OK- Here's why Kevin Paul DuPont is awesome.

I've written about how much I've enjoyed reading Kevin Paul DuPont's column in the Boston Globe many times in the past, even if to point out that he's sometimes a grouch who doesn't have enough faith in the Bruins.

But DuPont is an institution, one of the primary reasons I know a lot about the game of hockey, and a solid writer. Sunday isn't Sunday without the Globe's "Hockey Notes."

So here's a recent example of how goddamn great he is.

In case you don't feel like reading the whole article, The Bruins have a new European prospect named Carl Soderburg who is currently playing for a Swedish team called the Malmo Redhawks. How does DuPont know this? Well, cause it's his goddamn job to know these things. He knows shit like that so people like me don't have to, and God Bless him for it. Either way, that's not what I like about this story. Apparently, a local Swedish newspaper column covering the Redhawks claims that Soderberg will be attending Bruins camp this fall, something that the Bruins claim isn't happening until next season. So how does Dupont handle it?

Check this out:

Former Bruins defenseman Michael Thelven, reached by email in Sweden yesterday morning, supplied a translation of the hockeysverige.se story, which had Elefalk saying that Soderberg planned to report to Bruins camp. Peo Larsson, GM of Soderberg's Swedish team, the Malmo Redhawks, also said he didn't understand why Chiarelli felt Soderberg would not attempt to make the Boston team for the upcoming season.

"So it seems all the fans of the Malmo Redhawks," noted the report, as translated by Thelven, "have to wait a little bit longer for further news on where Carl Soderberg will play next season."

Rather than accept the party line from the Bruins that everything is hunky dory, DuPont thinks "who do I know who lives in Sweden, and might be able to help me get to the bottom of this?"

And he thinks- "Oh yeah- ex B's defenseman Michael Thelven, (who last laced them up for the Bruins almost 20 years ago) lives over there now and is the CEO of his own company- I'll drop him an email, and see if he can translate this for me."

So he did, and it worked, which I absolutely love. That's called keeping up your connections, and it's what really good journalists do.

Sadly, it's kind of a boring goddamn story, and who really cares if Soderberg shows up to camp this year or next? Not many people, but I'll tell ya, DuPont does, and in the dog days of summer, it's tough to come up with a hockey article.

Good on ya, KPD.

good on ya.