Dave Pucks - In Dublin?

Oh my.

Yes friends, your faithful reporter has had a bit of a shock this morning.

In addition to rooting for the New York Hockey Rangers, I am also an avid and rabid fan of the New York Football Giants. And with this past Sunday being one of the best Football days I have seen since – well – since the G-men downed the 16-0 Patriots – your pal Mr. Pucks decided to celebrate the 37-20 improbable win over the (best ever?) Aaron Rogers and the 15-1 Green Bay Packers by stepping out for a quick beer at a local establishment in my Sean Avery t-shirt (within staggering distance of the Puck residence).

I remember ordering a Guinness. I remember toasting the Giants. I remember more Guinness. I remember toasting Sean Avery. I remember getting a bit emotional wondering what ever had happened to my old friend Nugman. I remember reminiscing about getting in an argument with him once where he said that the Guinness in Ireland was 100 times better than the Guinness anywhere else in the world.

Then there was more Guinness and my recollection of events starts to get sketchy at that point. I remember some crazy talk coming from me about flying over to Hartford to give Sean Avery a pep talk and tell him that no matter what the Rangers do (or don’t do) that he will now and forever be my favorite BlueShirt Brother. And, heaven help me, there was more of the dark and mysterious Guinness. Endless pints of it. And suddenly everyone was my best friend and no idea seemed too outlandish to try..

The memories come in very disjointed after that. There was an airport bar.

An airport bar.

And to my inconsolable despair – they were ….

Out. Of. Guinness.

(Not at first – but eventually)

Then it gets bad. Or more accurately, then it goes blank.

I remember some kind of plane ride – and then finally – well – Guinness. And then…..

I’m not proud of this. I’m not even sure what happened.

But as Gordie Howe is my witness I woke up this morning in a hotel.

In Dublin.

Ireland.

Yes friends, that Ireland.

And so, well, until I can raise some funds for a safe return (and patch things up with Mrs. Pucks) your faithful reporter will be corresponding with you from the original land of Celtic pride.

I will get you some photos of Irish landmarks in my Sean Avery t-shirt so you will know this sad adventure is in fact on the level.

Anyway – as New York karma goes – the Giants won, so it wasn’t the worst day to slip in a little Ranger loss. And lose they did – to the Montreal Canadiens.

Not much to say about this one:

We are 1-2 without Dubinsky. We outhit the Habs, but only 26-25. Shots were even at 29. Michael Del Zotto had no shots, no hits and a minus 2. Joining him at -2 were Stu Bickel and Mike (punch-man) Rupp. But at a lowly -3 we find: Wolski and Newbury and we suspect that at least Newb’s was on his way down to Hartford before the Rangers boarded their bus.

You want some goodness? Well, after waking up some 3,000 miles from my intended destination, so do I. Mitchell had a goal, 2 shots, and 4 hits. Girardi also had 4 hits and an even plus-minus in a heroic 29:27 of ice time. Staal continues back with 19+ minutes and a relatively un-awful -1.

The Hankster? .862 save percentage – his second dip in a row. Just 25 saves. Powerplay and p-kill even at 0-1.

And that, friends, is all my aching head can manage to type about right now. Somebody send me a game feed web address so I can watch us attempt to right the ship against Nashville. If you want a reason to watch – here it is: Hagelin will likely skate with Gaborik tonight – uniting the two fastest Rangers.