Hockey Blog - Hockey Fights, Fight Videos, Podcast, TShirts | GoonBlog.com

Time 2020-11-06 19:03:54

Web Name: Hockey Blog - Hockey Fights, Fight Videos, Podcast, TShirts | GoonBlog.com

WebSite: http://www.goonblog.com

ID:107128

Keywords:

Fights,Fight,Hockey,

Description:

GoonBlog.com Hockey blog with humorous, blow-by-blow commentary on hockey s fights, goons enforcersFor the initiated, Monday night’s game was what one would call… domination. The Bruins stood over the Blackhawks, like the cover art from Straight Outta Compton, in all facets of the game. I am certainly not counting the Hawks out but right now the Bruins appear to be very much in the driver’s seat of this series. Game three did give us the only “fight” to date, and since we are a blog dedicated to fighting in hockey let’s talk a bit about the donnybrook in question.Brad Marchand is a super-pest, as is Chicago’s Andrew Shaw. Both can play the game as well and have even shown a willingness to drop the mitts when forced. These two got locked up together with a few minutes remaining in the third, as were Brian Bickell of Chicago and Boston’s Zdeno Chara. Chara and Bickell were involved in a nice shoving match that ended with “Z” on top. When Bickell broke free, he arose sporting the same crazy stare of that kid in my neighborhood who used to wear a sheet for a cape whilst jumping off a tree stump to crack me over the head with a Wiffle Ball Bat. He looked nuts, I tell ya. Anyway, as this was happening, Shaw and Marchand got locked together, sans sticks and gloves. Not many punches were thrown, as Marchand was going for the takedown. Once he got said takedown, Shaw got below the hard deck to break a major rule of hockey pugilism by punching Marshy right in the face, really hard. Allegedly there was an eye gouge in the mix as well.I take a lot of issue with Shaw hitting Marchand when he was down. So as to not be accused of being a homer, I also take issue with Marchand and his penchant for slew footing guys. He has been borderline undisciplined all playoffs and that’s continued into this series. Thankfully, the Blackhawks’ power play makes the Bruins’ PP look downright prolific! Back to Shaw for a moment. Marchand is a pest, we all get that, but that is no excuse to hit him when he’s flat on his back. If you’re going to play the game on the edge like these two guys do sometimes the gloves need to be dropped. I think it’s best to know the code before engaging.While we’re on the topic of bad power plays, this seems like a nice time to bring up the very poor officiating in this series. Last night was no exception, with the roughing call on Shawn Thornton and the tripping call on Shaw being especially erroneous. It was my thinking that the refs were also the best of the best at this time of the year. On the one hand it’s good neither team can score on the PP. Conversely, it would really suck if either team decided to get the PP in order when playing out some shitty phantom rough, hook, trip, or whatever the hell. Either way, I like the Bruins having the mo, and expect them to continue it this evening in North Station.{ 0 comments }Saturday afternoon I was at a graduation party (congratulations, Nick!) with a ton of feverish Bruins fans. Obviously, the game was all we were talking about. I asked George what he thought, and his response was, “It ll be a 5-1 blowout. Could go either way. I think it’s a huge statement game.” While George was incorrect about the lopsidedness of the final score, I agree it was a huge statement game indeed.After being outshot 678 to -4 in the first period and generally being outplayed all over the ice, the Bruins came out for the second far more determined. I am not a big Tuukka Rask fan, but if it weren t for him the score would have been out of hand. His brilliance kept everyone in the game and that’s exactly what you need to win in the playoffs. The ice started shifting back towards the Bruins in period 2, and Chris Kelly (the ugliest guy on the team, nay the league) got a suitably ugly goal to pull it even. Once the Bruins got through to the third period it became win a period; win a hockey game hockey, in which they absolutely thrive. I felt they were all over the Hawks the second half of the game, and Chicago couldn t get one past Rask to save their lives. In OT, it was all Bruins, all the time. Jagr hit the pipe, again, and the Bruins controlled the frame. They outplayed the Hawks and seemed more desperate to win. Perhaps it was the thought of going home down 2, but they were inspired (and it showed) in the chances both sides did or didn t have. Paille’s winner was perfectly placed on Corey Crawford and if the Hawks netminder wasn t aware, the book is out on him. Shoot high glove, and you’ll have success.As soon as the game ended, I flipped over to Heat which was on one of the movie channels I keep threatening to cancel. I caught it right at the diner scene between Pacino and DeNiro. Arguably, one of the greatest movie scenes in the history of film, and a fitting analogy for what had just transpired. In the scene, you have two of the game’s most respected players telling one another they are aware of what the other does, and have no intention of backing down. The mutual respect across the table is palpable and I think it translates well into this season’s final. Both are the best of the best in the game right now, and we’ve seen each team flex their muscles a bit. The Bruins made a statement the other night that despite being down in the series, and down in the game, they were far from finished. The Hawks, on the other hand, have to be a bit concerned after giving Boston their best game and still ending up on the losing end. Then, of course, there s this gem As the series shifts to Boston, I am feeling like the Bruins have a bit of the momentum on their side. They are coming off a huge win in which they battled all game long, and the Hawks have to be thinking they let a great chance to try and start to put the Bruins away slip through their hands. With Bruins fans behind them on home ice, I feel another statement game coming on and they will win another nail-biter, 3-2.{ 0 comments }What started with nervous energy and confidence ended with a puck hitting the back of the goal at exactly 1 AM, and me turning the television off. No swearing, no cross words. I had remarked to The Ref before the game started, that it’s a good thing I don’t drink anymore. Last night’s game would have put me over the edge before it even started and the triple overtime would have translated into triple bourbon. Instead, I ate a pickle and three Double Stuff Oreos at around 12:30. No wonder my belly hurt. Oh, I have a few thoughts on the game, too.Torey Krug was not good. I ve been super impressed with this kid, and I think he may have played Andy Ference right out of a job for next year, but last night, Freddy, as he is known in the room, looked every bit the Nightmare on Elm Street for which he is named. Bad giveaways and plays that work in the AHL are not going to cut it in the Stanley Cup Finals.Tyler Seguin was not good either. Seguin needs to be a hockey player and stop being a pussy. He spends entirely too much time on the perimeter. Seguin has an obvious nose for the net but his unwillingness to pay a price to score in the NHL is holding him back.The Lucic-Krejci-Horton line is firing on all cylinders. Well, they were up until the widely rumored upper body injury on Horton reared its ugly head. Oh, and Horty had a bad giveaway too. Other than that, they ve been great. Are we seeing the Mid-April Bruins? Anyone that watched this club in 2013 knows the old Bruins that NEVER gave up leads is gone and has been replaced by a team that simply can’t hold onto an advantage. I am hoping the alarming trend isn t continuing now and the Blackhawks are just a really good hockey team.I am not the slightest bit concerned they lost that game. It literally could have gone either way and as brother Dave pointed out these clubs are so evenly matched it looked like an intra-squad scrimmage. The Bruins need to put their foot on the snake when they get up 2 again, and limit bad turnovers. Freddy: this means you. I would look for both clubs to try and play the same game Saturday they played last night. If you have a foot on the ledge, it would be my advice to come on inside. Bruins in 6.{ 0 comments }It’s game day, finally. Nervous? Excited? Both dem things. I really dug the media day coverage NHL network had. Highlights for the Bruins included Jags, and Shawn Thornton. On the Hawks side I dug Patrick Kane and Captain Serious. The message I got from everyone was they were excited to get started and liked their chances. Well, if you re asking so do I.Expect tonight’s game to be the tone setter for the entire series. I realize I’m not really going out on a limb by saying that but it’s the truth. I would imagine the Bruins are going to want to let the Hawks know they are in for a delightfully physical affair, and I expect them to try and get inside Toews’ head as much as possible. That job ought to fall to Mr. Brad Marchand. The Hawks, on the other hand, will try and push the pace with their puck possession and try (perhaps desperately) to match Boston on the physical side. For those of you that haven’t seen Bryan Bickell play, you’ll get a good introduction tonight. He’ll lead the way in the physical department and I will be secretly fantasizing about one day seeing him don the black and gold. Good gravy, if there was ever a prototypical “Bruin” Bick is it.There’s not a lot more to say about this series until the horse is out of the barn. On the one hand, you have the regular season juggernaut, and the best uniforms in professional sports. On the other, there’s the Jekyll and Hyde hooligans from Boston. If the team that’s been showing up in Beantown lately continues to show up through this round, it’s time to cue the Duck Boats. I mean, let s just make sure the inspection stickers are up to date right now and maybe even flush the transmissions. If not, this Chicago team is so good, and so balanced, they will punish the Bruins and send them packing in short order. Boston has to bring it tonight and maintain the pain through the whole series. I think they will do just that. Bruins in 6.