Playoff potpourri: Danish love and Ilya woe

Do you guys have interest in a daily playoff thread? Seems like those posts do get us talking around here, but as you probably guessed the end of the Islanders' season throws my editorial "schedule" into a wide-open sea of random whim.

So anyway, notes relevant to last night:

• Forbidden Herning Love: I'm afraid I have a new Danish crush, and his name is Peter Regin. I've always appreciated Regin, but I tried to hold off lest Frans get jealous. After watching him throughout this series against the Penguins though, I can hold back these feelings no longer: There are now two Danes in my life. Much like Frans, Regin mixes his offensive skill with a steady defensive conscience. That's the kind of work that allows one-dimensional players to wander.
• The Ilya Experiment Has Failed: It would be simplistic to blame the Devils' putrid offensive production in their five-game loss to Philly on Ilya Kovalchuk. But it does cast a ruling on how well the rental phase of that deal worked out. The verdict: Not well. Where do you suppose Ilya goes from here? [Devils self-loathing: ILWT | Flyers gloating: BSH]
• Goalie-go-Round: Montreal is going back to Jaroslav Halak tonight after tossing Carey Price out there in Game 4. I like this situation because I miss the days of two-goalie rotations. It makes bar-room debates a lot more fun.
• Since this came up the other day: A look at the playoff records of Martin Brodeur and Scott Stevens when they're with each other and when they're separate.
• Two series that show everyone overreacts in the first few games: Last night, San Jose slaughtered the Avalanche, and the Blackhawks took it to Nashville. San Jose has mostly dominated Colorado all series, and the Hawks are simply one of the top two or three teams in the league, period. Either favorite could still lose the series, of course, but last night's games were better indications of what should happen. But three/four-game samples can be deceiving, and induce panic, when your team is supposed to be doing better.

For Islanders-related stuff, the report cards on Josh Bailey and Sean Bergenheim are still open. More will come throughout the next few weeks... Update: Meanwhile for discussion, mikb puts his spin on some of our recent topics (and some new ones) in this FanPost.