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Though he scores on the Blues quite frequently, I have a lot of respect for Rick Nash. Why? Despite the consistent mediocrity of the franchise that drafted him, he decides to stay there. Rather than wanting a trade to a team with other superstars, forcing Columbus to rebuild all over again, he signs extensions and commits to the team.
I want the BJs to improve as much as I want the Blues to improve. I've never considered them a real team in their short history and I want to. When one of their six games comes up on the schedule, I groan. I don't want to watch a bunch of no-names & Rick Nash play shitty hockey. I want a real divisional rival that's built from on-ice talent rather than some blubbering vagina's tiff over soccer.
Compounding my disinterest in these Blues/BJs games is that the NHL schedule always seems to load them up at the end of the season and, more often than not, both teams are out of playoff contention, rendering the games meaningless. Remember how exciting it was in '08-'09 when both teams were playing meaningful games at the end of the season? It was awesome. A breath of fresh air.
Tonight, we get that same stuffy air that smells like ass. These two teams are out of the Western Conference race and have rosters with more numbers over 56 than any other team. Minor league hockey comes to Nationwide Arena and not even that fucking cannon will wake me up.
Patrik Berglund and perennial AHLer T.J. Hensick are game-time decisions tonight with minor injuries, but Jaroslav Halak makes his long-awaited return. For Columbus, Derek Brassard makes his return to the line-up, making a fight even more likely. If I could play Donut King for a second, I'm going to make an easy wager that Boll and Janssen throw down tonight.
How will Halak perform in his first game back? How many beers will you drink? How many times will you keep yourself from nodding off? That and more tonight from Ohio.
This is your GDT. Comment more than the attendance at Nationwide Arena tonight (shouldn't be too hard).