The St. Louis Blues waited until the last minute to solidify their goaltending situation, getting Chris Osgood from the New York Islanders.

	Osgood

Blues GM Larry Pleau worked over Phoenix's Mike Barnett until the last minute to see if they could work out a deal for Sean Burke, the only goalie who would have perfectly fit the bill for the Blues. He exudes confidence and leadership from the net and in the locker room, and can go head to head with the best in the West, including a possible first-round opponent in the Avs and Patrick Roy.

But having Osgood could work as well because, other than Roy and Detroit's Curtis Joseph, the West has inexperienced playoff goalies like Dallas' Marty Turco, Vancouver's Dan Cloutier, Anaheim's Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Minnesota's Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez, and -- to a lesser degree -- Edmonton's Tommy Salo.

The Blues battled through the question marks last year, and after seeing Brent Johnson record three shutouts in the opening series against Chicago, it looked like Pleau's patience had been rewarded, until Johnson had the high ankle sprain (what's up with his injury this year?) in training camp to go along with Fred Brathwaite's groin injury.

Johnson must improve his day-to-day work ethic in order to be a legitimate top NHL goalie. We already know he has the capabilities and the moxie, but players feed off a goalie's attention to details in order to determine if he can be trusted in the net.

As for the Islanders, they took three goalies on their current road trip, leading to trade speculation. Mike Milbury held the plane on Long Island for one hour in order to wait for Rick DiPietro to arrive from Bridgeport, Conn.

Milbury then stayed behind to swing some deals. He was making calls to Vancouver, St. Louis and possibly Dallas about Osgood. But now that Osgood is gone, who is the starter? Garth Snow has been terrific, but is he the guy? The Islanders aren't even assured of being in the playoffs, although the Rangers' loss to Florida on Monday was a gift.

Is DiPietro ready for prime time yet? He has improved his overall game, but the playoffs are the NHL's biggest stage.

Turco confident in Tugnutt
I spoke with Marty Turco, the Dallas Stars' injured No. 1 goalie, on Sunday to talk about the future situation with his ankle sprain and the pressure that has recently been put on his partner, Ron Tugnutt.

It looks as if Marty will be on the shelf for at least the next two weeks. He can skate, but he can't push off in and out of the butterfly position, which is a very common move for any goaltender, let alone Turco.

Although the Stars didn't make a deal for another goaltender at the deadline, Marty said he wouldn't mind if they had because teams can't have enough depth at the most important position, especially considering the uncertainty of his injury.

Marty made it very clear that, at this time of year, winning is all that matters. He was convinced that Tugnutt would get his game going by just simplifying it and not trying to do too much. And that night, Tugnutt was able to shut out the Sharks.

It is very difficult for a No. 2 goalie to just turn it on and be in the No. 1 spot on a team with such high expectations. Tugger is now finding his way when it comes to proper rest and pregame preparation, pacing himself through practices and having the mindset to be the No. 1 goalie everyday.

Could Canucks get Brathwaite?
In Vancouver, Cloutier is on the mend from his knee injury, and that is great news ... but what if? The very hard-working and likable Peter Skudra has been pulled in two of his last three games and clearly can't take this team to the promised land -- heck, we're not even sure about Cloutier.

Because the Canucks didn't get another veteran goalie at the deadline, it appears they will wait for the return of the wobbly kneed Cloutier. But now that St. Louis has acquired Osgood, it is likely that Brathwaite will be put on waivers. He would be a solid choice for Vancouver as insurance.

Brathwaite's contract is up after this year, and he would likely would take less money to stay in the NHL next year. With all the Canucks have invested in building their program, they must find a way to cover themselves if indeed Cloutier has any setbacks.

Darren Pang, a former goaltender with the Chicago Blackhawks, is a hockey analyst for ESPN. His goalie rankings appear every other week in Net Effect.