You could say that Olie Kolzig responded well to news about a new competitor for the #1 goal spot. With Cristobal Huet acquired for a mere 2nd round pick (which was acquired in the Brian Sutherby trade), Kolzig’s reign as the undisputed #1 goaltender in D.C. is over. Tuesday night, he had 34 save performance in a 4-1 victory over Minnesota — he will not go gently into that good, good night it would seem.

The Huet trade, while creating a three goalie situation is a great one on paper, even if Huet is just a rental, though signing him is a possibility. The Caps have plenty of room under the salary cap and could use a younger #1 goalie.

The Caps also got Sergei Federov for d-man Theo Ruth, currently a Notre Dame player. Again, a good trade on paper even if Federov is just a rental. He should provide some of the spark missing with Michael Nylander out for the year.

Shipping out Matt Pettinger for Matt Cooke appears to make sense since both players needed a change of scenery. I don’t even care about the Joe Motzko-Alexandre Giroux trade.

On paper, the Caps appeared to strengthen themselves, without sacrificing the future, for a tough stretch run. They have 18 games to pick up 5 points on Carolina for the SE division title. Game on!

Caps Introduce Huet, Fedorov – The Post

Capitals bring in the cavalry – The Sporting News