Just Another Day in the Life

I was away from the rink last night while the Cats and Titan did battle when at 8:08 PM I received a text message from a friend of mine. It told me all I needed to know about the game:

"obrien took a penalty"

Oh and the Cats won 5-1, Connor Garland - who's very fun to watch, in case you've forgotten - scored in his first game back from a broken hand, Julien Belliveau traded his Commandos sweater for a those of the Cats and got his first taste of major junior action this season and Danick Emond kept that high octane offensive game against Bathurst alive by scoring his second goal in as many games against the Titan (which also happens to be his second goal of the year).

But it was three individual events  that took place to gave this contest a bit more notoriety.

First off, Chris Lalonde potted a pair of goals. That makes it 24 for the right winger. An amazing 20 of them have come after December 1st. Seven have come against the first place Mooseheads. Three have come on national TV. Last night's performance also puts him into third place on the team behind Dimirtij Jaskin and Yannick Veilleux in the goals scored category. Raise your hand if saw any of this coming this season... and if your arm is raised, all I can say is this: put your damned hand down you lying SOB! I expected an improvement from #94, but this season has been a very pleasant surprise.

Secondly, if you want a good, serviceable affiliate dman who you can get a couple bucks off of, give Cameron MacDonald a call. The 19 year old Amherst Rambler mainstay was plagued by a concussion much of last season, something that in part probably cost him a spot on the Wildcats this year. His luck definitely changed for the better yesterday when he was called up to the Cats (who were without, among others, Jonathan Narbonne), played a very strong positional game from all accounts and somewhere in the middle, won $5000 on Roll Up The Rim! Speaking as a guy who's idea of a good coffee/hockey day would consist of a decent parking spot at the Coliseum and a free donut, you have to tip your hat to the kid.

Lastly...

 It's like a friggin picture of the Loch Ness Monster on a date with Sasquatch. Although I do agree with the sentiments of one messageboard poster who hoped the streak would end with O'Brien getting in a fight during the last game of the season.

Speaking of things that don't happen everyday, the Buffalo Sabres now have a head coach not named Lindy Ruff. 15 1/2 years, 170 NHL coaching changes, two lockouts and 47 Flyers goalies after he was hired, today was the end of the line for the guy that - in the early days - I referred to Yosemite Sam. Of course, in the early days, I was in Grade 11 and was just getting accustomed to the notion of driving a car (I'm now almost as close to my 20 year reunion as I am far away from my 10 year). To put it even further into perspective, I would not meet my future wife for another four years (we've now been married for 7-1/2 years). The Wildcats was just coming off it's first season under Robert Irving's ownership. Miro Satan led the Sabres in scoring during Ruff's first season behind the bench (with a disgustingly low 46 points) while Dominik Hasek was winning Hart and Vezina Trophies and was many years away from winning Stanley Cups, being washed up and assaulting opponents in roller hockey leagues. Oh, and I found out about this firing via twitter. I found out about his hiring from an archaic form of communication called a "newspaper". Couldn't find out online... it tied up the phone line too much.

I'll jump on the bandwagon of those who have already stated that Ruff will be rehired in quick succession and will thrive wherever he goes. On a more personal level, I just finished reading the book "Sudden Death", which retells the tale of the tragic bus crash that claimed the lives of four member of the Swift Current Broncos back in 1986. Brent Ruff, Lindy's little brother, was one of the fatalities. From a horrific event of that nature, to losing a Cup on what was a controversial goal (stupid rule, but controversial goal), it's time Lindy got a winning break in hockey somewhere. For a guy who's always come across as an honest, hard working guy who more often than not got the best results out of some less than stellar Sabres teams, watching on as Ruff hoists the Stanley Cup at some juncture would definitely be a sight I'd like to see.

Moving back to the Cats, Ross Johnston's fate still hangs up in the air. At the moment, the Moncton forward is suspended indefinitely. I think it was a consensus feeling that the longer it took to review the process, the harsher the suspension would be. However, the incident between him and Brian Lovell has gone very viral over the last couple of days. Accidental or not, the play is now starting to paint the QMJHL in a very negative light. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, this could end up affecting the league's decision (assuming it wasn't going to be a lengthy one to begin with). No matter what your take on the situation, you have to appreciate what the league is doing by taking as much time as possible to review the play and not rush to a judgement. To do that takes a high level of patience and understanding of what the importance of their decision symbolizes.

Moncton gets one player back from suspension on Friday in the form of Dimitrij Jaskin. He'll be back in time to face the club that recently halted the Cats' nine game winning streak, the Drummondville Voltigeurs. In a game between one contender and one surprising success story this year, it has the makings of an entertaining show.

Now, to see if Lucas Grundy can go out and score six goals tonight to give me something to write about tomorrow...