{ 0 comments }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.{ 2 comments }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.{ 2 comments }We are now 9 games into the NHL season, and there has been atotal of 1 fight. One. Uno. That’s not a lot. It was a decent scrap inyesterday afternoon’s contest between LA’s Kyle Clifford, and the RangersBrandon Prust. I am not here to offer any analysis on why there has only beenone fight, I’m just saying, there hasn’t been many.The Flyers and Bruins sure could have used one the othernight. I was certain Andy Ference and Zac Rinaldo were going to have it out atone point, to no avail. I am not sure if Rinaldo told Ference global warming isa sham, or what, but after Rinaldo finished his check on the North End’sFavorite Son he said something to him that really pissed him off. Maybe he wasasking if Ference got noticed in the women’s department of Marshall’s buyingthat gawd awful yellow shirt he was wearing for his day with the Cup. My word,I had no idea Andy Ference was a cross dresser. Tree hugging hippie yes, butthis cross dressing shit is going a bit far. At any rate, I would have liked tohave seen that tilt. Rinaldo can throw hands (and I suspect he’s probably takenthe soon to be waived Jody Shelley’s spot) and Ference, when prompted, is goodfor a spirited bout.While we’re on the topic of the Bruins and Flyers, I have tosay, the banner ceremony was pretty cool the other night. I have mixed emotionson all the players skating with the cup one last time. On the one hand it wascool to see them with it on home ice. On the other, they didn’t earn the rightto skate it around in front of the home fans. It was a nice touch having Recchithere, and I thought Neely killed with his speech. The home crowd took theopportunity, 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 toturning 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 beready every night, for every team’s best game. Other than the fact that it’svery hard to repeat in the NHL, I don’t see another reason why the Bruins can’traise 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 talkingabout firing everyone, and the team having no heart tomorrow morning.Poker 4 Free{ 0 comments }Yesterday was one of the coolest and hardest days of my life. We’ll get to the cool part, but first the hard part. The cool part is worth the wait. Trust me.So, the hard part. Mike Russell’s wake. It was hands down, the hardest wake I have ever gone to in my whole life, and that includes my own father’s. The show of support was incredible. I saw many, many people I hadn’t seen in years. It was awful circumstances in which to see old friends, but it was nice to see them nonetheless. I was obviously very emotional, and seeing each of the kids and the parents trying to be strong for each other was amazing. They are a tight knit group for sure, and I hope to see them all again, only this time, at a joyous occasion. RIP, Mike. You are going to be missed.Now, for the cool part. Caroline and I got to meet Lord Stanley yesterday! The Bruins put together a thing for the season ticket holders. It was really neat to see the Cup up close, and to get to touch it. I wanted to put Caroline in the actual bowl, but they said she was too big, so we had to settle for a couple of shots of us touching it, whilst wearing a very serious face. I think she’s pissed because right where our hands are is a Montreal square. Lucky she didn’t puke on it.Along with having the Cup, there were a couple of booths set up for Bruins Stanley Cup memorabilia, and some used equipment as well. Among the locker placards, I found Brian McGrattan. Do you think 2 bucks is too much to spend? Me neither. The defense begins Thursday evening, and I for one can’t wait!{ 1 comment }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.{ 4 comments }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{ 0 comments }

TAGS:Fights Fight Hockey 

<<< Thank you for your visit >>>

Hockey blog with fight commentary, videos podcasts, t-shirts and more from the almighty GoonBlog.com

Hot Websites