Islanders 5, Blackhawks 3: Roloson shines, Niemi/Huet stumble, Comeau hat tricks

Roly has a $2.5 cap hit and Chicago is rumored to want to move Versteeg with a $3 cap hit. Roly and Blake to Chi for Versteeg and their first rounder.

I originally though the picture at the top was Sutton in a Senators uniform already. Those Blackhawks uniforms look a LOT like the Sens.

Does anybody else think the Olympic tournament has been overrated in terms of the quality of hockey? I felt that already during the last week and do so even more after tonight’s action around the league. But I’m honestly unsure, as so many players and analysts have spoken highly of the Olympic tournament…

Overall it might have been a cool event indeed. The matchups were great, the atmosphere was special and so on. But was that equally the case for what we saw on the ice? I just have the feeling I’ve seen so many players do better, have more jump, do the little things more properly, etc. throughout the season compared to last week. I don’t blame the players, obviously, it’s tough to build chemistry without any practices and it’s tough to play at noon. They surely played hard every shift and made the most of it, but was that really all that sensational?

In terms of intensity out there, I’ve however liked some of tonight’s games – including parts of the Islanders game – better than most of the games last week.

Don’t want to do a separate post on this as it’s just conjecture, but some late-night musings from HNIC’s Elliotte Friedman’s Twitter:

Garth Snow could be a major player tomorrow. NYI apparently considering taking Cristobal Huet’s deal from Chicago as they will need to…stay at cap floor. Chicago will make it worthwhile. Question though: which goalie are they targeting in return? Roloson? Or, maybe….Tomas Vokoun? Huet cap hit $5.625. Vokoun $5.7. If CHI doesn’t want a NYI goalie, Snow could deal elsewhere for more picks/prospects. … Snow never leaks anything, though. Respect that about him, but it’s tough to figure out for sure.

It would really be nice to see Blake finish strong. Schremp makes a nice pilot to his bombardier. Add Joensuu or Martin to the mix when Sim is gone and that is a nice, young second line.
Which brings up another point. Has Sean of the dead become the new Thumbellini. It’s starting to look as though neither of the pending RFA’s are going to be LW’s of the future for this club. I guess I wouldn’t be surprised if either was traded today. I’d hate to see Bergy get sliced, but with Bailey seeming more at home on the wing, and Moulson playing his way into an extension it’s hard to see them keeping both next year. Bergy is way more valuable as he plays an energetic shift, has been solid on the PK in the past and seems to work in the aggressive forecheck mode. He just hasn’t shown the hands of a consistent scorer.
All this leads me to believe that Snow will try to make a deal for one of them today. They need a LARGE defensive prospect who is buried somewhere. Rolo/Bergenhiem to Washington for Carlson? I’d rather give up Tambellini, but I have a feeling there wouldn’t be too many takers. Streit shouldn’t be playing 26 minutes, with heavy PK mins. They need a banger back there.

Methinks your judgment is too harsh, Dominik. While there were certainly awful stretches I thought some guys were playing better than they were right before the Olympic break (see Hunter, who seemed to have a little more verve than he has in a long time [even despite missing that empty-netter toward the end]) and for those few minutes at a time where they were really on the ball they looked like the hockey team they should be in a few years.

The Isles were definitely helped out by goal tending on both ends of the ice and got a few freebies (Hossa had an uncharacteristically flubby night) but I also saw a lot of little things the Isles themselves did right and I found it heartening. My confidence in the team is restored even if I’m still not expecting 30 more points.