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.

Milan Lucic

Happy Birthday Mr. Hockey, and Go Bruins!


in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Gordie Howe, Milan Lucic, Old Time Hockey

Happy Birthday to Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe. The man with the sharpest elbows to ever play the game turns 80 today and Gonnblog is proud to wish him good health, and many more to come. This is a man that played hockey at the highest level until he was 52 years old. I will be in a home, drooling, and ranting about how I’ve never seen the Bruins win the Cup when I’m 52, and this guy was still playing hockey. Simply amazing. To celebrate the occasion, please enjoy the video of Boston Bruin 7th player award winner, Milan Lucic scoring a Gordie Howe Hat Trick. I love the fact that Milan got his first NHL goal in a game when he had an assist, and a wicked scrap. What a fitting tribute from a kid that is a Gordie Howe prototype, to pot his first goal like he did.

Meantime, things have been crazy over here at Goonblog HQ. We’ve had a lot to do MOL and me, and I haven’t been paying enough attention to this blog. I tell you what; this hockey season has been a great one so far. The beloved Bruins are keeping us entertained enough to keep watching and I think Jack Edwards may have a stroke on air this season.

For those of you not in New England, Jack Edwards is the NESN announcer, and to say he is a homer is an insult to homer announcers everywhere. This guy LOVES the Bruins, and he LOVES the fights, which makes him number one in my book. I can’t decide what I like better. Edwards going mental over a bad call or the fact that his partner, Andy Brickley, pays him zero mind when he gets fired up. I want the Bruins to win the cup this season for a couple of reasons, and one of them is to see just how emotional Jack Edwards gets when Zdeno Chara gets handed Lord Stanley’s Cup. Of course it won’t happen, but I can dream.

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The week that Was


in AHL, Albany River Rats, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Milan Lucic, Old Time Hockey, Philadelphia Flyers, Ray Bourque, Tom Rowe, Trevor Gillies, Worcester Sharks

The first annual Hockey Week in Acton is over. I did four games in four nights, and watched another three on television. The highlight was obviously Saturday’s tilt against Washington. MOL, my brother and I were there for the old time hockey showing in Boston. I actually called it in Halftime Pizza that they would go right off the hop, and damn I am glad I was right. Lucic is now officially a God in Boston. Some other highlights and low lights of the week.

-The woman in Ray Bourque’s entourage in Lowell last Wednesday. I don’t know if it was Chris’s girlfriend, or his daughter, or who the hell she was, but she was easily one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. Jaw droppingly hot.

-Seeing Trevor Gillies wearing the Captain C in Worcester Friday night. I don’t think anyone wanted a piece of him. Tom Rowe loves him, and it was cool to see.

-I still can’t get over how disrespectful the Toronto fans were during the National Anthem Thursday.

-Speaking of Thursday. That was the worst game of the week. Here they are in order. Worst to first.
Bruins vs. Toronto
Bruins vs. Washington (Monday)
Bruins vs. Florida
Bruins vs. New York
Albany vs. Worcester
Lowell vs. Hershey
Bruins vs. Washington (Saturday)
Bruins have a lot of games upcoming, and they look out of gas. If they make the playoffs, it’ll be one and done I feel. I am looking forward to the tilt Saturday against Philly. I’d give a lot to be there. Anyone that can hook me up, I’d give them a free Goonblog T-shirt? No?

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This is Big


in Chris, Colton Orr, GoonSquad, Jeremy Reich, Milan Lucic, Old Time Hockey, Shawn Thornton

Mother is in the living room putting the Christmas decorations away with the NHL Network on in the background. She’s getting around in the wheelchair pretty well, and the doctor said she could put 50% weight on her ankle, so she’s allowed to roll around and put her decorations away. I know they’ve been driving her nuts, and she’s been driving me nuts asking me to bring up boxes for her. Up until now, it was a no deal. Now that she’s on the mend, she can have at it. She’ll be back before Sidney Crosby is back from his high ankle sprain he sustained last night. In about an hour I’m dropping her off at the movies with instructions she’s to actually go, and not stand out in front of the liquor store and ask someone to buy her beer.

I mention the NHL network because as I was brining up boxes for her, they were showing the Eastern Conference standings, and it struck me how huge of a weekend this is for Boston. At this point in time, Boston, the Rangers, and Atlanta are all tied with 49 points. New York and Boston play a home and home this weekend. This is a series that has playoff implications in January, and it’s pretty darn exciting. What with the football game Sunday, no one will notice, but still, I’m darn excited.

