Adrian Dater has an interesting question: do we really know what the big deal is about Swedish goalie Jonas Gustavsson?
I think the big deal is that he’s an unproven free agent, so you have the excitement of a rookie coupled with the track record of a veteran. A young veteran.
I’m pretty curious how he’ll pan [...]

Earlier this week, New Jersey Devil Brian Rolston went on the record as saying he hadn’t been a big fan of former coach Brent Sutter.
I imagine John Madden also wasn’t a big fan of the coach who often didn’t believe in matching and checking lines. After all, Madden is all about checking and matching.
But [...]

Fantastic game six last night. And for all of the talk about Detroit’s defense driving their offense, Pittsburgh did a tremendous job, at least for the first two periods, of letting their defense be a catalyst for their offense.
Mike Heika said the game deserved to be on NBC. I think NBC should show the last [...]

Brent Sutter is starting to look like another successful graduate of the Mats Sundin Rapid Decision-Making Program. He’s still not sure he wants to coach the Devils next season.
The longer Sutter waits, the less effective he’ll be as a coach if he decides to return. Would you play hard for someone who was that [...]

Wow. Two crazy game sevens last night.
Down in DC, Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist made some stunning saves against the Capitals, but ended up giving up a soft game-winner, once again showing how vulnerable he is when you shoot shortside on him. For whatever reason, Lundqvist just does not fully hug the post.
The Rangers controlled the [...]

Sometimes, during the playoffs, it’s nice to check-in on what the losing teams are up to.
For instance, Jim Kelley has a great piece reminding HabNation not to give up on goalie Carey Price after his brutal playoff performance. Kelley points out it takes a while for a great goalie to emerge and uses Roberto Luongo [...]

The beauty of the playoffs is that teams see each other over a series, allowing each to adjust.
This is key as last night’s Ranger win over the Capitals was a bit of an upset. The Rangers want to do it again. The Capitals are looking to put themselves back on track.
Washington goalie Jose Theodore was [...]

Is it me, or is every Eastern Conference team in the middle of some kind of slide?
Montreal has lost its two best defensemen and last night couldn’t beat Ottawa to solidify their playoff spot.
The Flyers are firmly entrenched in the playoffs, but have struggled lately.
The Devils seem to be coming out of their recent skid, [...]

Saturday night, Islanders coach Scott Gordon used stay-at-home defenseman Brendan Witt in the shootout, obviously a very strange move. Greg Logan finally got to ask Gordon about the rationale for Witt. Basically, it sounds like Gordon is just experimenting, since the season is over. I’m with Gordon on this. I’d put my backup goalie in [...]

When Martin Brodeur went down, a lot of people wrote off the Devils’ season.
Luckily, goalie Scott Clemmensen stepped-up and won 25 games, not only keeping the Devils in the playoffs, but giving them the lead in the Atlantic.
And now, with Brodeur ready to play again tonight, in what surely will be remembered as one of [...]