Catching up: Prospects, facts, live chat next week and...shrimp
Haven't been neglecting ya, Blue Noters. We will host another lunchtime live chat next Wednesday at 1, either live from Philly for Game Six, or from Chez Zipay....
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Had a chance to speak with some of the top prospects visiting here. Rangers won't have shot at any of em, unless somehow nine teams pass on Brett Connolly, worried about his hip issue. (He says he's 100 percent).
First impressions: Nothing at all against Taylor Hall (or his game, which is special), but I love the poise and personalities of Tyler Seguin and Cam Fowler. Two other teams are going to be very, very happy. Eric Gudbranson should help a team with his size and smarts.
This is the second Final for Fowler, who grew up in Windsor, and watched Game 5 in Detroit two years ago. He'll have a group of about 15 at the draft, including parents, girlfriend, and billet family. His first car after cashing the check: A Ford, because of his dad. He was impressed by his two meetings with the one-of-a-kind Don Cherry: "First one, he was wearing teal. Today he some racetrack, checkerboard thing going."
You can find more from my chat with Fowler and Connolly on Katie Strang's blog http://tinyurl.com/28ypzu4
As for Rangers, we continue to hear that Tarasenko and Neideretter are among the top targets. Not from the Rangers, though.
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Heard Around...
Had some chilled jumbo shrimp for dinner that Star-Ledger sage Rich Chere guessed were plucked from the Delaware River. Hmmm...Can you believe somebody asked Danny Briere about ump Jim Joyce's missed call?...Radio guy in Philly on WIP declares: "It's over." Flyers will win Cup....Joe Micheletti and Dave Strader are doing the international broadcasts to about 150 countries.
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The Hawks haven’t won at Wachovia center in the last nine games. The last win was Nov. 9, 1996, the first year of this building.
In five home starts before tonight, Leighton is 5-0 with two shutouts and a 1.18 GAA.
Pronger leads all defensemen in scoring (4-13-17).No wonder, he's on the ice half the game.
There haven’t been two overtime games in the Final since
