Yes, Hossa turned down long term deals last summer, but people should keep in mind he still played for 7.5 million.  To think he is going to sign for the 4 million dollar mark is crazy.  Even over ten years that is only 40 million (to say only is very hard).  He can easily make 8 million a year after July 1st.

Hossa tried to cheat his way to a cup.  It didnt work.  Don’t bet on him cheating himself out of millions.

Posted by Gretzky_to_Lemieux on 06/27/09 at 01:44 PM ET

Hossa tried to cheat his way to a cup.  It didnt work.

“Cheat” his way to a Cup? That doesn’t even make sense. The only one he might have “cheated” this past year was himself.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/27/09 at 01:49 PM ET

I will say this, there is some real hate for Hossa in the Penguins community.  I can’t remember ever hating a player that left the Wings via free agency.  Fedorov didn’t even come close, Hasek not at all, not even Keith Primeau (who was dealt away) did the Wings hate that much.

Pens fans, you WON THE CUP!  Be Happy!  It doesn’t happen very often so you had better stop hating and start having fun!

Posted by John from Pittsburgh, PA (Wings fan for life!) on 06/27/09 at 01:55 PM ET

“Cheat” may have been a harsh word, but i can not think of a better one to describe it.  If you look at the redwings, they are a team that is loaded up.  They are probably favored to win the cup as they were last summer.  My point is, Hossa signed a 1 year deal on a team that was favored to win the cup for the sole reason of winning a cup.  That is cheating in my opinion.  He did not sign with a team that was missing a piece to win it all, he signed on a team that won it the following year without him, lost no one in the offseason, and was favored to win it again the next year.  He also did not sign a multi-year deal.  For wing fans, if he really loved the wings and all of their “leadership”—or whatever he was quoted as saying—then he would have signed a longer deal. 

Take off your rose-colored glasses and see it for what it is/was.  Hossa tried to cheat his way to a stanley cup.  And i might add, he tried to do so without any hardship.  No multi-year commitment.  No salary reduction (7.5) is not a reduction.

Posted by Gretzky_to_Lemieux on 06/27/09 at 01:59 PM ET

And the question I have is… so? 

It’s free agency, who cares besides bitterness and jealousy?

Posted by Heaton on 06/27/09 at 02:03 PM ET

And the question I have is… so? 

Karma is a bitch. 

My point is do not expect to see Hossa sign for 4 million a year.  He is not the martyr that hockey gurus have made him into this past season.

Posted by Gretzky_to_Lemieux on 06/27/09 at 02:07 PM ET

John,  it’s not just about a UFA that left.  Those other guys you mention didn’t leave saying they had a better chance of winning the cup with the team you had JUST lost in the finals to.  It was a total kick in the groin to the Pens organization.

Posted by NHLJeff from Pens fan in Chicago, IL on 06/27/09 at 02:08 PM ET

John, it’s not just about a UFA that left.  Those other guys you mention didn’t leave saying they had a better chance of winning the cup with the team you had JUST lost in the finals to.  It was a total kick in the groin to the Pens organization.

There is even more to it than that.  Imagine as a wings fans if he was offered by Holland a 10 year 4 million a year deal.  And he signs for 3.5 for 1 year with Chicago saying he felt Chicago had a better chance at winning the cup.

Posted by Gretzky_to_Lemieux on 06/27/09 at 02:12 PM ET

Those other guys you mention didn’t leave saying they had a better chance of winning the cup with the team you had JUST lost in the finals to.  It was a total kick in the groin to the Pens organization.

And that’s just one of the reasons we love the guy.

Imagine as a wings fans if he was offered by Holland a 10 year 4 million a year deal.  And he signs for 3.5 for 1 year with Chicago saying he felt Chicago had a better chance at winning the cup.

I’d say he was seriously delusional, but I wouldn’t hate the guy the way Pens fans do.

As John said, you won the fricking Cup. Get over it.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/27/09 at 02:23 PM ET

My point is, Hossa signed a 1 year deal on a team that was favored to win the cup for the sole reason of winning a cup.  That is cheating in my opinion. 

And you’re an idiot, in my opinion.

Posted by mudshark from Idiot Wind Prairie, MB on 06/27/09 at 02:32 PM ET

And you’re an idiot, in my opinion.

And the Penguins won the Cup, not an opinion at all, just a fact.

Posted by Gretzky_to_Lemieux on 06/27/09 at 02:41 PM ET

Still bitter cuz yr mom wouldn’t let you go to parade?

(pw- shot96)

Posted by mudshark from My room at Mom's, Pouting on 06/27/09 at 02:53 PM ET

Cheat is not the word I would use. I’ve always used ‘piggyback.’ He signed with Detroit hoping Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, etc. would carry the load and win it while he contributed minimally.

Posted by cs6687 on 06/27/09 at 03:09 PM ET

The problem with Hossa and Pittsburgh is that he said he was leaving for a better chance at the cup.  The problem is he said it.  I would think he regrets “SAYING” it.  IMO should have said he had friends in Detroit that told him how great it is or something to that effect.  Was a dump thing to say.

Also, Hossa left the impression with the Pittsburgh organization that he was going to sign with them the day before he signed with Detroit.  Obviously his right but he sort of left them hanging as he let it drag for a few days into free agency.  Again his right but sort of a slight.

As A Pens fan I’m glad we won and he lost but it also worked out in the long run.  Had Hossa signed, the pens would be cap strapped, Orpik would be gone and Stall would be a UFA July 1.

