Please Joe, Have A Good Camp

One of the joys of any hockey season is identifying the players on the opponent’s team and finding a way to get under their skin. From the perspective of a Wolf Pack fan the Ferraro twins always come to mind. Can anyone forget the greasy thug family members that came over to threaten the Pack fans in Springfield when they took objection to the "Swing-your-stick-Petey" chant?

Certainly the Wolf Pack has provided the opponent’s fans a lot of fodder with guys like PJ Stock, Dale Puriton, Francis Lessard, and Marty Grenier. But let them write their own blog and tell their own stories. Currently the guy in Providence who yells at Dane Byers ("Hey Bye-ah, you got no air in your ti-ah!") seems to be the most enthusiastic antagonist.

But for a Wolf Pack fan the likes of Crosty and Kanko have brought great enjoyment. Did everyone catch the Pack fan in the wife-beater t-shirt greeting Kanko as he exited the ice from warm-ups? The Portland Pirates have provided their own enjoyment to Pack fans with the antics of "Warren" Zenon Konopka, and Trevor Gillies most recently. And in the past Darcy Verot and Louis Robitaille were on the same Portland team for a while.

Providence had Dennis Bonvie for a while. And of course, Colton Orr, before he became a good guy, was a great one to yell at with his horrible hair style and worse skating ability.
The list could go on: Mitch Fritz in Springfield, Eric Godard, Drew Fata, and Wade "Smoke a doobie" Dubielewicz in Bridgeport. But only one player has surpassed all these notables — Joe Rullier!

Joe started his AHL career as a Lockmonster but went to Manchester for their inaugural season. Joe quickly became a fan-favorite, playing to the crowd with fist pumping, and leg-kicking even if he got his head handed to him in a fight. Ultimately his slow feet and poor defense around the net had Joe packing for blue pastures.

In 2005 Joe found himself in Rangers camp. He thought he was going to get a shot at the NHL roster but found himself in Hartford. Ironically the season opener that season was in Hartford against Manchester. Joe scored a goal. It was all downhill from there.

A combination of some injuries, his bad attitude, and some game scratches from Schoenfeld and Joe wanted out. A trade deadline "loan" sent Joe re-packing to his beloved Manchester Monarchs and Brad "Shooter" Smyth came home to the Pack. Hee, hee, hee, the Wolf Pack ended-up playing the Monarchs in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs. The Pack ended the Monarch’s season in 7 games, and Joe Rullier’s career as a Monarch.

Since that time Joe has a total of 60 AHL games under his belt. He has played for Manitoba, Portland, Springfield, and Bridgeport. I think there was a tryout for the Penguins last season. Joe is a lost soul. He thinks he is NHL material, and without his toughness he is an ECHL defenseman. But splendidly his career has always brought him back through Hartford where he is reminded that as a hockey player he is a loser.

Recently the San Jose Sharks have reported on their training camp roster that Joe has a tryout. Obviously, he will not be playing on the team with Joe Thorton. Joe Rullier is trying for a contract to play in Worcester. Yes!

It is with a certain amount of glee that I cheer for Joe to make the team in Worcester. Having the Sharks travel to Hartford with Rullier will be sweet.