Puckapalooza
Puckapalooza, or sometimes simply plooza, is the pinnacle of puck hoggery. This mostly annual event gathering puck hogs from around the US and Canada for a few days of hockey, drinking, betting, hockey, poker, and maybe some more hockey. Attendance at a plooza will instantly make you a made man in the PHL242. If this is important to you the you should probably reexamine your priorities. It’s still a damn good time. The plooza box score sheet is a continuance of a pre-PHL242 tradition of documenting success, failures, and ignominy from the degenerate event. Read the summaries below and you'll see what we get up to.
Hartford '11
First Period (NYC)
Scoring Summary:
McVeigh (1) (Unassisted): Fronting cash for NYR and HFD hockey tix.
Adrian (1) (Unassisted): Farthest Plooza traveler.
Matt DeF (1) (Jessica): Plooza-ing straight from airport after a week long biz trip and before seeing the fam. How’d that couch feel when you got home?
Matt DeF(2) (Eric): Getting Ryan Smyth’s autograph while Eric gave the other guys the TV studio tour.
Eric (1) (Unassisted): Giving AD and McV a tour of the TV truck. Hockey coverage, it’s just a job. Couldn’t hook up Matt too but that’s ok, you can’t necessarily visit the champagne room on your first Plooza.
Eric (2) (Dianne): Hosting as post-NYR crash pad.
Dianne (1) (Eric): Bringing back bagels for the drunks in the morning.
Glenny (1) (Unassisted): Prepaloozing, Drunk already by game time.
Penalties:
Eric (Death Marching Minor): Leading half-drunk friends 12+ blocks to bar.
Glenny (Sharing Minor): Giving pretzels/chips at bar to random drunk guy.
Matt Walton (Absenteeism Major): Disappearing on the boards and plooza no-show.
Team Hoddick (Absenteeism Minor): First ever Hoddick-less plooza.
Jimmy (Absenteeism Minor): First ever Jimmy-less plooza.
McVeigh (Abandonment Minor): Joining brother for a beer while AD waited in street with a drunken Glenny.
Second Period (Hartford 1st night)
Scoring Summary:
Glenny (2) (Unassisted): Scoring Whalefest pucks for the gang from the hotel check-in guy.
James (1) (Shannon): Finally making a Plooza!
James (2) (Unassisted): Big pokerpalooza winner on the first night.
Glenny (3) (Adrian): Non-fan boy interaction with Craig Janney in hotel lobby (Adrian gets shot of Winnipeg Jets bag).
Eric (3) (James): Using baller status to secure suite for weekend.
James (3) (unassisted): Booking other Hilton room.
Penalties:
Sleazy Autograph Seekers (Hounding Minor): Sketchy adults collecting player sigs for ebay.
Glenny (Commish Freezing Double Minor): Leaving AD’s jacket at Eric’s house.
Glenny (Catcalling Minor): Shouting out random girls’ names to see if any of the teenage rink rats at high school game would look up. “Kelly!” “Brittany!” “Heather!”
Glenny (Wandering Minor): Happens at every plooza. We have video this time.
Eric (Docenting Minor): Constantly giving directions to Jersey resident McV.
Eric (General Antagonizing minor): Wearing sunglasses to antagonize Glenny during poker.
CAPSLOCK (Absenteeism Major, Game Misconduct): Missing Plooza down the street. And we even watched a HS team from his home town.
Third Period (Hartford 2nd night)
Scoring Summary:
The Zambonis (Unassisted): Playing Whalefest and the Hockey Monkey song twice and engaging Puck Hogs in chatter after game.
McVeigh (2) (Brats): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
Adrian (2) (Beer): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
Glenny (4) (Brats): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
James (4) (Brats): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
McVeigh (3) (Adrian): Manning the grill while it was freeze-ass cold.
James (5) (Unassisted): Being tough and enduring the cold with a coat a bit too light.
Steve Carlson (Adrian): Steve Hanson being good with the fans. “Can we get a couple of snapshots with you?” “Sure…after I go take a fucking piss.”
Glenn (5) (Connie): Greeting former NHL tough guy Chris Kotsopoulos in Greek and getting it in return.
Dunkin Donuts Girl (1) (Unassisted): Handing our Dixie Cups of hot chocolate in windy, sub-20 degree weather over and over and over...
Penalties:
Glenny (Extinguishing Minor): Turning off the propane stove (Commish is convinced he’s trying to kill him).
Drunk Hartfordians (Cooking Major): Drunkenly running their propane grill INSIDE the back of their SUV, flare ups, smoke and all. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
James (Squandering Minor): Losing all poker winnings the following night.
