I'm gonna tell you a story

With the trip to Lowell tomorrow, up against a certain event featuring a certain team (no Devils concessions to the World’s Serious), it called to mind another fall trip deep into New England. This was Oct. 29, 2004, two days after Doug Mientkiewicz ran off with the ball. Bridgeport was in the middle of that atrocious early-season stretch, where they’d stunk up the Wachovia Center in Philly two nights earlier, and now they were stinking up Verizon Wireless Arena in ManchVegas, taking dumb penalties, acting careless with the puck, drawing Greg Cronin’s ire — and that was just Jimmy Campbell.

Anyway, the biggest roar of the night came when they showed the Red Sox’s celebration during a TV time out, accompanied by Etta James’ “At Last.” Pretty neat. But best of all was the ride home. I stopped at a Mass Pike rest area and was waiting on line to buy a couple of newspapers.

The guy in front of me whistled the hook from “Dirty Water.”* I had to grin.

The guy in back of me whistled the hook from “Dirty Water.”

The guy in front of me whistled it again.

The cashier whistled it.

Two guys at the magazine rack whistled it.

Not a word was spoken, but none was needed: That riff kept whistling out, all around.

Love that dirty water.

———-

Status quo at practice today, aside from the expected return of Mike Mole to Utah. Will be back late tonight with a chart that will (hopefully) complement tomorrow’s story.

Bryan Berard is out 2-4 weeks.

Aces: Eurohockey.net has Masi Marjamaki playing back in his hometown, Pori, and Sergei Ogorodnikov going to Novokuznetsk. (Neither team’s Web site seems to reflect it just yet, though.) Farther back in BST time, Mike Bayrack was released from his team in Norway.

Edit: Ryan O’Marra was sent to Stockton (ECHL).

“Heroes” has been uneven so far this season, but I’m thinking the girl in New Orleans may have the best superpower yet**. Watch something done, and do it yourself instantly? Gimme five minutes of A-Rod’s and Ramirez’s greatest hits on tape… Actually, throw in Bonds’, if I can learn to hit lefty, too…

*-The Standells are a font of trivia. The guys who did the quintessential Boston song were from L.A. The lead singer was a Mouseketeer. The organist is Russ Tamblyn’s brother. Classic stuff.

**-Back when I was in college, some guy on Usenet had a signature that went something like, “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” “China. Oh, wait…”

Michael Fornabaio