The National Hockey League trade deadline came and went at noon and the Vancouver Canucks elected to stay pat. A day after acquiring centre Derek Roy from Dallas, the Canucks were unable or unwilling to peddle Roberto Luongo and the nine-years and $40 million remaining on his contract. General manager Mike Gillis said he spoke to as many as five teams about a deal in the hours leading up to the deadline, but couldn't find an offer that he felt benefitted the hockey club.

So Luongo, who turns 34 tomorrow, will stay here and be the most-expensive back-up goalie in the league as the Canucks move down the stretch run into the playofs. Simply shedding the contract for draft picks would have given the Canucks flexibility moving forward under a salary cap that will drop by $10 million this summer.

A saga that has been 10 months in the making will carry on for a few months more at least. And if the Canucks struggle in the playoffs, it's going to be difficult for the organization to explain to its fan base how having a $5 million back-up goalie sitting at the end of the bench doing nothing each night makes any sense.