHL, and Shanny for handing out these suspensions. I have seen both hits, and neither (especially the Shelley hit) were called for. Listen, I get the PL3 hit. He’s trying to prove to Calgary that he’s a tough kid, and will do whatever to make the team. He hit another enforcer in Matt Clackson (doesn’t make it right, but at least it wasn’t one of the Sedins) from behind, and very high. While there was no need for it, I at least understand it. Jody Shelley’s hit, on the other hand, was completely uncalled for. He’s made Philly’s team. He’s not going anywhere, except for the press box because his coach hates tough guys. He friggin creamed Darryl Boyce from behind, and gave him a nasty cut to boot. Hockey is a physical game, that’s why we like it, but these types of hits need to be taken out of the game. It looks like Brendan Shanahan is on a mission to do just that. Courant News

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Beginning of the End of Fighting in the NHL?

by Chris on September 17, 2011
in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Trevor Gillies

I really don’t want this to come across as cold, and selfish, but does anyone else worry that the recent deaths of enforcers in the NHL will have negative ramifications on the ice? The harsh reality is that we live in a world of knee jerk reactions. Someone gets killed on a road; speed bumps are installed the next day. Could we be witness to some radical changes this season with regards to fisticuffs? The concussion issue is a hot topic in the NHL right now. Things had to be evaluated when Matt Cooke attempted to kill Marc Savard, and now that Sidney Crosby has been shelved for an extended period of time with his concussion, the talk for change with regards to head hits, and the need to address how concussions are treated has reached a deafening level. While I agree concussions are an issue, these men also accept they have a dangerous job, and it kind of goes with the territory. Fighting was up last season, and in kind of a Catch 22 situation, I think both fighting, and concussions will continue to rise. Something needs to be done about this game, but it’s not the fights. For me, I think the game is way too fast, and body checking has become too predatory. I don’t want to go back to the water skiing off a guy in the neutral zone, or the clutch and grab of the pre lockout days, because that hockey was a little too dull for me, but I do think the game needs to be slowed a bit. The trouble is, these players these days are so big, and so fast, how do you effectively slow the game back down, without stifling the talent on the ice? What with players all wanting to get in on the booming Scott Stevens-esque body checks instead of simply separating someone from the puck, the recipe is there for concussions from the big hit, but the fights go up as well. It seems even legal body checks in the NHL need to be answered for, and when the bell gets rung, you know the tough guys are going to answer it. In the knee jerk reaction department of the NHL, I can see there being an extra 2 minute penalty for fighting after a legal hit being tacked on, or if you’re Trevor Gillies, an automatic 30 game suspension for doing anything.

Listen, I don’t have the answers here. I’m just a guy typing away on my new laptop, while the baby sleeps. I do agree the NHL needs Sidney Crosby playing, and not concussed. I am a Crosby fan. There, I said it. I like his game, and I like the fact he understands what the role of Captain means. He’s taken matters into his own hands a couple of times with his fists, and I like it. He needs to be on the ice, and so does Marc Savard. Sadly, I think we’ve seen the last of Savvy, and hopefully Crosby can return to form. I am against taking drastic measures to regulate the physical nature of hockey. After all, it’s one of the main reasons I watch. I’m even more against more regulations on fighting, but I do think something needs to be done about the speed of the game, and how it relates to concussions, and head shots. The NHL Brass needs to address those issues, before some knee jerk reaction to three enforcers dying over the summer regulates fighting right out of the game in the name of safety. Poker for Jokers

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Saying Goodbye to Summer 2011

by Chris on September 14, 2011
in Chris, Derek Boogaard, Goons, GoonSquad

With the good news of today being Brad Marchand has sobered up enough to put his name on a very shrewd deal from the Bruins, and the even better news that hockey is indeed right around the corner, I’d be remiss if I didn’t touch on just how awful the 2011 off-season was. What started with the overdose of a current NHL enforcer in Derek Boogaard, ended with 44 players and coaches of a KHL team perishing in a plane crash. In between were the apparent suicide of Winnipeg Jet Rick Rypien, and the suicide of recently retired player Wade Belak. To say the least, this has been as awful an off-season as you could ever imagine. Hopefully, we don’t see one like it again.

Photograph by: John Russell, Getty Images, Calgary Herald A lot has been made about the three deaths preceding the Lokomotiv plane crash. I have read article after article making the correlation between enforcers, depression, drug use, and suicide. Personally, I don’t think there’s a relationship, it’s just a really shitty coincidence that all three were of the enforcer mold. After reading all these articles, I’m left to wonder, why? Why does a guy like Derek Boogaard wind up killing himself with pills and booze? Why does Rick Rypien allegedly take his own life? Why does Wade Belak, a man by all accounts, a larger than life type personality that loved life, his family, and hockey hang himself in a Toronto hotel? What do these guys have to be depressed about anyway? They were all young, and well paid to play a game for a living. A game that I would give several limbs to play professionally and I’m not the only one. Is it because they fight for a living, and take too many shots to the head? I don’t think so. I think it’s the fact depression is a dark and terrible disease, and in a moment in time, dying seemed better than living. When my daughter Caroline was born, I was so excited! She was an angel sent to me, and I was lucky to be her father. Soon after the initial excitement wore off, and I got into the daily routine of trying to keep a newborn alive, work, and be a good husband, I found myself in some very dark places in my mind. For a few weeks, all I wanted to do was sleep, and cry. What did I have to be so sad about? I have an amazing wife, a great job where I am respected (no, really) and the most beautiful little girl in the whole world looking at me to be her daddy. Was I overwhelmed, or was it male postpartum depression? I can’t say for sure, and I have since gotten it together mentally, but it was not pleasant for me for a while there. The point I’m making, and there is one, is that even in my darkest hour, it probably wasn’t nearly as dark as Boogaard’s, Rypien’s, or Belak’s worst day. I couldn’t imagine hurting myself, or Caroline or anything, but I can’t help thinking of just how dark the recesses of their minds must have been to drive them to the things they did. Â I feel so terribly for the people in these three men’s lives that are left behind to pick up the pieces and wonder what happened, and was there anything that could have been done for them. My guess is that no, there wasn’t anything they could have done. Like I said, seemingly they had it all. Great lives as professional hockey players or in Belak’s case a recently retired professional hockey player. Belak leaves behind a wife and two girls. Imagine being that family right now. Imagine Wade Belak being so depressed that the thought of leaving them behind was outweighed by the fact he just couldn’t go on living anymore. Simply heart breaking. Hopefully these men will be remembered as the great people they seemed to be, and not remembered simply as three enforcers that died, two by their own hand in the summer of 2011. In the meantime, the rest of the world goes on. The hockey community mourns their passing, and we pray it doesn’t happen again.

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STILL Believe in the Bruins

by Chris on June 12, 2011
in 2011 Playoffs, Chris, GoonSquad

Gee whiz, this bandwagon is getting a lot easier to steer with all these people jumping off. For those of you that remain, please get comfortable. You are in for a great ending! For those of you that jumped off, enjoy the Red Sox or whatever the hell else there is going on in Boston right now. For me, it’s all black and gold, all the time. I still believe, and you should too. The Bruins are in a win one on the road and win it all situation that I find appealing. If they had won the other night, and come home and lost tomorrow, then they have to win again in a hostile environment. A little taller order no? Not that game 7 isn’t going to be the hostile of the hostile, but the Bruins have been a great road team all year, and I like their chances in game 7 on the road again. But, I am getting ahead of myself aren’t I? There is the little matter of tomorrow night. The Bruins return to Causeway Street facing elimination at the hands of a team they have handled quiet nicely on friendly ice. Vancouver will be looking to end it all, and will need their best effort to do so. Friday night’s contest was a fairly even affair which the Canucks won by staying persistent on offense, and shutting down the Boston Power Play. Boston needs to do a better job of scoring on the PP, and generating more 5 on 5 chances while they are at it. I am not sure if I made up the nickname or not, but I’ve taken to calling Claude Julien The Mule for his stubbornness, and his want to stick to a plan, almost to a fault. Why Campbell was on the first PP unit the other night is beyond me. Also, the Kid needed more than the 5 minutes or so of ice he got. If they are to have a chance, he may need to think outside the box a bit more. As for my feelings on the matter? Well, I think you know where I stand. This is a team of destiny. They have faced adversity all year long by getting themselves behind in games, and they’ve been behind in 2 series these playoffs. They stopped the Canadiens dead in their tracks, and the Tampa series felt a lot like it was swinging the Bolts way until Boston stopped them cold too. I know they are frustrating at times, but in the end, I think they will get the job done. Believe.

