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Guaranteed Dozen: Hossa A Wing
by IwoCPO on 07/02/08 at 12:59 PM ET
Comments (134)
Reliable. Confirmed.
Ok. This is insane. I mean it’s absolutely frigging out of control insane.
We have issues to address.
All the questions coming in: can we still sign Filppula? Will this deal work in our Cap structure? Will this affect Zetterberg’s deal?
Consider them all answered because Ken Holland is a mastermind. He’s an artist. There is no question and zero doubt. Goddamn, it’s great to be a Wing fan.
My god, think of the line combinations, the power play, the firepower.
New York Yankees of hockey. Expect that to come back. Well, here’s your answer: Scoreboard bitches. Hossa’s a UFA. The rest of the forwards? Home grown or castoffs.
Here’s what we’re finding out about some players in the NHL. There is a difference between saying you want to win and proving your priority is to win. Hossa? The guy wants a Cup and he wants it badly. Undoubtedly he could have signed a 4, 5, 8 year deal with any number of teams. But here’s the thing.
With or without him, Edmonton probably isn’t winning the Cup next year.
Brad Stuart proved it yesterday and Hossa did today. Some guys value winning above all else. Stuart got a taste and he wants more. Hossa came close and he’s starving for it. Well, he gets his best chance ever because he took less money and a big risk. A one year deal, despite what must be huge amounts of insurance money, is a chance few stars like to take. Especially at age 28.
Conklin, Stuart, Hossa. A nice 24 hour period for our boy Tick Tock Kenny Holland. The Summer of Ken, as soon as Fil’s signed, is officially over. Rest up big fella. You deserve it.
God, what a move.
This from Stilly at Pensblog, and I bring you this not to rub it in to them, but because it’s brilliant.
this is devastating.
It’s like getting beat up by the popular kid in school, but taking solace in the fact that your girlfriend is way hotter than any whore he’s dating.. Then the next day she ditches your ass for captain popular.
If I were emo, I’d be cutting myself.
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Comments
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I’m guessing that Hossa thought the Wings were closer right now than the Penguins are right now.
However, Crosby and Malkin are still young and improving, and will be the better for this playoff experience, especially Malkin - who was also sick for the start of the Finals and didn’t really start to feel himself until the fifth or sixth game, I read somewhere. Fleury will also improve with time, but Hossa may not have thought that team was as likely to be back in the Finals next year as opposed to a couple years down the road.
Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 07/02/08 at 04:08 PM ET
I think the simple fact is, Hossa knows the Penguins will not be as good this year as they were last year. Whereas even if the Wings didn’t sign him, they would be returning with the same team that faced the Penguins.
The Penguins on the other hand lost Ryan Malone, Jaarko Ruutu and Gary Robets, and potentially Laraque and Brooks Orpik (is it just me, or is this guy extremely overrated? he has one big shift and all of a sudden he’s the most bruising guy in hockey. anyway, i digress...), and with three MAJOR contracts already between Fleury, Crosby and Malkin, they don’t have much room for him AND more pieces for that puzzle.
Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 07/02/08 at 04:11 PM ET
Still nothing official on Drake!
Is that because Kenny sent him off to the Cloning farm..?
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs don’t live up to my expectations on 07/02/08 at 04:13 PM ET
Pens have re-signed Orpik...6 years, $22.5MM…
Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 04:15 PM ET
Pens have re-signed Orpik...6 years, $22.5MM…
So they have that going for them. Which is nice.
Posted by cephalopod from Chicago, on the poop deck, not over it yet on 07/02/08 at 04:23 PM ET
...it gives us Franzen, Zetterberg, and Hossa to sign next year. any two out of the three would be a dream come true for most teams…
Hmmm. PMB raises a very interesting twist to all of this. If Mule decides to be, well, obstinate and “mulish” next year, Kenny simply gives his money to Hossa. For a god-like entity, Kenny’s a previous devious son of a bitch, eh?
Excuse me while I go search for my faith in humanity…
Posted by Pens fan on 07/02 at 04:59 PM
Funniest line of the day...and there have been a slew of them. First the Pens get hosed in the playoffs and now they get Hossa-ed. Makes you almost want to send them a sympathy card. Almost. 
Could this be interpreted as somewhat of a commentary by Hossa as to his ease with the overall situation in Pittsburgh, or that being on the ice with the two teams made him aware of how much better and therefore likely to win the Wings were?
I’d say both! Or maybe he saw the world of difference between the classiest coach in the league and the league’s biggest whiner.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/02/08 at 04:29 PM ET
So they have that going for them. Which is nice.
instant respect for anyone that can work a caddyshack quote into any situation.
Posted by rwingscup19 from Dallas on 07/02/08 at 04:30 PM ET
Yeah, Orpik’s shift has attained legendary status among Penguin fans. It was indeed a very good shift, overshadowed as it was by The Shift.
Posted by BobS. on 07/02/08 at 04:34 PM ET
And who would win a series between the 2001-2002 Wings and this years version?
Detroit.
Posted by BobTheZee on 07/02/08 at 04:40 PM ET
Other cool thing about this deal is that Nick is still the highest paid Red Wing.
Not by much in this case, but still.
Posted by HockeyJoe from NY on 07/02/08 at 04:46 PM ET
It’s true you can’t mail in a cup season but the Wings are in a great great position to win again. injuries and themselves are the only thing that can hurt them. I seriously doubt the themselves part of it. Not in that room.
Anyway the info talked about earlier on the tiger’s off season trade is a little confusing. It was maybin, who is in the minors right now, and Miller, who is like 5-7 allowing about 5 earned run a game, for Willis and Cabrera.
The trade that really ticked me off and the pitcher I hated losing was jair Jurrjens, who is 8-3 and has allowed less then three runs a game, for Renteria. That trade with atlanta killed us. Imagine Jurrijens and galarraga fighting it out for rook of the year.
Posted by hankyspanky40 from Michigan on 07/02/08 at 05:01 PM ET
As delighted as I am by the addition of Hossa,I am of the belief that The Wings were going to hang on to our Cup prior to his signing.
This unexpected turn of events has me on Cloud 9.
Cloud 12,13....
Lets Go Red Wings!!!!!
Posted by Kate from Pa. on 07/02/08 at 05:03 PM ET
Oh. My. High. Holy. Freaking. Mother. Of. God.
Posted by monkey from Waiting for the lambs to stop screaming on 07/02/08 at 05:06 PM ET
This is just an awesome quote:
“I have never been involved in a deal and seen a player get so excited to take $85 million less than he was offered elsewhere,” Hossa’s agent Ritch Winter told The Canadian Press, hinting at the Oilers offer.
Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/02/08 at 05:13 PM ET
BREAKING NEWS: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suffered a fatal stroke after learning that ‘parity’ in the new NHL has been relegated to the scrap heap of history. Details to follow…
Posted by Mike from La-La Land on 07/02/08 at 06:13 PM ET
BREAKING NEWS: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman suffered a fatal stroke after learning that ‘parity’ in the new NHL has been relegated to the scrap heap of history.
BREAKING NEWS (part 2): The news of Commissioner Bettman’s demise was met with shock throughout the league. Said Red Wings GM, Ken Holland, “I’m shocked he lasted this long.” Other GMs also expressed dismay...dismay that their league had been held hostage by such a midget of a man (and, apparently, they weren’t talking about his height).
In other news, a hockey holiday was declared throughout North America. League GMs said the timing was “simply a coincidence.”
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/02/08 at 07:03 PM ET
everyone in the nhl hates the red wings, so its okay
Posted by g from philly on 07/02/08 at 07:25 PM ET
The audacity!
Posted by w2j2 on 07/02 at 01:52 PM
Of all the words expressed today, “stunned” being the most prominent, this is probably the best. Well played w2j2.
Posted by RWBill from jabbing a six inch sewing needle into my eye. on 07/02/08 at 07:50 PM ET
In the words of the Pensblog, I’m
STUNNED
, but in a good way. God, damn Kenny! While we were sitting around debating Tucker, Rolston, and (hah!) Bertuzzi, you go and land one of the big fish. Hah! I didn’t even think he was on the radar.
From the Wings standpoint, this is a perfect fit. They had (for the Wings, anyway) oodles of cap room to work with this season, and have a couple of big name guys to sign next year. I just can’t believe that one of the big fish in the UFA pool was willing to sign a one year contract.
I bet Uncle Mike’s just rubbing his hands with glee thinking of all the potential line combinations. I’m betting he’s going to at least flirt with splitting up the Circus during the preseason.
I love Fils, and I do hope we can resign him, but if I had to choose Fillpula or Hossa? I’d probably pick the Hossa. Now all Kenny has to do is resign Mac (who I’m hoping will be so happy to be a Wing again that he’ll take a two-way contract), Cheli, and ship Lilja somewhere else. (I’m hoping that singing him was just insurance in case Stuart decided to go elsewhere.)
Posted by Modnar from Cincinnati, OH on 07/02/08 at 07:56 PM ET
The rest of the quote from Hossa’s agent regarding leaving $85 Million on the table,
.."It’s almost incomprehensible, even to an agent. But Marian is a special player.”
Are these the “can’t miss Tigers” who were sub .500 for half a season? No, the Wings locker room is not like that, plus this is just one player on top of a stable of SC winners, so it’s not a big change in chemistry.
Posted by RWBill from jabbing a six inch sewing needle into my eye. on 07/02/08 at 08:05 PM ET
I think the simple fact is, Hossa knows the Penguins will not be as good this year as they were last year. Whereas even if the Wings didn’t sign him, they would be returning with the same team that faced the Penguins.
I think he actually made up his mind when the time-out
was called during their 5 on 3.
Posted by HockeyTownTodd from upset when blogs don’t live up to my expectations on 07/02/08 at 09:21 PM ET
Now that Dom is retired and Hossa is here, will we turn the religious icon of CMOI over to Hossa? They both are Czechs and he just turned down at least 85 mil in guarenteed money to play for a winning organ-i-zation. That is a miracle in itself handed to us by the church of Holland.
