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.

Hockey Fight Videos

No need to Outlaw Fighting


in AHL, Albany River Rats, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Hockey Fight Videos, Jon Mirasty, Trevor Gillies
This is some fight between Goonblog favorite, Trevor Gillies and Jon Mirasty. This is round two for these guys, and it came after a questionable hit. Reason number 84 million why fighting should not be outlwaed in this game. As an aside, Mirasty was on a PTO with Lowell a few years ago, and played one game. I never got to see him, and that makes me sad. Enjoy this one boys.
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I’m Fitzy. She’s Sully.


in AHL, Brad Staubitz, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Hockey Fight Videos, Kip Brennan, Lowell Devils, Pierre-Luc LeBlond, Worcester Sharks
Happy St. Patrick’s Day Goons and Goonettes! MOL and I are celebrating by doing Irish Car Bombs, and calling each other boy-o, and laddie. I shall call her Sully for the rest of the evening, demanding she call me Fitzy. I think now might be the time to say, we don’t get out much. I hope my favorite Lowell Devil is able to hoist a cold one or two tonight. Pierre-Luc LeBlond took one of the hardest left hands to the mind I have ever seen Friday night. It was delivered in a cool third jersey by Worcester Shark, Brad Staubitz. LeBlond had asked him no less than 5 times to go, but Staubitz wanted nothing to do with him. Worcester was killing Lowell, and Staubitz was having a super game. In fact, he earned himself second star. Finally near the end of the game, LeBlond finally got Staubitz to oblige his request to have a go, and I am thinking he may be sorry #6 said yes. The fight started OK with a little wrestling, and the boys trading a few punches. Nothing too heavy, but they weren’t pillow punches either. Then LeBlond got Staubitz bent over to his right, as it looked like he was going for the takedown. Brad Staubitz, who is as strong as an ox, pulled himself upright, and allowed him to regain his balance. As he got his balance, he got his left arm free and cocked. He then proceeded to lower the boom on PLL, and it was lights out from there. LeBlond went down like a man that has just been punched very fucking hard in the face. I think he may have hit his head on the ice as well. It was one of those punches you could see coming, and I could hear the impact from my seat a few rows away. LeBlond was clearly woozy on his way to the bench, and in fact fell through the door. He was helped up, and never returned. Hopefully he’s back soon, as he is the only interesting thing about Lowell Devils games this season. Off for another car bomb! Please try to behave yourselves tonight boys. P.S. Here is a good tilt between Kip Brennan, and Pierre-Luc LeBlond
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Alive, and Doing Fine


in Chris, Georges Laraque, Goons, GoonSquad, Hockey Fight Videos, Jeremy Reich, The Hammer
You’ll all be happy to know that The Hammer and I made it to and from the Bruins game in one piece. We took the train in, and brought some Knobb. After a couple of slices at halftime, and a 25 ouncer we headed in for the game. Our seats were incredible, and I really gotta that MOL for the above and beyond birthday present. The game started very poorly for Boston. They got down early and often, as they had no answer for Sid and company. I must tell you. If you have the mean, I implore you to get really good seats to any game in which the Pens are playing. I’m serious. To watch Crosby, Stall, and Malikn do their thing is incredible. Plus, there’s Georges Laraque. Big Georges came to play last night. In his first three shifts he found himself on the ice with Jeremy Reich, and every time he was near Reich he asked him to go. Reich obviously wanted no part of the Heavyweight Champ, as he turned him down every single time. Finally, Georges had enough. He lined up next to Reich on a face off, and luckily he was facing us, and I was close enough to read his lips. He looked around Reich to Zdeno Chara, and said, Hey, big fella! You wanna go? Big Z shook his head. Laraque says, Yeah? OK let’s do it. As soon as the puck dropped, they squared up for a long time. The building was going crazy waiting for them to start chucking them. I was screaming for Laraque to destroy Chara. Cats and dogs were living together. It was anarchy. So finally, they do get together. I don’t think any punches were even thrown and landed. Chara got the takedown, no points by the way, and the place was booing. Hell, they weren’t even assessed fighting majors. I don’t think that sat well with big 27, because as soon as the 2 minutes were up, the boys got back together. Well, not much changed after 2 minutes. Same thing happened, only this time, Laraque got the takedown. Again. No points. It was pretty disappointing. I tell you what was not disappointing. Being in the building for Crosby’s Gordie Howe hat trick. He fucking destroyed Ference. That was amazing to watch him stick up for himself like that. I think he really handled himself nicely, and it was definitely the fight of the night. Nice work Sid. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas. Mother broke her ankle the other day so I’ll pretty much be at her beck and call for the next couple of weeks, with extra effort required this weekend. I am excited to see my little guys as well, and spend some QT with MOL. Merry Christmas all. Please be safe, happy, and healthy!
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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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Badass PC. Badass Brawls.