Bench minor (Dunking Minor): Watching NBA slam dunk competition at bar and enjoying it.
Ed Hospodar (Goosing Minor): Grabbing James on the ass and making it look like Lyndon Byers did it.
Scoring Summary:
McVeigh (1) (Unassisted): Fronting cash for NYR and HFD hockey tix.
Adrian (1) (Unassisted): Farthest Plooza traveler.
Matt DeF (1) (Jessica): Plooza-ing straight from airport after a week long biz trip and before seeing the fam. How’d that couch feel when you got home?
Matt DeF(2) (Eric): Getting Ryan Smyth’s autograph while Eric gave the other guys the TV studio tour.
Eric (1) (Unassisted): Giving AD and McV a tour of the TV truck. Hockey coverage, it’s just a job. Couldn’t hook up Matt too but that’s ok, you can’t necessarily visit the champagne room on your first Plooza.
Eric (2) (Dianne): Hosting as post-NYR crash pad.
Dianne (1) (Eric): Bringing back bagels for the drunks in the morning.
Glenny (1) (Unassisted): Prepaloozing, Drunk already by game time.
Penalties:
Eric (Death Marching Minor): Leading half-drunk friends 12+ blocks to bar.
Glenny (Sharing Minor): Giving pretzels/chips at bar to random drunk guy.
Matt Walton (Absenteeism Major): Disappearing on the boards and plooza no-show.
Team Hoddick (Absenteeism Minor): First ever Hoddick-less plooza.
Jimmy (Absenteeism Minor): First ever Jimmy-less plooza.
McVeigh (Abandonment Minor): Joining brother for a beer while AD waited in street with a drunken Glenny.
Second Period (Hartford 1st night)
Scoring Summary:
Glenny (2) (Unassisted): Scoring Whalefest pucks for the gang from the hotel check-in guy.
James (1) (Shannon): Finally making a Plooza!
James (2) (Unassisted): Big pokerpalooza winner on the first night.
Glenny (3) (Adrian): Non-fan boy interaction with Craig Janney in hotel lobby (Adrian gets shot of Winnipeg Jets bag).
Eric (3) (James): Using baller status to secure suite for weekend.
James (3) (unassisted): Booking other Hilton room.
Penalties:
Sleazy Autograph Seekers (Hounding Minor): Sketchy adults collecting player sigs for ebay.
Glenny (Commish Freezing Double Minor): Leaving AD’s jacket at Eric’s house.
Glenny (Catcalling Minor): Shouting out random girls’ names to see if any of the teenage rink rats at high school game would look up. “Kelly!” “Brittany!” “Heather!”
Glenny (Wandering Minor): Happens at every plooza. We have video this time.
Eric (Docenting Minor): Constantly giving directions to Jersey resident McV.
Eric (General Antagonizing minor): Wearing sunglasses to antagonize Glenny during poker.
CAPSLOCK (Absenteeism Major, Game Misconduct): Missing Plooza down the street. And we even watched a HS team from his home town.
Third Period (Hartford 2nd night)
Scoring Summary:
The Zambonis (Unassisted): Playing Whalefest and the Hockey Monkey song twice and engaging Puck Hogs in chatter after game.
McVeigh (2) (Brats): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
Adrian (2) (Beer): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
Glenny (4) (Brats): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
James (4) (Brats): Enduring seriously cold weather in the name of the game.
McVeigh (3) (Adrian): Manning the grill while it was freeze-ass cold.
James (5) (Unassisted): Being tough and enduring the cold with a coat a bit too light.
Steve Carlson (Adrian): Steve Hanson being good with the fans. “Can we get a couple of snapshots with you?” “Sure…after I go take a fucking piss.”
Glenn (5) (Connie): Greeting former NHL tough guy Chris Kotsopoulos in Greek and getting it in return.
Dunkin Donuts Girl (1) (Unassisted): Handing our Dixie Cups of hot chocolate in windy, sub-20 degree weather over and over and over...
Penalties:
Glenny (Extinguishing Minor): Turning off the propane stove (Commish is convinced he’s trying to kill him).
Drunk Hartfordians (Cooking Major): Drunkenly running their propane grill INSIDE the back of their SUV, flare ups, smoke and all. Seemed like a good idea at the time.
James (Squandering Minor): Losing all poker winnings the following night.
Bench minor (Dunking Minor): Watching NBA slam dunk competition at bar and enjoying it.
Ed Hospodar (Goosing Minor): Grabbing James on the ass and making it look like Lyndon Byers did it.