Posted by rndave from greenville south cackelackey on 07/02/08 at 09:47 PM ET
I think he actually made up his mind when the time-out was called during their 5 on 3.
That might be the most astute observation of the day.
At that point, Marian must have said to himself, “The coach is a jackass and those guys are freaking relentless. Damn. I sure wish I was a Red Wing.”
And now you are, our friend. Now you are. You’re a very wise man.
Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/02/08 at 10:27 PM ET
Anyone get the feeling that Hasek is going to jump out & say - just kidding about the retirement! 
Okay, we really signed Hossa, right? I mean I’ve been reading the updates all day. But it still seems a little surreal! I am SO giddy over this signing its not even funny!
Posted by lynn from northern michigan podunk town on 07/02/08 at 10:54 PM ET
You all act like your real fans, but the penguins are the ones whose arena was sold out and every seat was filled for the stanley cup final. you guys couldn’t even find enough fans to fill those nasty red seats on opening night of game one. your goalie is mediocre and a diver and your players are all over thirty. enjoy your reign now, because u have a year or two of winning left then it’s the pens turn to takeover.
You can have hossa. The only reason he was any good was because he played on Sidney’s side.
Posted by freecandy101 from pittsburgh on 07/03/08 at 12:04 AM ET
Sweet Baby Jesus… what a great day to be a wings fan. No superlatives can express the joy at how these past four weeks have unfolded.
Posted by SharkBaiter from Back home in Traverse City for the moment on 07/03/08 at 12:05 AM ET
This post from freecandy101(!?!) irked me enough to decide to make my first posting here and give my best to the 19.
but the penguins are the ones whose arena was sold out and every seat was filled for the stanley cup final. you guys couldn’t even find enough fans to fill those nasty red seats on opening night of game one.
Did you even check the attendance figures for Game 1? Unless NHL.com would lie about such a thing 20066 sounds sold out to me.
your goalie is mediocre and a diver
I don’t even want to reopen this can of worms.
your players are all over thirty
Oh no! Our guys are so old that we will never survive a long and deep playoff run. Oh wait....
u have a year or two of winning left then it’s the pens turn to takeover.
Tell me where you see people leaving the organ-I-zation, or players all of a sudden dropping off in terms of skill?
The only reason he was any good was because he played on Sidney’s side.
So he will look even better when he plays with Dats and Z or the Mule!
enjoy your reign
Thanks! I will, for many years to come!
Posted by Dan from Hockey-deprived OR on 07/03/08 at 01:46 AM ET
Best top 4 on the blue line for the next couple years (regardless of what happens on other teams), the most under-rated forward corps in hockey, and adding a 100 point forward to your second line. How can the Wings not win it all next year? Tigers comparisons aside (they’re at 500 now and in 3rd in the Central, with more than half the season left, the baseball season is too long to say anything definite now). This says a lot about the Wings commitment to winning, and how players view that commitment. Hossa said no to a 5 year 7 mil a year contract to sign a one year 7.4 mil contract. What else could that mean than he wants to win now? With Crsoby, Malkin, and Fleury signed for multiple years the Pens are going to win a Cup soon. Just not next year. Get Zetterberg signed for multiple years and the Wings are set no matter what for years to come.
Whoever suggested that Ken Holland religion, I’m on board. This man is the best GM in any sport, hands down.
Posted by Dan from Lansing, MI on 07/03/08 at 02:35 AM ET
Let’s just hope, for Hossa’s sake, that no matter what the Wings do in the playoffs next year, he remains healthy and doesn’t suffer a career-ending injury. He deserves to be rewarded for taking an unbelievable gamble with his future financial security.
Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/03/08 at 08:19 AM ET
And by the way, Penguins fans, you shouldn’t despair. You have a great nucleus of centers, and there are a ton of excellent wingers still available via free agency this year: Jagr, Naslund, Recchi, Shanahan, Satan, Bertuzzi...and if not, there’s always next year, now that you have Crosby and Malkin locked up at very reasonable rates.
Posted by Larry Aurie #6 from New York, NY on 07/03/08 at 08:23 AM ET
I apologize for the very mean posting. It was 1am and i was feeling like a jagoff. Its not your fault ur so damn good.
Posted by freecandy101 from pittsburgh on 07/03/08 at 11:23 AM ET
I apologize for the very mean posting.
Ah, yinz crazy Pens fans and your level-headed magnanimity and innate goodness...you’re welcome here anytime.
Water off a duck’s back, bro.
Posted by AndrewFromAnnArbor from the A2Y 19, startled again by Pittsburgh fans on 07/03/08 at 12:57 PM ET
I think the Wings are already in the gyms getting the drunk out of their systems to get ready for training camp on September 20th.
“Madness? This is Hockeytown.”
We can clearly grind the heels of our steel-toe boots down the throats of Michael Farber and Ted Bauer.
Posted by SYF from Las Vegas, NV on 07/04/08 at 12:29 PM ET
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