in AHL, Chris, Goons, GoonSquad, Hockey Fight Videos, Lowell Devils, Trevor Gillies
I am not sure if I mentioned my new PC kicks serious ass. Well if I didn’t, I am telling you now. This thing kicks serious ass. I am watching highlights from last night’s games on the NHL network while typing this. This thing is very cool. Right up until they started showing the highlights of the Bruins game last night. Nice fucking pass Chara. I guess the highlights aren’t really my computer’s fault right? No. Not at all. I also know I liked my Sony at first, but that turned out bad. Ever date, or just bang a really hot girl that was all booked up on crazy but she was hot and looked really good but you still had the whole crazy factor there and it eventually got so bad you had to break up with her before she stole your dog or something? Well, that was my old Sony. Looked great, booked up on crazy. This thing is hot and lets me watch hockey. Not even MOL does that. I hope she doesn’t read this. Last night featured some real heavyweight tilts in the American Hockey League. Trevor Gillies and Jon Mirasty had a real slugfest in Albany. Lots of punches traded and landed. Trevor got knocked down at the end of the tilt, but it’s hard to say if it was from a Mirasty punch, or if he slipped. I saw win Gillies, but you could make a case for either guy. Great tilt though. I am really bummed out Mirasty never got a shot in Lowell. That would make the fans want to come to one of the prettiest arenas in the whole league, and that’s fucking crazy talk! Speaking of Lowell, former Lockmonster Kip Brennan, and current Devil Pierre-Luc LeBlond had a dandy as well in Bridgeport. These heavyweights traded lots of rights, and kept going into the late rounds. They were finally separated after trading heavy rights, hanging on, trade a right, hang on; trade a right.they both gave it their all. I call it a draw. Maybe a slight advantage to Kip Brennan. I am headed to Lowell for the Manchester tilt in about an hour. Hopefully Manchester’s Paul Crosty or Kevin Westgarth is feeling frisky.
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A Goon is Born


in Hockey Fight Videos, Philadelphia Flyers, Steve Downie
Well folks – it’s official. Steve Downie is a goon. We first noticed Downie when he contributed to the World Juniors in 2006, and he was quickly labeled a future “character player” which is a polite way of saying that he’s a bit of a head case. Still, we welcomed him to the fray as his loose-cannon personality was consistently backed up by his on ice antics. The antics are entertaining until someone gets seriously hurt as has now happened several times. The latest incident occurred September 25th when Downie opened a can of creamed corn on Dean McAmmond of Ottawa, leaving him blacked out behind the net. Bryan Murray made a few comments that hit home with me. He mentioned Downie had been “laughing after the hit” and that the “history of this young man” would play a role in how his punishment was handed down. That punishment, it was just announced, will see him suspended for 20 games. Let’s look at some of the facts of the case here, and then I’d like our readers to sound off.
  • Steve apparently laughed after the hit.
  • In his short career, Steve already has a lot of strikes against him.
  • McAmmond dished the puck a split second before Downie hit him.
  • Downie jumped intentionally and was airborne.
  • Downie has apologized and said he hopes he didn’t hurt him.
  • McAmmond was left with little more than a concussion.
    • Downie is going to spend a long time trying to live this down, and maybe it’s good that he’s having his hand slapped early. On the other hand, he was indeed trying to lay a hit on a player who had the puck – albeit a ferocious one. It’s kind of his job. So let us know where you stand, GoonSquad. Is 20 games too many or two few? Is NHL Corporate going to use this as a further tool to eradicate the physical play of the past? Is Downie’s considerable skill on the ice doomed to be overshadowed by his quick temper and rough style of play? Do you like movies about gladiators?
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    Just Don’t Kill Ray Bourque


    in Hockey Fight Videos, Old Time Hockey, The Ref
    I know we’re in the middle of the playoffs and everything, but I need to share. A funny thing happened on the way to Canada a couple of weeks ago. I just moved up here permanently from Boston’s North End, and to the uninitiated it’s a heck of a tough neighborhood to maneuver anything resembling a large truck through. When I arrived at my favorite automotive equipment leasing establishment (hint: it rhymes with RuPaul,) I discovered my reservation for a 10 foot truck had somehow translated into a 14 footer that wouldn’t be ready for an hour. By the time I finally got back to the North End from Dorchester not only was I an hour behind schedule, but I had serious doubts about whether I’d be able to back the behemoth down my little street that was of course designed for horses 300 years ago. Luckily my copilot, Sean – the Bear to my BJ (that’s hot) – got out of the truck and helped me navigate backwards through the planters, pedestrians and fire escapes that litter Cleveland Place. We got the bugger in and we got it almost all the way to my front door when I noticed a man on a cell phone walking towards the truck in my rear view mirror. At the time, I thought he looked familiar but I was far too engrossed in not flattening Italian children to pay it any mind. And then Sean shouted his next direction my way: “Cut the wheel to the right, straighten out past the lamp post and be sure not to hit Stanley Cup winner and Hockey Hall of Famer, Ray Bourque“. I hit the brakes and turned around to look out the windshield as Ray heard his name, turned and waved at us. Had he not been on the phone, Sean swears he would have asked him to help load the truck so we could get a picture. That would have been quite a momento to leave Boston with. Still, it was very exciting to have almost squashed Ray Bourque that fateful morning. I’m not a fan-atic in a Mark David Chapman sort of way, but I’m starting to see where the fat bastard was coming from.
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    Top 10 Ways to Save the NHL