Boston needs to set a tone early today. I would get the puck deep and start taking the body right away on these guys. Orrsie and Thornton will hopefully be looking for each other to set a tone as well. 2008 Youngstar Milan Lucic, (Congratulations by the way) still has the cage on, so the other duties fall to Jeremy Reich. He’s a guy that hasn’t fought in a while, so hopefully he can get a hold of someone today.

Tomorrow’s game is even more important. New York has had Boston’s number in the MSG, as they have beaten the Bruins there in every contest for 6 years. I think its 6 yearsmaybe its 4.listen; you want stats, go to the NHL website. Come here for dick and fart jokes. Anyway, their dominance at home will play into the psyche of both clubs coming into tomorrow. In the Rangers’ room, the attitude will be, these guys can’t beat us in here, and in the Boston room, it will be the exact opposite. Can we win here? It’s Original Six, Old Time Hockey. I’m hoping for some real grudge match type victories from the black and gold.

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Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!


in AHL, Chris, Dennis Bonvie, Dennis Bonvie, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Milan Lucic

It was hockey week in Acton for me this week, as I got in three live games. I haven’t seen MOL in days, and have been living off beer and rink pizza, but these are the sacrifices one makes to make three games in three nights. One of these days I should write about where to go for good food and drink at all the arenas I have been to. Remind me on that.

The adventure started on Wednesday in Lowell as the Devils took on the Springfield Falcons. I have seen the Falcons a couple of times this season, and they are pretty fun to watch. Robbie Scremp is a great hockey player, and they have Ryan Flinn, who in my opinion is one of the most intimidating looking guys in all of hockey. He just looks mean eh? Apparently, he isn’t mean looking enough for Lowell’s Mark Fraser to want a piece.

Lowell went down 3-0 in a very lackluster start. Fraser had enough and challenged Flinn near the blueline in front of the visiting penalty box. They started out sizing each other up and a little spin cycle action. As they got started, Flinn and Fraser each traded some right hands, and Fraser managed to get the front of Flinn’s jersey up over his face. Sightless, Flinn threw a couple and tried to squirm his head back through the opening so he could see, and try to get Fraser. Fraser didn’t use the advantage of Flinn being sightless as well as I would have liked, but did get a couple in when he had the advantage. When Flinn got his sight back he threw an uppercut that missed by this much, and had it connected, Fraser would have been lights out. Sadly he missed, and that was it. The stripes separated them, and off they went. I call the fight a surprising win for Mark Fraser.

The ending of this game was easily the strangest thing I have ever seen at a hockey game. Evah. Lowell had been down 3-0, but fought their way back to tie the game at 3-3. OT came and went, and they went on to the shootout. With Lowell having a 1-0 advantage and Springfield being down to their last opportunity to force sudden death shootout, Viacheslav Trukhno came in on Frank Doyle with ideas on being the game saver. Well, Doyle looked like he stopped him, as it appeared he put a rebound in the net which is a no no in the shootout. Referee Terry Koharski waived the goal off, but the puck wound up in the back of the net. After conferring with the scorer’s table briefly, he skated over to Lowell’s bench. He must have told them they won because Devil players started pouring off the bench to congratulate Frank Doyle. The Springfield bench was upset and called Koharski over for a little chat. So after a little discussion, Koharski decided that Springfield had in fact scored and he motioned to some of the remaining players on Lowell’s bench they need to get back. So, if you are having trouble following, he changed his mind. Lowell comes back. They go first in sudden death and don’t score. Obviously Springfield comes down and scores on their first sudden death shot, wins the game 4-3.

In all my years of watching hockey I have never seen anything like that. I was under the impression as the referee, even if you blow a call and you know you’ve blown it, you stick to it. One never ever changes their mind right? Truly a bizarre moment in my hockey watching life.

Game two of the week came to me via my good friend and birthday girl Bridget. She e-mailed me Thursday evening and asked if I wanted to go to the Bruins and Capitals game that evening. The answer? Yes. Yes I did. Thanks yo, and happy birthday.

Jimbo and I saddled up for Boston at 5, and arrived at Halftime Pizza at 6. Good timing indeed. With a large cheese secured, and a 25oz. Bud to wash it down we settled in for the fights. The tape of the evening was all Dennis Bonvie, so I was pretty psyched. It was all his fights as a Bruin, and his only NHL goal was on the tape as well. It got me to thinking about the Bruins team of 2000-01, and ’01-’02 when Bonvie was there. Those were a couple of my favorite teams because you could tell they cared about each other, and were very tight. Those guys were always sticking up for one another.

Once inside, we got our seats and the game began. Boston was soundly outplayed in the fist, but Milan Lucic was looking to get a spark going in the building by taking on Capitals defenseman, John Erksine. I thought the fight was a decent scrap. Both guys are very heavy punchers and it showed as Erksine landed a very hard right to Lucic’s temple, and the big 19 year old went down. Win Erksine, and it was the first one I think I’ve seen Lucic lose all season. Nice job though in taking him on and trying to get the boys started. This seems like a good spot to mention, I like the Bochenski for Hnidy swap a lot. Hnidy is a gritty defenseman (which in case no one noticed, is exactly what Boston needs), and Bo wasn’t playing anyway. Good swap.

After the game we went to Sports Grille Boston for 1 (4) and then back to the office so Jim could get his car. Obviously we went to Hooligan’s for a night cap (4) and on home. I left Jimbo in good hands at the bar, and got out of there before I thought Karaoke was a good idea. As an aside, Jimbo was not well Friday and couldn’t come to game three of the week.

This is called a segue. Game three was a Radiators Team event at the DCU Centre. I took my team, and their significant others, as well as honorary Radiator Kara to the Worcester Sharks and Manchester Monarchs. Manchester was killing Worcester, and I am really surprised there were no fights. I thought for sure Worcester would try to start something after going down 3-1, and then 4-1, but nothing. There was even an instance with 2.6 seconds where there was some pushing and shoving where I thought both coaches might give the tough guys a tap, but alas, nothing. All in all, it was an outstanding week. If I wasn’t afraid MOL would leave me taking the van while I keep the dog, I’d do it all the time. But really, do I need to give her another reason?

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Work It!


in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Hockey Fight Videos, Jeremy Reich, Milan Lucic

The Goonsquad was well represented at the Garden last night as the Bruins defeated the Columbus BlueJackets. The starting lineup included Tweener, MOL, and after an extended breakfast, TKO. The night started at the Fours for some wings, Flutie sandwiches, and a few Miller High Life. We headed over to the Garden and found our seats. Great seats by the way. Thanks Cato. Anyhow, Tweener and I were glad to see number 45 for Columbus, Jody Shelley was dressed. I had never seen him live before, and I was surprised how big he was. You know who else is big? Rick Nash. We’ll get to her. Wait for it. You’ll see. Milan Lucic got the Garden faithful into it early with another impressive dust up with Columbus forward Jarred Boll. Once again, Milan overpowered his opponent and landed some hard punches. Rest of the league beware, this kid is for real. Shortly thereafter, Jeremy Reich got the game winner for Boston with a nice hardworking goal in our end. Good to see Reicher get one there. Tweener and I were talking, and he seems to have some faster hands this season. It’s good to see him do well.

Now on to the real highlights. There was a very hot girl in a Rick Nash jersey in front of us. Her glasses were blue, and so was her head band. I am not sure her boyfriend in the Bruins jersey was pleased about me calling her a puck slut loud enough for everyone to hear, but fuck him. It’s not my fault HOL is foxy. Even MOL thought she was sexy.

Tommy Gunn was plastered and was making friends all over the arena. Everyone loves a drunken guy in a Serial Killer T shirt. My favorite part of the night though was the woman that had no idea about hockey cheering, or urging the boys on. She had no clue, and it was hysterical. My favorite line? Get it up the ice and work it, work it, woooork it! No one else heard it, but I did, and nearly spit out my brew I was laughing so hard. Getting ready for the Pats game here. Good times last night. Tweener, it was good to see you. It’s been too long.

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No, Hear Me Out


in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Jeremy Reich, Milan Lucic, Philadelphia Flyers, Shawn Thornton

Killer and KSpecial. I am glad you guys are having the debate about the Bruins in the comment section of my last post. As I was watching the Bruins last night I was wondering two things. Well, three actually. They are as follows.

