hockey tock...

J. of the previously mentioned J&J called to invite me to the Caps game at Verizon last night. Sure! Heck yeah! Ain't nothin' goin' on otherwise.

He's a good guy, J.; bought himself a pair of season's tickets. And even though he comes into hockey a historical strippling, he's as avid a rooter as I've seen of late; dressed in the full Caps regalia: shirt, cap, everything but the pads. He's vociferous. Relative, of course, as I'm downright spasmodic when the Pats are on a 2-game skid or when the Sox break the bank on a foreign pitcher w/great buzz but is as yet unfamiliar.

The surprise was the opponent, the Boston Bruins. Back in the day, 70s-early 80s, I could rattle on about even Hockey, that kind of sports nut I. In the early 70s, you had the Big Bad Bruins with Esposito, Orr and Sanderson. Later that decade there were the Don Cherry perennial Stanley Cup finalists who always would lose to les Habitants de Montreal (and fuck Mario Trembley while yer at it, eh?): Jean Ratelle, Brad Park, Terry O'Reilly, Rick Middleton, Wayne Cashman, Stan Jonathan, Gerry Cheevers, et al.

Loved those guys.

The 80s? Some guy named Bourque... Word is he was good. But I had started to fade. Then it was just the Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots -- in that order. I retired as a Celtic fan right around when Larry Bird left the scene.

The 90s? I think I remember a Bruin team early in the decade getting swept by Edmonton in the finals. That right?

Last night? I couldn't name a single freakin' Bruin. They'd post the players' pics on the jumbo-tron while announcing the lineups. Pic: "Never heard of 'im." Pic: "Never heard of 'im." Pic: "Never heard... " etc. Joe Thornton's gone, right? They won, at least, 3-2 on a Shootout in overtime. Never had Shootouts back in the, uhm, day.

Yo, D.J.! Help me out here!

Where has the time gone?

Update (11/17/06): Wow! 3-game win streak for the Bs...