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*singsongingitalong* Today's my birthday! Yes, it's my birthday! I'm going to the game! I'm taking my son. It's my son's first game. He's only three! I'm hoping we lose! Isn't that terrible! He's going to be sooo confused! Section 126 Row 24 if anyone wants to buy me a birthday beer (...or give me a punch to the gut for all my smartassedness around this joint over the years!) LGRW!

SUCCESS!!! He had the best time and was a real trooper the entire evening. Got in early enough to watch the warmups down at ice level. Explored pretty much every nook and cranny of LCA. First period action: Gettin' HYPED UP with his uncle... LGRW! Clap-Clap Clap-Clap-Clap Between the benches during the second period. Post game. By this time he was watching PawPatrol on the iPhone. Surprised he was still awake. Crashed hard in the car as soon as we got on 75. I had to MAN(tha) up at this game and grab his sweater. I also had to give some lip service to some Caps fan behind me who decided that he need to comment something (just loudly enough) about my new purchase.

At least they played well against a cup contender. Played better than the Caps actually. That's a good sign that the team still cares enough to compete. Grubauer played really well or that game would have easily gone the other way. Failing to score on the 5 on 3 pretty much sealed their fate for the game IMO.

But what if finishing 17th gets you Dahlin? Unlikely sure, but possible. Like I've said time and time again, I'm all for finishing lower in the standings, but it really guarantees nothing. I think it's something like only 6 of the past 19 last place finishes have gotten the 1st overall pick, and only 1 (Toronto) in the past 3 years since the odds have been changed to give less weight to the last place finish... Last year New Jersey jumped 3 spots to number 1, Philadelphia jumped 11 spots to number 2, Dallas jumped 5 spots to number 3, and Colorado finished dead last and fell back 3 spots... Win or lose, I just want to see the kids get more of an opportunity down the stretch.

As much as it will hurt the draft gotta have the win on the bday. The boy has to experience screaming "just a city boy born and raised in South Detroit" Oh wait he is 3 he will just remember that his dad took him to a game which is the coolest part. So you may root for defeat as the experience is what matters! Remember took my daughter to her first game about same age and it was here in Atlanta. She proudly wore her Wings jersey and actually made on the big screen. Buuuut smiles turned to tears when the Thrashers crowd booed her lol. Took a lot of candy that night to calm her down. Happy Happy Birthday

I forgot to mention the number one reason the 2002 team would win. Brett Lebda.

Oh Schmitty.... dammit Brendan, this is why you can't have nice things https://thehockeywriters.com/rangers-options-brendan-smith/ March 18, 2018. Smith is in another fight but this one comes during practice with the Hartford Wolf Pack, and his opponent is 5-foot-8, 170-pound teammate Vinni Lettieri, a scorer who did not fare well in his one AHL fight this season. Smith is 6-foot-2, 211 pounds and considerably more experienced with his fists, but breaks his hand in the scrap ending his season.

Prime's da true MVP!

This team needs help all over the ice, but I'd like to see a proper rebuild. That means getting rid of Kenny Holland and Jeff Blashill. Neither is the right person for this team going forward. Holland should have the common decency to resign, but alas, he's no Japanese samurai. If he doesn't leave, he needs to be let go. I don't trust him going forward. The contracts this team is saddled with are his fault. We haven't drafted anything good on the defensive side of the ice, which includes goalies. We have some good forwards but too many others that have made little impact. The marriage just needs to end. Blashill needs to be let go because he doesn't seem to have a good grip on this team. They're not good at anything. Much of that is Holland's fault for providing Blashill with a terrible defense and inconsistent goaltending. Still, good coaches can get some players to overachieve. I haven't seen that from this coach.

Yup. This is best case scenario for these games down the stretch. Outplay the opponents and lose by a goal or two. Ideally the kids will score a few goals in each game as well. I want to see some more 3 and 4 point games from Larkin and Mantha...

I’d say screw it and call up Hronek. Probably won’t happen since he’s one of the top defenseman on GR and they are pushing for a playoff spot.

If I had to guess, he’s done as a hockey player soon.

Best birthday gift ever = Dahlin points

Happy Birthday Prime!

You lost me at ESPN.

Lets turn this winning streak around! You can do it boys

They would put up some numbers but would have to struggle every shift. A peak Lidstrom would likely play against them on every shift. Bowman could even juggle lines and put Fedorov against them who was a great two-way forward. That's just one line too. I don't see the other lines for the 2008 team having as much success as the depth of the 2002 team. Franzen may be the only ex-factor here, but 2002 Chelios would make him his *****.

Fedorov in 2002 was still really good. They wouldn't skate circles around him. Most likely, that line would be matched up against the Grind Line. Draper would neutralize Datsyuk. Maltby would put a gloved hand in Zetterberg's mouth after every shift to get him off his game.

Holland can absolutely go for Tavares without having to shed cap. If he were to come here, the cap situation could be taken care of after the fact. It doesn't have to before.