Blackhawks At Blues Morning Open Thread: Grand Season Finale

You can't say that the NHL schedulers didn't put at least a little thought into the Blues' schedule for this season. An opening game against the Detroit Red Wings and a closer against the Chicago Blackhawks make for very appealing bookends to an abbreviated season.

They're our rival teams, the games are usually a blast to watch since everyone hates each other, and maybe most importantly, games against these two teams are an event regardless of how well either team's been playing that year. This season, the Presidents Trophy winning Blackhawks started out with a bang and never looekd back, while the Blues started out strong, wavered, and are poised for a finish that some are comparing to last season's Kings.

If the Blues win tonight, they lock into fourth place and home ice advantage, probably against those same Kings. Will the series end differently this year? One hopes, but that's getting ahead of ourselves. What we really hope for is a good win to finish the season tonight; the Blues need something to build on as the playoffs start next week.

This is your morning open thread. Check back later on today for a Lighting the Lamp, your game preview, a GDT (duh) and hopefully a recap talking about how much the Blues kicked the Hawks' asses.