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TGIF: Four NHL games to watch this weekend, and the Super Bowl

Chicago Blackhawks v Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 25: Jeff Carter (R) #77 and Mike Richards #10 of the Los Angeles Kings skate prior to the start of the game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Staples Center on February 25, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Halford note: This is usually Brough’s bag, but he’s en route to Sochi so you’re stuck with me. Let’s do this.

Saturday: Philadelphia at Los Angeles (4 p.m. ET)

Dry Island reunion party! Though to be fair, only a handful of Flyers remain from the team Mike Richards and Jeff Carter were dealt from three years go, so it’s more like a get-together luncheon than full-on reunion. Probably still be open bar though. Anyway, I mentioned this on Twitter last night but it bears repeating: Claude Giroux’s back-check (sorry, “back-check”) on Daniel Winnik’s shorthanded goal wasn’t the best:

Saturday: Ottawa at Toronto (7 p.m. ET)

Battle of Ontario! Still fun to watch, but this rivalry has lost its edge in recent years. There used to be a time when Sens-Leafs would guarantee either a bench brawl, spitting allegation or a Toronto player taking out one of Ottawa’s Swedes (be it Tie Domi on Magnus Arvedsson, or Mark Bell on Daniel Alfredsson.)

Of course, Ottawa’s Swedes also had a history of taking out Toronto players. *cough* Alfredsson on Darcy Tucker *cough*

(BTW, the fact Tie’s Domi hit on Martin Havlat is basically footnote here illustrates how dirty this rivalry used to be.)

Saturday: Chicago at San Jose (10:30 p.m. ET)

I should stop writing every intro this way! But in this instance, the exclamation point is warranted -- ‘Hawks-Sharks is a really good matchup. The ‘Hawks skunked the Sharks 5-1 in San Jose in the first meeting this year but the Sharks returned the favor three weeks ago, winning 3-2 (in a shootout) at the United Center for their first victory in Chicago in three years.

There is an issue at hand for San Jose, however. With Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture out of the lineup, the team is struggling to score:

Sharks2

For you math majors, that’s seven regulation goals in six games. Yeah, the Sharks ran into a brick wall named Ben Scrivens in Edmonton, but they failed to do much against Calgary (the NHL’s third-worst defensive team) or the Jets, who allow 2.87 goals per game.

Sunday: Detroit at Washington (12:30 p.m. ET)

NBC’s Game of the Week! (Can’t stop, on a roll.)

Here’s a question: Could any team be less enthused about NHLers participating in the Olympics than Detroit? I know the Blues and ‘Hawks are sending 10 players to Sochi compared to Detroit’s nine (now that Johan Franzen is out), but the Blues and ‘Hawks are somewhat healthy whereas Detroit is like one big human bruise. Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk are banged up, Jimmy Howard’s knee has been an issue and Alfredsson turned 41 in December. If there’s one team that could use a break to recharge the ol’ batteries and gear up for a playoff push, it’s the Wings. Instead, they’re sending over 39 percent of their active roster to Russia for two weeks.

Sunday: Super Bowl XLVIII -- Seattle vs. Denver (3:30 p.m. ET)

Football predictions on a hockey blog! After very little deliberation, I’m taking Seattle by a score of 24-20. In a somewhat related story, my hometown of Vancouver has become a Seahawks mecca in recent weeks. Heck, even the New York Times wrote about it. It’s gotten to the point where people that previously had zero interest in football are getting curious. Like my wife, who yesterday asked me “what’s up with that Richard Sherbert guy?”