    in Hockey Fight Videos
    1. Eliminate the Instigator rule: The players hate it, the fans hate it and it just plain does not make sense. Let the men police themselves. If two willing combatants have an issue with each other they can settle things the right way; one-on-one! If some wing ding wants to fly around the ice taking liberties, he will quickly be approached and dealt with accordingly. Paul Mara had two Instigator penalties this season yeah you read that correctly – Paul Fuckin Mara! During one of his final games with the B’s before being traded to the Rangers, he was about to get into a scrap when the ref reminded him he had 2 and one more would get him suspended. The puss bag who he wanted to go with kept goading him fully knowing Paul couldn’t do anything. 2. Suspend hit from behind offenders: There has been WAY too many of these infractions this past season. Forget giving them a 2 minute penalty, toss their ass out of the game and suspend them. I know there will be a gray area and all that but getting blasted from behind is just about the worst thing – unless of course you are My Better Half who seems to enjoy it. 3. Get rid of half shields: When was the last time a player lost their vision? I know it happens but that’s the chance you take playing professional hockey. These foreign players run around the ice with there shields on and sticks flying. Not in North America hockey boys. Put Robocop back on the streets of Detroit. 4. Get some Studio Hosts who have a heart beat for National games: I hate the Monday Night Countdown crew on ESPN but they sure do get me fired up for Football. The Bed Time boys from Versus and NBC need to go. Bill Clement is just not cutting it as a Studio guy. His strength is as an analyst calling a game. Keith Jones is flat out horrible in the studio. Whatever he is getting paid he should give it all back to Versus with interest. Ray Chicken Parm Ferraro is decent but he seems to be holding back as to not offend anyone. Brett One Timer Hull is growing on me and improving week to week. Get some guys in there with energy and passion, please! 5. For shootouts, every player on the roster needs to participate: No reason the same 3 guys should be going night after night. I’m tired of seeing Marco Sturm, Patrice Bergeron and Phil Kessel. Maybe they don’t have to use every player since the bottom of the roster has a good amount of turnover but at least they could make the top 2 or 3 lines including D participate. Once a player attempts a shootout, he can’t participate again until the other members on his team have gone. Basically, I’m looking forward to George Laraque coming down on Henry Lundquist followed by Colton Orr sizing up Marc-Andre Fleury for a deek move. Do you think that would make Sports Center? You bet your ass it would. 6. Swap the broadcasts of back to back home and home games: The announcers for each team will have one of those broadcasts sent to the other teams’ viewers. With each NHL team having there games broadcast by muppets who are being paid by that team, the broadcasts are weighted in that teams favor. Imagine HockeyTown getting the feed from the Avalanche and vise versa? What about Toronto getting Ottawa’s feed? Can you imagine how many TV sets would be broken during a Canadians vs. Bruins game with the Boston area getting the French feed? Au Revoir Messieur Sony Plasma. How about Montreal having to listen to Dale I love Mr. Jacobs Arnold yelling What a save by Thomas after the puck missed the net by 5′? 7. Partner with YouTube: Put together weekly highlight packages including plays of the week, goals of the week, saves of the week, hits of the week and of course, fights of the week. The popularity of this site with the younger generation is off the charts. The amount of hits they get per day is almost as much as Bob Marley took back in the day! The packages don’t have to be anything special, just show some cool shit that will get potential viewers interested. The hockey fans that are watching now will always be here. The NHL needs to grow and this is a cheap method. Lord knows Gary Bettman would like this as he is just about as cheap as Jeremy Jacobs oh wait, no one is that cheap. Sorry Gary that was a low blow. 8. Get the 4th referee off the ice: There is no need to have 4 extra skaters on the ice. Have you seen how many times the refs are in the way of the game lately? Pucks are getting stuck in their skates as well as being ricocheted off their bodies. Two linesman and 1 referee can easily accomplish officiating today’s game. 9. Limit the amount of Europeans in the league: Look at Soccer in North America. Every kid plays the game growing up but the fan base for MLS blows. You know why? It’s not our sport and the best known players are almost entirely foreign. We can’t relate to some kid who grew up in Sweden but we sure as hell can relate to some stud from Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, Minnesota or even Southie. These foreign players sure are talented but let’s face it, do you wanna watch PJ Axelson for another 4 years or would you prefer some 6’3 monster from Mississauga tearing things up? 10. Implement Guest Announcing Night: For the local watering holes surrounding the stadiums desperately trying to lure back business, they should offer guest announcer night. Have 2 or 3 patrons sit in front of the flat screen with microphones and announce the game with no restrictions! Can you imagine the Harp during a B’s game with Chris and me at the mike? The place would be buzzing and so would we. Who needs the paid yahoos to tell us what we are watching. I’d rather listen to Joe fan, with a few beers in him, sharing his thoughts for all to hear. I could go on and on – but I won’t. I want my Million Dollar Babies to be fans of the NHL when they grow up. If things continue as is, this game might not be around for them and that scares me to death. Today’s game is an eye sore for the new viewer the NHL is trying to lure in. I’d love to sit in on a Marketing meeting within the NHL HQ and see exactly what these brain surgeons have in store for us in the coming years. Check that: does the NHL have a Marketing department? I’m fired up for the playoffs, enjoy the games and let’s hope things improve.
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    Contest Entry #2: Marty McSorley


