Knuckles Nilan Arrested

Former Boston Bruin and my childhood idol, Chris "Knuckles" Nilan was arrested yesterday at the South Shore Plaza for shoplifting.

QUINCY - Chris Nilan, a former professional hockey player known for his frequent trips to the penalty box, was arrested on a charge of stealing a bathing suit from the Lord & Taylor store at the South Shore Plaza.

"I just wanted to save a few bucks," he told police.

It's been a bad week for former Boston players, first Antoine Walker is pinched in Nevada for passing bad checks at Casinos, now Knuckles is picked up by mall cops for shoplifting a pair of bathing suit.

Growing up following the Bruins, I have always admired Nilan's toughness - even though he played the majority of his NHL career for the hated Montreal Canadiens. He was probably the most hated Canadien in Boston, and for good reasons. But this was one of those situations where you hate a player because he's the A-hole on your most hated team - but you love him when he becomes the A-hole on your team.

The Bruins signed him in 1990, I thought he was the final missing piece of the puzzle, adding toughness to a talent loaded but still a bit soft team. Excite, I ran out and bought a Nilan sweater - which I still have to this day (pictured above).

But like that pair of Lord & Taylor bathing suit, the Cup remained out of the hands of my beloved Bruins.

Police said Nilan struggled with store security officers who followed him out of the store. Police said Nilan denied taking anything and threw punch at one of the guards, but missed.

When Braintree Police officers Michael Want and Matthew Crowley arrived, Nilan was still struggling with the security guards even after they knocked him down. The police officers managed to subdue Nilan and place him in handcuffs.

Knuckles still holds the record for penalty minutes for a single game, and he is one of nine men on this planet who has more than 3,000 career NHL penalty minutes. Bested by freaking mall cops. This is like Tiger Woods getting beat by 6 year olds in miniature golf.

Thank goodness the judge had enough sense to take into account Nilan's former service to the community (I know it does not say so in the article - but come on, this is Knuckles Nilan), dismissed the case with a $100 court fine and ordered him to stay away from the store.

If I were those mall cops, I watch myself going to my car after work. Nilan is always the nastiest when coming out of the penalty box.

In other hockey news, the NHL made it official - Boston vs. Philadelphia in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park.

I already know what's going to happen, thanks to the run the Bruins had last year, the Pink Hats will snatch up all the tickets and I'll be forced to go to person A for tickets at 4 times the face value.

Speaking of fights, check out this blog entry on ChinaSmack.

Apparently, the dude in the red shirt tried to muscle this couple's child for a seat on the Shanghai tourist tram, and got his ass and his flip flop handed to him.

You might think, why would an adult start with a little kid for a damn bus seat? Well, I have been to Shanghai and have seen this first hand. This is no joke, people over there LOVE fighting for seats on public transportation. You have to have your A game on at all times when taking any surface transportation (for some odd reason, the subway was not as violent when I took it - maybe the sun light activates some sort of enzyme that make them fight).

When you are waiting for the bus, and all the people in line are old or small children? It doesn't matter - these same grandmas and toddlers will shove and muscle you at the door.

When the empty bus that seats 60 pulls up and there are only 8 people in line? They'll still use every part of their body and that Hello Kitty backpack to box you out like Dwight Howard just to get on the damn bus before you.

For what reason, I have no idea. The people I had encountered were all local, and they must know that the bus is not full during that time of the day. I think it's a form of free entertainment for them - kind of like playing pop-a-shot at your local watering hole.

A couple that fights toghether stays together