You needn't look any further than the recently completed Olympic hockey tournament to realize just how important good goaltending is in hockey.  After the USA beat Canada in their first matchup, Team Canada coach Mike Babcock benched Martin Brodeur and rode Roberto Luongo all the way to e gold medal.  Ryan Miller carried the USA to silver and was named the MVP. 

The bottom line is, you need to have confidence in your goalies and you need to have solid goaltending to get far in the playoffs.  I am convinced that contrary to what you might hear them say, the Chicago Blackhawks have neither, which, down the road, is a big problem.

Last night against the lowly New York islanders, the Hawks gave up goals in rapid fire succession, hastening the exit of starting goalie Antti Nemmi and restoring to the spotlight, if only for a moment, Christobal Huet.  Neither one was particularly effective and the Hawks left the Island with a 5-3 loss.  If this can happen against the fourth worst team in the league, imagine what might happen in a playoff series against Detroit or San Jose. 

Don't give me the excuse that the six Hawks who were in the Olympics had an off night because I'm not buying it.  The fact is that neither Nemmi or Huet scares anyone and if the Hawks are committed to bringing home Lord Stanley's Cup, they need to act now.

There's a rumor that the Toronto Maple Leafs will take Huet off the Hawks hands.  While the Maple Leafs have veteran Jean-Sebastien Giguere, he's really not the man we're looking for here.  The other rumor is that the Hawks are looking at Tomas Vokoun of the Florida Panthers.  NOW we're talking.  The rumors also say the Panthers don't want Huet.  So, pull a three way.  Send Giguere to Florida, Huet to Toronto and Vokoun to Chicago.

I knew Vokoun when he broke in with Nashville.  In fact, during the Preds first training camp, I noticed how good he was and had some pretty interesting conversations with Paul Gardner who, at the time, was Barry Trotz' top assistant.  We agreed the kid had a bright future. The Preds eventually brought him up and the legend of "The Vokounator" was born (he love that nickname as he is a Czech and looks up to Domink Hasek.)  He works hard and has gone farther in the NHL than anyone thought he could go.  He's a good guy too and would fit in on a team sprinting for a championship.

Most likely, Stan Bowman won't mortgage the future on finding a goalie upgrade.  The Hawks have danced this far with who brung them.  The question is, how long will Huet and Nemmi let the Hawks dance in May?