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OMG, A new Gooblog Post!?

by Chris on October 30, 2010
in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Milan Lucic, Milan Lucic (the dog), New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues

I’m back! Like the bad penny you can’t shake, or the burning pee you may have picked up on shore leave in the Dutch West Indies, I am back. For those of you that noticed, and have been wondering where I am thank you for the concern. All is well; I just had a major tech issue. For those of you that didn’t notice, well, just shut up and read. OK, so where have I been you ask? For those of you that don’t know, MOL and I are expecting a little girl in February. A girl is good, because our girl’s name we had picked out was Robert Gordon Orr. Worked out good. Anyway, we cleaned out our old office, and it is now the baby’s room. In the transition from the baby’s room, to the back room, I could not get my PC re set up. Everything I tried failed, and then I went to Prague and Paris. Then I got back from Prague and Paris, and I couldn’t get my PC set up..probably because I thought I was dead. I thought that, because I couldn’t power it on anymore. So, long story short, the cable guy was here Thursday for an unrelated matter, and he must have figured out what was wrong with my PC because I was going to move it this morning to make way for a new PC, and the fucking thing powered right up, connected to the internets, and was all, hey bud. Let’s party! Now as MOL paints a rocking chair in the baby’s room, I am back in the saddle again. Gotta tell, it’s good to be back. First off, Prague and Paris was friggin amazing. Prague was so old and had beautiful people, and architecture everywhere. The food was amazing, and the people were all super nice and spoke English. If you drink beer, go to Prague. They love it over there. Every place we ate at, it was the cheapest beverage on the menu. Oh, and the goulash? Oh my word. It’s like pizza here. Everywhere serves it, but each has a different take on the gravy. Just incredible. The hockey games were pretty cool too. I mean, the first game sucked for the Bruins, but the second was much better. In the interest of fairness to both fan groups, I am glad they split. It would have really sucked if the Bruins lost both games, or if the Coyotes fans that came even farther than Bruins fans saw their team lose two; it would have been a real bummer. The O2 Arena was a nice big clean place, with excellent site lines. One of the better buildings I have been in for a hockey games, and again, the food was pretty darn good too. Did I mention I met Milan Lucic? Oh, I will now. Sunday we had a stroke of luck and sat right behind Mr. and Mrs. Lucic. They were super nice people, and I saw Mrs. Lucic in between periods and asked her if she would sign something for Louis, the 9 year old kid with us that was desperate for an autograph. She said, Mama’s autograph isn’t worth anything. We’ll get Milan to do it. They told us to stay in our seats when the game ended, and they’d take us over to where the players come out to meet him. I also told her we had named our little girl dog after her son because she’s tough and scrappy, and after laughing for a minute she replied, Maybe I will tell Milan you named the dog after him. Probably not that it’s a girl! When the game ended, we waited for Mila to come out, and Mrs. Lucic introduced me and Louis to him. He was very cordial, and thanked us for coming all the way from Boston for the game. I was blown away. I mean, here this kid is, the third star of the game. The last thing he probably wanted to do is meet two total strangers, but he was super nice, and thanked us for coming. No one on earth quite like a hockey player. After taking a picture with us, we got out of his hair so he could get some family time before getting on a plane back to Boston. To say it made Louis’s trip, is the understatement of the year, and it was pretty darn cool for MOL and I as well! The next morning we flew to Paris where we stayed for another couple of days. I was fully prepared to hate Paris because of all the horror stories you hear about the French being rude and whatnot, but I was totally blown away. Everyone was incredibly nice to us, and again, it is such an old and beautiful city, it’s hard not to have a good time. The only drawback wads the timing of our visit coincided with the first day of a national strike in protest of raising of the retirement age. We could get around the city via the Metro, but all the museums and things were closed. Kind of a bummer, but our hotel was at the base of the Eiffel Tower so, with a view like that, it’s hard to complain. Now then, to hockey matters. I have been encouraged by the Bruins start this year. I really like this team, and I think they are going to be superb this year. Around the NHL I have been following the Islanders very closely, and out west, I dig the Blues. Darren Pang is one of the best color guys in the league, and he makes the broadcasts very interesting. Hockey is back, and so is Goonblog!

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