Worked out pretty well for Pittsburgh and not so well for Hossa.  Happy ending from my point of view.  Time to let it go.

Posted by McFly on 06/27/09 at 03:51 PM ET

Correction - meant to say Stall would be a RFA July 1.

Posted by McFly on 06/27/09 at 04:10 PM ET

Correction: “Staal” not “Stall.”

I could let the first one slide as a possible typo, but seeing that done twice in a row was just upsetting.

Posted by NHLJeff from Pens fan in Chicago, IL on 06/27/09 at 04:12 PM ET

Those other guys you mention didn’t leave saying they had a better chance of winning the cup with the team you had JUST lost in the finals to.

So?  He’s not Ray Bourque.  He didn’t play his entire career for one team and then left to win a cup with another team, he played a QUARTER of a season!  You were his third team, and if he got injured and missed the finals last year and you won the cup, he wouldn’t have played enough games to get his name on the damn thing!

He was TRADED to your team, he DIDN’T CHOOSE to go there, so how can you get mad at the guy for going where he wanted to?

To echo two other people, you WON THE CUP!  Stop being such babies about a guy who probably spent his entire Pittsburgh playing career living in a god damn hotel.

Posted by Garth on 06/27/09 at 04:30 PM ET

Stop being such babies about a guy who probably spent his entire Pittsburgh playing career living in a god damn hotel.

I’d love to know the relevance of this statement to this topic.

Posted by cs6687 on 06/27/09 at 04:33 PM ET

I’d love to know the relevance of this statement to this topic.

The relevance being that he was a rental who had no ties to the city or the team.

You Pitt fans like to pretend that he publicly signed a promisory note to play for the Pens till the day he died and then jumped ship.

You had not claim to him and should stop crying about it, A YEAR LATER!

Posted by Garth on 06/27/09 at 04:42 PM ET

It’s not fair to say all Pens fans hate Hossa. I have no ill will towards him.

Sure, it was nice to prove him wrong, but other than that I like the guy and if I saw him on the street tomorrow I’d thank him for helping the Pens get to the finals in 07-08.

Posted by Kstewy16 on 06/27/09 at 05:02 PM ET

It’s not fair to say all Pens fans hate Hossa. I have no ill will towards him.

Sure, it was nice to prove him wrong, but other than that I like the guy and if I saw him on the street tomorrow I’d thank him for helping the Pens get to the finals in 07-08.

Well you are one of the very few my friend. Thanks for not being a crazy idiot Pens fan.

Posted by YYZerman from Detroit, Michigan on 06/27/09 at 05:12 PM ET

It’s not fair to say all Pens fans hate Hossa. I have no ill will towards him.

Sure, it was nice to prove him wrong,

There ARE plenty of Pens fans who are level headed enough to not hold it against him.

On the other hand, then Pens winning didn’t “prove” anything.  If he had signed with the Pens, they wouldn’t have been able to afford some of the other players who were very significant parts of the team.

If you really look at it, if they had Hossa, they would have been better at the beginning of the year probably, they likely would have been a decent, maybe low-ranked playoff team.  The wouldn’t have hit their relative “rock bottom”, firing Therrien, bringing in Bylsma and making the trades for the guys who they picked up at the deadline.

Signing him would have handcuffed them similar to the way that signing him this year will handcuff the Wings.

There are people saying that Pittsburgh has too much salary tied up in the threesome of Malkin, Crosby and Staal.  Add in a contract of at least $7M a year for Hossa and that’s what, around half of the ENTIRE cap spent of 4 guys?

Posted by Garth on 06/27/09 at 05:15 PM ET

I believe what the pens fans are trying to say is this: Hossa didn’t want to take the necessary effort to actually play hard and earn the cup (because he’s lazy as hell), so he tried to find a team that would perhaps earn it for him while he rode their coattails.

I have no idea why detroit would sign a guy like this, he doesn’t mesh with their philosophy.  Still…he can score, but his “what about me” attitude is questionable like most superstars.

Posted by stoneman from Vegas on 06/27/09 at 07:21 PM ET

Still…with hossa on the team the pens wouldn’t have won the cup and the detriment to detroit would have been negligible.

Lesson to the hockey world: egos aren’t going to win cups.  Who won the cup for the penguins?  Not malkin, not crosby…MAX friggin TALBOT.  That’s why they’re called “role players”.  Superstars don’t win you cups anymore (even goaltenders).

Posted by stoneman from Vegas on 06/27/09 at 07:26 PM ET

MAX friggin TALBOT.  That’s why they’re called “role players”.

And he’s got no ego…

Posted by Garth on 06/27/09 at 07:51 PM ET

Until the Penguins fired their coach, Hossa seemed to be absolutely correct - Pittsburgh was sitting in 10th or 11th at the time, I recall.

IF the Penguins had kept the coach that Hossa had played under, they likely would have missed the playoffs entirely.  In that case, no one would be thinking his decision was anything less than astute.

It’s important to realize that the playoffs was far from a given for the Penguins for much of the season - they weren’t leading their division wire-to-wire or anything.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/27/09 at 08:03 PM ET

I beg you Kenny, make the trade. You’d be getting at least a mid-round pick for someone you realistically can’t afford to sign, and it would allow you to keep Sammy and Hudler, and nab a Drake-type player. You’d have the ‘08 team all over again, with the added bonus that someone would toss you a free pick.

If Hossa stays, I can’t complain either. He’s a great player.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 06/27/09 at 08:23 PM ET