I'm 37 today. Where has the time gone? Sonuva…

Yes! I forgot the big news of the day – Jarome Iginla’s 1000th career point. In today’s THN article, I give my thoughts on some of the biggest question-mark players heading into the offseason, and compare poolies’ tendency to write players off using the Iginla example (when speaking of Malkin). Article here. And thank you everyone for the birthday wishes!

Maksim Mayorov tallied his first career NHL goal Friday. I think, given the talent coming up, that Mayorov will be hard-pressed to muscle his way into their top six. It probably means 'bust', unless he takes a huge step forward next year.

Corey Crawford watch: 31 wins now. He had one win in the first five weeks and 30 wins in the next 20 weeks.

Daymond Langkow sure looked good between Iginla and Tanguay. He only walked away with a point (15 minutes of ice time), but the line dominated in the third period.

Kevin Shattenkirk has six straight games with a point (eight points in that span). He's hit the 40-point mark now. Pretty good for a rookie defenseman who didn't make the team out of camp.

Crosby "looks good" at the morning skate, but waffles on his return. And you know what? The team and he will keep waffling until 6:59pm on a particular game day and then – what do ya know – he's back. I'm still thinking he plays two regular season games, no matter what the party line is.

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It looks like in the Expert League I will finish sixth, barring a jump up or down one spot. Key reasons I was able to climb up from dead last (dead last by a 10-point margin, I'll add) up seven spots to fifth: 1. I own March's player of the month Perry; 2. I own March's third star in Rinne; 3. I scooped waiver wire picks Grabner, Sekera and Shattenkirk.

Reasons why I probably won't move up to fifth: 1. I missed roster deadlines the last two weeks, which means Andrew MacDonald is still active (d'oh!). 2. I won Martin Erat in bidding two weeks ago, but again, missed the roster deadline so failed to add him. Oh, what could have been…

Ryan Ma and Jason "Frozen Pool" Arbuthnot are deadlocked for first place with 99 points, by the way.

Pavel Datsyuk will not play today, but tomorrow remains a possibility. He's apparently skating hard, according to the Free Press.

It shocked the hell out of me seeing Alex Steen back in the lineup last night. I did not expect to see him again this season. But despite his return, Matt D'Agostini still scored and saw some PP time. I like that perseverance. Steen did not see PP time. That's a situation to watch in the fall, there is only room for one of them on the top PP unit.

Mike Green no longer has concussion symptoms. It's amazing how the arrival of the playoffs cures concussion issues. They should do a study. Perhaps there's a cure in there somewhere – just fool the player into thinking it's playoff time and he's all better. They'd be easier to fool, too, with their mind all addled like that.

Anaheim prospect Kyle Palmieri was the AHL rookie of the month with 12 goals and 15 points in 13 games. His surge up the prospect charges puts Matt Beleskey's standing at risk.

They're gonna throw him right in there. Stephane DaCosta will make his NHL debut Saturday against the Leafs. The Sens signed the top unsigned NCAA prospect (he was ranked second in the Midseason Guide) a couple of days ago. The Sens sent Colin Greening back to the AHL as a result.

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Erik Karlsson will miss today with that gash on his leg. I think Tuesday is probably questionable as well.

Interesting recall to watch for the Wild: Max Noreau. The d-man has 56 points in 76 AHL contests and is a first-team All-Star.

Playoff Draft List – here!

I love give-n-go goals like this, even though the guy who put me out of the playoffs (so far) owns Tanguay: