Nobody pisses off more people that this guy.Word on the street is that Marian Hossa will sign a contract with the Chicago Blackhawks today, a deal supposedly worth $62 million over 12 years (not coincidentally, the Hawks also signed former Wing Tomas Kopecky, Hossa's butt buddy from Slovakia and the main guy behind bringing Hossa to Detroit.) I guess he didn't enjoy playing with the Red Wings enough to take their last offer of $4 million a year for ten years, which is a far cry from the $7 million plus a year he was offered last year by the Oilers and Penguins.
If I could have a "Being John Malkovich" moment here and crawl inside Hossa's brain, I would probably see a guy taking a long term contract with an up-and-coming young team. Sound familiar? It's the same type of offer Hossa balked at last summer with the Pens, instead bolting for the one year deal given to him by the Red Wings. Did he learn his lesson? Definitely, and the hard way at that. If Hossa had just taken the Pens' deal last year, he would have made more money, had a legitimate chance to lift the Cup for years to come, and spare himself the humiliation of this past playoff choke job.
It seems that Hossa has a penchant for pissing off people. In Ottawa, he earned the nickname "Maid Marian" for his repeated playoff failures. In Atlanta, he could only lead the Thrashers to one playoff appearance, a four game first round exit. In Pittsburgh, his arrival brought the departure of fan favorite Colby Armstrong, and then he stuck a knife in the back of the Pittsburgh hockey community by burning the Pens and signing with the team that just defeated them a month earlier. In Detroit, he virtually disappeared in the playoffs after a 40+ goal regular season, and earned the ire of Wings fans for his no-show performance against his former team in the Finals. Now, he signs a contract with the Wings' main rival, guaranteeing at least six games a year for the next 12 years against Detroit and their unforgiving fanbase.
So what's next? It's clear that Hossa is a world-class talent, and added to a team already loaded with young stars can only make the Blackhawks better. But in the salary-cap era, Hossa's deal takes a large chunk of money that will need to go to Chicago's other soon-to-be free agent stars such as Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, etc. I can all but guarantee that Chicago fans will turn on Hossa soon enough, especially if the Hawks can't resign a key young star because of his contract.
If I could have a "Being John Malkovich" moment here and crawl inside Hossa's brain, I would probably see a guy taking a long term contract with an up-and-coming young team. Sound familiar? It's the same type of offer Hossa balked at last summer with the Pens, instead bolting for the one year deal given to him by the Red Wings. Did he learn his lesson? Definitely, and the hard way at that. If Hossa had just taken the Pens' deal last year, he would have made more money, had a legitimate chance to lift the Cup for years to come, and spare himself the humiliation of this past playoff choke job.
It seems that Hossa has a penchant for pissing off people. In Ottawa, he earned the nickname "Maid Marian" for his repeated playoff failures. In Atlanta, he could only lead the Thrashers to one playoff appearance, a four game first round exit. In Pittsburgh, his arrival brought the departure of fan favorite Colby Armstrong, and then he stuck a knife in the back of the Pittsburgh hockey community by burning the Pens and signing with the team that just defeated them a month earlier. In Detroit, he virtually disappeared in the playoffs after a 40+ goal regular season, and earned the ire of Wings fans for his no-show performance against his former team in the Finals. Now, he signs a contract with the Wings' main rival, guaranteeing at least six games a year for the next 12 years against Detroit and their unforgiving fanbase.
So what's next? It's clear that Hossa is a world-class talent, and added to a team already loaded with young stars can only make the Blackhawks better. But in the salary-cap era, Hossa's deal takes a large chunk of money that will need to go to Chicago's other soon-to-be free agent stars such as Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, etc. I can all but guarantee that Chicago fans will turn on Hossa soon enough, especially if the Hawks can't resign a key young star because of his contract.
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