On Frozen Blog

(Portland, Maine) — Embarked I am on roadtrip no. 1 of the new hockey season, catching up with my friends Mike and Marleen, who are newly relocated here from D.C. and adjusting to life without live Caps’ hockey. Like so many others, they are Versus-less at home this fall, and for the Caps’ first few appearances on that network this season they took to lodging themselves at a Portland Vietnamese restaurant bar that has the TV feed. Mike and Marleen are most enthusiastic puckheads, and they’ve told me that they firmly believe they’re converting the Vietnamese restaurant proprietors to hockey with their patronage. I have no doubt.

The Hershey Bears are in town, having won in Lowell 5-2 last night. Keith Aucoin had a hat trick, and Andrew Gordon was a +4 on the night. The Bears are playing the Pirates tomorrow night at the venerable, very ’70s-looking Cumberland County Civic Center, and we of course have tickets (the arena’s web site offers a detailed Flash presentation of its mid-1970s construction). It’s somewhat ironic that my first live Bears’ game of the new season occurs about 500 miles from Hershey. The Bears I suspect developed an affinity for this town like I have over the years, which might explain their travel itinerary this week, which affords them three nights here. Tonight I’m going to catch up with John Walton at one of Portland’s distinguished watering holes.

Tuesday brought word that I wouldn’t see live this weekend my favorite Hershey Bear, Mathieu Perreault. That’s the type of disappointment I enjoy in this sport. Perreault was one of the few bright spots in Wednesday night’s 3-2 loss in New Jersey, notching two assists, including a gorgeous primary assist on Tyler Sloan’s goal. From the look of things, Hershey may not see him back for a while. And that probably wouldn’t surprise Bruce Boudreau, who earlier Wednesday told the Washington Post that when the Caps contacted the Bears this week seeking standout performers Perreault’s was name no. 1 uttered.

I first began writing about Perreault on this blog a few months after he was drafted in 2006, for all he did that season was earn league MVP honors in the Q, and when I first saw him perform in person out at Kettler Capitals the following summer, at a Development Camp, I was awestruck at his skill level. A few of my readers judged my enthusiasm for him unmerited — he was too small to play serious pro hockey, they alleged. So I took particular satisfactioin in his showing last night in New Jersey. Did you catch a certain Alexander Ovechkin in the Comcast broadcast booth next to JoeB wax effusively about Mathieu? “This guy has a great future,” I believe the Gr8 said.

I have an excellent amateur scout lodged in Bears’ country named Katie, and Katie sees the game much the way I do. Mere minutes after Perreault’s recall on Tuesday Katie emailed me her thoughts on the matter:

“[Last weekend] He danced through defenders twice his size on countless occasions, all the while keeping possession of the puck! If size is a question for people – take note of this:  When Bouchard was hit from behind by a 6 foot 5 Albany defender Saturday, Perreault rose to the occasion and went after him.  Granted, the Albany guy probably didn’t take him seriously, but for someone that small to stand up for his teammate against someone that large was just beyond impressive.  

I’m selling tickets to jump on the Perreault band-wagon.”

A New England pub thought: I wonder in about two years’ time how many Capitals’ fans will end up wishing that the hockey heart beating within undersized Perreault could have been somehow transplanted into Alexander Semin?

My extended weekend agenda includes a stop in at the Maine Beer Festival on Saturday. Sixteen brewers are participating; I will endeavor to sample all 16. The region’s beer enthusiasts are being accorded most conducive beer festival sipping conditions by Mother Nature this weekend: there are morning rush hour advisories for rain-snow slushing here Friday and night-time temps down in the upper 20s each night ahead through Sunday.

We’ll be DVR-ing the Caps’ home-and-home slate with Florida on Friday and Saturday, making for a very full weekend of live and televised puck and puck soda sampling.

On Sunday Mike and Marleen and I will make out way out to Lewiston, Maine, about an hour’s car ride from Portland, and take in a late afternoon Quebec League matinee between the Maineiacs and the Rimouski Oceanic. I saw Rimouski play Lewiston here back in 2003, when a certain Sidney Crosby skated for the vistors. The hosts laid a remarkable beatdown on Crosby and co. that night — something on the order of 10-2 or 10-3, and the Kid may have been kept off the scoresheet entirely that night. I also remember that a sizable band of female Maineiacs’ partisans seated hard against the glass that night directed a fair share of sailor blue oaths Sidney’s way.  I hope they’re still Maineiacs season ticket holders.

My plan is to share some of the fun on OFB Twitter.