    in Contests, Hockey Fight Videos, Marty McSorley
    During our last podcast we asked you to contribute entries heralding your favorite hockey thug of all time. Response has been great, although there is still room for more entries. We’ll be posting the best and holding a vote so that our readers can eventually pick the winner. Here is the second – Todd St. Louis’ take on Marty McSorley: Back in the 94-95 hockey season I was playing with the Belleville Bulls. That year was the first NHL lockout and a few former Bulls came and skated with us to keep in shape. One of those guys also gets my vote for best goon of all time – Marty McSorley. Marty McSorley My time skating with Marty was a very educational period in my hockey career. Not only did these guys practice with us, but they gave us advice off the ice as well. Marty could quickly tell my role on the team, and bestowed more than a few hockey fight tips to my waiting ears. The one I remember the best is when Marty told me “Every time you throw a punch, visualize your fist coming through the back of that person’s skull.” So every time over the years when i dropped the gloves, Marty’s little school of fighting would echo in my head. So I suppose I owe him a vote of thanks for all the punches i landed over the years! Also check out Bobsluggo’s tough-to-beat entry for Dennis Bonvie and then submit your own!
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    What do you want for nothing? Rubber Biscuit?


    in Chris, Hockey Fight Videos
    As you guys all know, I think Rob Simpson is a goof. He must have nude pictures of someone somewhere, because he comes off like a total numnut on his in game reports on NESN. As such, I have never really paid much attention to his Rubber Biscuit show, also on NESN. I figure the 15 minutes a week I get of him on Bruins games is enough. However, when I heard that last weeks show was going to be about fighting, obviously I was firing up the DVR, and watching the show. I am glad I did. For those not in the know, Rubber Biscuit is a half hour program on NESN. Basically what I can gather is it is a wacky behind the scenes look at the Bruins, both on the ice and off. Sounds like Simpson being Simpson, so I have basically avoided the whole thing. The fighting episode was perhaps the finest half hour in television history. Basically, Rubber Biscuit takes the same stance Goonblog does on fighting, and fighting’s place is the game today. They also mixed in some awesome fight clips, and some quick interviews with Bruins legends, Ray Bourque, Jay Miller, Derek Turk Sanderson, Terry O’Reilly, and number 8, Cam Neely. There was a common thread with all the interviews. Miller said he fought because he was a local kid and he felt like he was defending the honor of Boston, also, it was the only way he could stay in the show. O’Reilly said that back in his day, fighting was so common, and luckily for him it was, because it was, like Miller, the only way he could stay. Turk said the same thing. Even Bobby Orr and Ray Bourque fought. Said Sanderson. Bourque and Neely both said they did it when they had to. Neely as a product of his rough and tumble style, Bourque, to defend a teammate or retribution on a person that had taken some liberties with the interpretation of the rules. What Rubber Biscuit said about fighting itself is there is a place in the game for it, in fact, a very big place. They looked at why the NHL in legislating fighting out, and the repercussion to the fans. Stating that people that aren’t watching the NHL now are never going to watch the NHL, no matter what kind of marketing they do. It made me think of basketball. No matter what the NBA does, I am never watching. I understand it is Sales, and Marketing 101, you need to grow the business through advertising, but if you change the product enough, you’ll drive away the existing customer base. See the drop in attendance as an example. The show also examined the instigator rule. Paul Mara had said he wanted to do something about the cheap shot laid on a mate in Buffalo, but didn’t because he was afraid of getting his third instigator, and thus suspended for two games. It has always been my stance that without the instigator rule, the Todd Bertuzzi incident never happens. All in all it was a fine program. This league is in deep trouble folks. The regular season has turned into a very long exhibition schedule, with no emotion or meaning to most of the games. Attendance is way down because North American hockey fans prefer North American hockey, not the Swedish Elite League. Rubber Biscuit really nailed the role of fighting in the NHL, and I suggest you catch it if you can
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