Goalie battle on Team Europe could have major impact in the NHL.

Battle for Team Europe's net could determine which guy keeps his NHL job.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
Goalie battle on Team Europe could have major impact in the NHL.
Keystone Press

There was a feeling that the New York Islanders would have a decision to make for the 2016-2017 season when it comes to their goaltending situation, with both Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss fighting for the number one job, and prospect Jean-Francois Berube expected to have a bigger presence at the NHL level this year.

In fact the situation was contentious that Jaroslav Halak made comments that suggested he wasn't happy with management, and went so far as to say he had informed the team that a change was needed.

“it’s not ideal,” Halak said earlier this summer as per the New York Post, “I’ve tried to tell [management], and this is not up to me.

[pub]

It looked like the writing was on the wall for the older man in Jaroslav Halak, and a trade seemed increasingly likely as time went on, but now the World Cup of Hockey may gave thrown a giant wrench into whatever plans the Islanders had laid out in this regard.

Halak has by all accounts beaten Thomas Greiss for the starting job on Team Europe after an abysmal performance from Greiss where he allowed four goals in just 10 minutes during an exhibition contest. One has to imagine that the Islanders are paying very close attention, and could make their decision on which player they retain based at least partially on the performance of both men in the tournament.

Source: