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AP Photo/Jim PrischingFor better or worse, Cristobal Huet remains with the Blackhawks.

Stan Bowman’s news conference on Wednesday went on for 15 minutes. It could have ended after about 10 seconds.

"It takes two to tango," Bowman said. "And we didn't quite get anything done. We had a lot of good discussions. Sometimes it doesn't work out."

That’s all that needed to be said. We all know what he was talking about. You don’t think those discussions were about available left wingers, do you? They had acquired what they needed on defense, so there was only one thing left.

I give Stan credit, though. He stood there and took every imaginable question about his goaltending, and he answered it as best he could. He certainly can’t throw Cristobal Huet under the bus now, though he may have liked to put him on a bus to Florida earlier in the day.

As reported here and elsewhere, the Hawks were interested in Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun. So before you start ripping up your season tickets, remember, they wanted to move Huet as much you did. They wanted to upgrade in goal as much you did. It didn’t happen, mostly, because of Huet’s cumbersome contract.

Florida didn’t want it, and obviously no one else did. So then you might ask, why not sweeten the pot to take it? Would you be comfortable with Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp, and a package of picks and prospects? I doubt it. Seems like a lot. And I still don’t know what Florida would have done if a better package were offered to take Huet. Not in the salary cap era, where they’d be hit for $5.6 million per year over the next two. Not when Vokoun costs less because he’s only signed for one more, and not when they can trade him over the summer, which they will.

Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.com reported the Hawks and Panthers talked as late as Wednesday morning about Vokoun. So while Scotty Bowman was going on Toronto radio saying there was “no chance” Vokoun was coming, Stan was still trying. Maybe it wasn’t exactly at the same time. I think it’s safe to assume, Stan made the call to Florida GM Randy Sexton, to no avail, before Scotty went on to exterminate the rumor.

The last option was sending Huet to the minors, taking his money off the books for this season, and then trading for Vokoun or one of the other goaltenders. The problem, I was reminded by a colleague the other day, is that silly and confusing “tagging rights” issue. Remember that? It reared its head when Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, and Patrick Kane were in the midst of signing their new contracts. If you don’t know what it is or what it means, you’re not alone. The bottom line is, Huet’s and Vokoun’s contracts for next year would have caused problems in obtaining him this season, no matter where they put Huet, unless it was on another team.

Rest assured (if it helps) the Hawks are as nervous as you are. It took Scotty Bowman four games last season to offer up a change in coaches. You think he needed 60 for Huet?

If you’ve disliked Huet from the word go, you might be inclined to be mad they didn’t try to pull the trigger earlier in the season. Toronto’s veteran general manager, Brian Burke, implied on Wednesday that teams scrambling at the deadline are a bit more desperate, in his opinion. He likes to make his deals early and let things play out. He did trade for J.S. Giguere well before the deadline, but I don’t see how that could have helped the Hawks. Giguere is signed for next year and they would still have the Huet problem. Plus, another team would have had to pay Huet for longer this season, if they had traded for him, say, pre-New Years.

Full disclosure, I was all for letting things play out with Huet when he was being criticized in October. But it hasn’t come together the way anyone would have hoped. Let’s add a little perspective, however. For about 3 1/2 months, Huet was more than decent. From mid-October until the end of January, minus a few bad ones, he did the job. In the beginning of the season and the most recent stretch before the break, he did struggle. No doubt about it. As I’ve said all along, they can win with him if they play their style, but it doesn’t look like they can rely on him to steal games.

Philadelphia couldn’t get a deal done for a goalie, neither did Washington. No major goalie switched teams at the deadline, maybe feel better about that. The Flyers gave up seven goals on Wednesday night against Florida. Vokoun gave up four of his own to Philly. Huet gave up two and won the game. It’s a start.