1. Are these Boston Bruins for real? Not a lot has changed from the Bruins of last year really. It’s a lot of the same faces, which the obvious exceptions in goal. Savard is a God, and Muzz has really been filling the back of the net once he started scoring. I think the biggest differences up front are Chuck Kobasew, and Kessel’s continued improvement over last season. While Kessel doesn’t always find the score sheet, he does a lot of things better this season than he did the last. Kobasew is a guy that gives an honest effort every night and can be counted on for 20 this season. The addition of Milan Lucic up front has given them a nice crash and bang style, and when Thornton comes back from injury, those two will be reunited. On defense, the biggest difference is the reduction in Chara’s minutes. I think he is the most over rated player in the whole league, and last season he just played waaaaaay too much. He isn’t good enough to log that many minutes and it showed last year.

2. Is Claude Julien the favorite for the Jack Adams award? I’m fucking serious. Stop laughing. Think about it. Is this team much different from the team last year? Not really. Most of the key ingredients are there. Julien said he wanted them to be a tougher team to play against physically, and system wise. With the exception of the lack of response in the two games against the Philadelphia Criminals, I think they have been. Shawn Thornton, Jeremy Reich, and Milan Lucic have all shown a willingness to drop the mitts in defense of a teammate, or to send a message. Hell, even Chara has a fight this year! It’s obvious they have bought into Julien’s system as they are playing better positional hockey on both ends of the ice. It’s also obvious he holds the accountable to that system, as gone are the nightly too many men penalties, and undisciplined play that plagued them last year. As well as, Coach Julien gets an honest effort from the team every night. Even when losing, they are still in most hockey games, and you cannot say that about the club from last season. Bottom line is, he gets them into the playoffs, and I think he has to be considered a favorite for the Jack Adams trophy.

3. Am I on fucking drugs?

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Not My Captain


in Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Jesse Boulerice, Milan Lucic, Old Time Hockey, Philadelphia Flyers, Shawn Thornton

What a week eh? Patriots killed the Redskins, and the Red Sox won their second World Series in 3 years. It’s an incredible time to be a Boston sports fan. Unless of course, you are a Bruins fan. That’s not exactly true. The team is off to a surprisingly good start. They seem to be playing pretty well together and the Thornton and Lucic dynamic is very interesting. They had two great fights last Saturday back to back. They are indeed tougher to play against. I am happy with the start, with the exception of Zdeno Chara.

I got a text from Goonblog fan, Brownie the other night. It read, NHL ’08 for PS3 is amazing..Chara is a pussy in it though. Hands down it is the funniest text I have ever received, but at the same time it’s true. I really don’t want Goonblog to turn into anti Chara blog, but it seems he is our new whipping boy here. It was Hal Gill a few years ago, and to be honest, I think Chara is an inch taller Hal Gill. To say I am disappointed he wasn’t the one to go after Randy Jones instead of Chuck Kobasew is a gross understatement. Claude Julien should have walked up to him, told him to remove his jersey. Then he should have handed it to Donny Delnegro and told him to remove the C because he wasn’t fit to wear it. I’m sure he works hard, and is a nice guy, but he’s no Captain. You think Terry O’Reilly would have let Chuck Kobasew do the dirty work if he was on the ice? Exactly.

As far as the suspension goes, I think it’s fair. It was a bad hit, and he knows better than to hit anyone when their back is turned, but it wasn’t vicious like the cross check Boulerice laid on Kesler. I think the punishment fit the crime, and I think he’ll get some code justice when these two teams meet again. No weekly wrap up on Sunday. TKO and I will be in Indianapolis for the Patriots game. Should be a blast. I might try a running diary tomorrow night for the Bruins. We’ll see how the schedule works out. Meantime, I am off to bed, and by that, I mean I am off to get more brew.

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WWU V


in AHL, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Milan Lucic, Old Time Hockey, Philadelphia Flyers, Shawn Thornton

Good week here at Goonblog HQ. I got to games Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Obviously there were no fights Wednesday and Saturday, duh, it was Lowell, but Thursday’s Bruins game was quite a different story. Bridget took me for my birthday and we had a great seat for the fight Bruins fans had been waiting for for a year now. That’s right. Big Z finally dropped them.

It started right in front of us with a disagreement between Zdeno Chara and Blackhawk tough guy, David Koci. The two had a very spirited bout, and I score it a win for Chara. A lot has been made about Koci’s nose already being broken, and that’s why he was bleeding. My point? Who cares? If Chara doesn’t raise his fists to him, then he doesn’t hit him. He doesn’t hit him, we never find out he already had a broken nose. I am just glad Chara finally got in a fight. Bummer he didn’t break his hand like Jack Edwards speculated.

Yesterday’s Bruins game was a spirited affair as well. After two disappointing bouts as a Bruin, Shawn Thornton really impressed me yesterday in his to to toe battle with Riley Cote. The 2 stood in and traded a bunch of bunches. Thornton was fired up after the fight too, as he was trying to get the crowd into it after being separated from Cote. I call it a draw.

Not to be outdone, new Bruin favorite Milan Lucic got into it with Ben Eager about 10 seconds later. I was once again very impressed with the rookie from Vancouver. He traded shots with Eager, and once again showed great balance. I think Eager landed more, but Lucic kept coming. I score the fight a win for Eager, but Lucic gets very high marks once again.

I’m sure Bruins fans everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief for Patrice Bergeron. That was a scary hit, and I take issue with Chara who was on the ice at the time, not being the one to go after Randy Jones. When Chuck Kobasew is doing that kind of thing over the Captain of an Original Six team, I think it shows the make up of both guys. Anyway, it was a scary and dirty hit, and I’m glad Bergie is OK. I would expect Jones to get some discipline after this one. Colin Campbell should just set up an office in Philly eh? I am off to the Patriots game, then the Sox later. Monday should be an interesting day!

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Opening Night


in AHL, Chris, Dave, Goons, GoonSquad, Lowell Devils, Milan Lucic

Usually Wednesday night is Hockey Night in Acton, but last night it was Hockey Night in Lowell. I got in my first Lowell Devils game of the year, and here is a quick recap of what me and the other 400 fans saw, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Providence goal, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, Providence goal, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzI think you get the idea. I have taken English tests in High School that were more exciting. I do not like the brand of hockey New Jersey plays, and I do not like the trickle down effect to their Minor League systems. They’ve had a decent tough guy on their roster in the form of Pierre Luc Leblond, and he has yet to dress. It’s pretty frustrating to see your team go down 4-0 to a division rival in the first meeting of the year, and have no one do anything. Hell, they didn’t even have anyone dressed that could do anything.

On the other side of the ice, the Bruins fan in me was very impressed with Tuuka Rask. That kid is lightning quick, stays square to the shooter, and has excellent rebound control. I really like him, and was totally impressed. Keep in mind; I also said that about Hannu Toivonen the first time I saw him as well. I hope they are more patient with Rask, than they were with Hannu.

It’s also always fun to see the league’s biggest pussy, Sean Curry, in action. I love his menacing stare and the fear in his eyes because he knows it can’t be backed up. Listen girls have been sending me mixed messages my whole life. I.e. I am not a lesbian, but after being hit on by you, I can learn, so I know one when I see it, and Sean is sending a mixed message. He can’t hide the fear is his eyes, with a fake glare, the Peter Reynolds starter set for a hair cut, and the fake enforcer goatee.

Tonight, MOL and I are off to the Garden for opening night. Our special guest will be newly minted American Citizen, Dave. I am very proud of Dave for becoming a Citizen of this great Nation. In a time when everyone seems to take pleasure in bashing America and our policies at every turn, and Americans are saying they are ashamed to call themselves an American, Dave has decided to become an American Citizen. I think it’s an outstanding move, and I am proud of him for doing it. Cue Lee Greenwood

This will be my third straight opening night with MOL. The first was the end of the lockout year when they lost to Montreal, and I sat in front of people that thought Colton Orr was Bobby Orr’s son (no relation) and was debating on if Bobby would be mad because Colton wasn’t getting any ice. The verdict? Yes he would be. Last year was the Calgary Flames. I think I may have been that guy in the stands that night. Boston won. We got plowed. Tonight, the Tampa Bay Lightning is in town. To say I am excited is putting it mildly. I am pumped to see Lucic in action live for the first time, and I hope number 22 mixes it up with former teammate, and baby faced tough guy Shane O’Brien. We’ll be leaving in about 30 minutes to get to the Fours, and Halftime Pizza. If you see anyone in a Goonblog T shirt, with a girl that won’t stop muttering, what have I done stop and say Hi to MOL and I! Go Bruins, and Go Sox!

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