Blackhawks net result so far is confusion

This is the one-year anniversary of Cristobal Huet signing a four-year, $22.5 million contract to be the goalie of the future with the Blackhawks.

Happy anniversary, Cris. Time flies. You're history. Thanks for coming.

Or so it seems with the latest rumor flying around that general manager Dale Tallon may re-sign Nikolai Khabibulin for two years, $8 million.

Everyone, myself included, has already stamped Khabibulin's passport and sent him out of town. No way the Hawks could afford to pay him and Huet. So Nik was cut out of the picture by most observers after an occasionally strong effort in the postseason.

Now, if Khabibulin is back, it figures that Huet has to go in a trade. The revolving door on the Hawks net is a source of confusion that is not comforting when you look at how the situation has been handled for the past year.

Organizations don't thrive by changing their mind every five seconds. It sends a fuzzy signal to the troops to make your latest decision on which way the wind is blowing.

Shortly after Huet arrived last year, Khabibulin was put on waivers in September by the Hawks after being injured and inconsistent in his previous three years. But Khabibulin stayed put in Chicago, emerged as their go-to guy in the regular season and was their netminding fixture in the playoff run to the Western Conference finals.

There were times in the playoffs he was sensational, although there were other moments he allowed soft goals at crucial junctions. In addition, his injury history is a source of constant worry. Injury and inconsistency are the two big sticklers whenever he gets evaluated.

So was signing Huet in the first place a bad decision? So was waiving Khabibulin a dumb move in retrospect, considering the Hawks may not have been playoff material without him?

Who's on first?

Tallon will be making some major decisions today and in the next several days about the future of his team. Here's hoping the picture looks more settled at the end of the day than it does now.