i think he injured his shoulder on the orpik hit in SCF

Posted by Oilers Rock from Edmonton, Alberta on 07/23/09 at 04:46 PM ET

The Red Wings have stated that Hossa had injured his shoulder prior to joining the Red Wings, and played through the injury throughout the past season and playoff run.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 07/23/09 at 04:54 PM ET

This smells.  How convienient, the Hawks are having cap problems, so put Hossa on LTR until they can figure it out.

Posted by bababooey on 07/23/09 at 05:04 PM ET

The smell comes from the fact that this news involved the cursory dance which preceded Tallon’s re-signings of their RFAs/firing, Denis Savard’s firing, etc. etc.  Every time the Hawks have to squeak their way through an uncomfortable situation, somebody takes the blame (this time, the Hawks tried to blame the Red Wings) and somebody gets cut, literally or figuratively, in the process.

With the Chicago Daily Herald’s Tim Sassone and the Tribune’s Chris Kuc having used their lifelines, I’m assuming that the Sun-Times’ Len Ziehm will “discover” the news Hawks-related “scoop” next as it’s his turn.  It’s just like Chicago politics, except that in this case, it’s politics on ice.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 07/23/09 at 05:18 PM ET

With this type of tear we anticipate a four month post-operative recovery period, after which we expect his shoulder to be 100 percent.

Looks like Marian will do anything to get out of playing against the Wings at the Joe on Oct. 8th.

When Rocky took over the reins in Chicago, I think everyone in the League was pleased. But instead the whole Hawks operation has been a complete disaster. They can’t mail contracts on time. They fire Tallon in a completely insensiitve way. They’re deep in trouble with the cap. And they sign a guy to a 12-year contract knowing he has a shoulder problem...one that’s going to cost them $2M in salary while he recovers from surgery.

And the really bad news is this year is actually going pretty well compared to what they’re going to face next summer when Toews, Kane, Ladd and Keith are all RFAs. All of this drama makes the Hudler situation look like a walk in the park.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/23/09 at 05:32 PM ET

And the really bad news is this year is actually going pretty well compared to what they’re going to face next summer when Toews, Kane, Ladd and Keith are all RFAs. All of this drama makes the Hudler situation look like a walk in the park.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 07/23/09 at 06:32 PM ET

They don’t necessarily need Hossa, just like the Wings didn’t necessarily need him last year, or like the Wings don’t necessarily need Hudler this year. However, the Hawks will need Hossa next year because they may not have much left to surround him with talent. I, like most if not all of the 19, especially Babcock (remember his comments in the WCF), are still snickering.

Posted by mrfluffy from Cincy on 07/23/09 at 05:48 PM ET

No way hossa played THROUGH a rotator cuff injury for a year while he could’ve gotten it repaired prior to the start of last season.  Besides, if it was on his leading arm (ie bottom arm) it wouldn’t have affected his ability to shoot or pass much because the bulk of the movement is at the wrist.  Still...if the Blackhawks weren’t told this prior they should reneg the contract, they won’t but they should.

Posted by stoneman from vegas on 07/24/09 at 12:25 AM ET

Still...if the Blackhawks weren’t told this prior they should reneg the contract, they won’t but they should.

Why is anyone assuming there was some subterfuge?

There’s no indication that the Hawks didn’t know about it.  According to Bowman’s quote, they’ve been working on it for three weeks, which means they knew about it.  And Detroit said they knew about it before they signed him LAST year.  I can’t imagine he started lying about it now when he clearly didn’t like about it a year ago.

How convienient, the Hawks are having cap problems, so put Hossa on LTR until they can figure it out.

But they’re not having cap problems this year.  They’re facing cap problems NEXT year.  And it’t not like they can put him on LTIR and simply sign someone to fill his spot because when he comes back they have to have the space to put him back in the lineup.  Putting him on LTIR doesn’t help the cap/signing problems that will be coming up next summer.

Posted by Garth on 07/24/09 at 09:04 AM ET

Why is anyone assuming there was some subterfuge?

I’d have to agree. I would assume contracts are similar to those in baseball, where deals are always finalized pending passing a physical. It’s not an out that gets used often, but once in a while you hear a deal fall through because of some injury being more severe than expected.

Even if he’s out till the new year, who wouldn’t take half a season of Hossa? That’s still 20 goals and a player who’s really frickin hard to contain.

Posted by Nate A from Dark side of the moon on 07/24/09 at 12:19 PM ET

But they’re not having cap problems this year.  They’re facing cap problems NEXT year.  And it’t not like they can put him on LTIR and simply sign someone to fill his spot because when he comes back they have to have the space to put him back in the lineup.  Putting him on LTIR doesn’t help the cap/signing problems that will be coming up next summer.

They technically have cap problems this year too.  If you include the bonuses that Toews, Kane, etc. are likely to hit, they’re above the cap.  They could defer the bonuses until next season which would put them under the $56.8M cap, but the last thing they want to do is add more salary to next season.

They have 14 forwards signed as well, so they won’t need to sign anybody to replace Hossa.

Posted by DetCapC19 from Vancouver, BC on 07/24/09 at 01:49 PM ET