February 14, 2015: Big Hoss

Marian Hossa, will you be my Valentine?

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone out there.  On the day Chicago is best known for a Massacre, we’ll look at somebody who has been connecting on a lot of his shots lately.

Drafted in 1997 with the 12th overall pick by the Ottawa Senators, Marian Hossa made his debut a year later.  Bouncing from Ottawa to Europe to Atlanta to Pittsburgh to Detroit, he finally found a home here in Chicago back on July 1, 2009.  Do you remember that day?  That was the day the Blackhawks signed Hossa to a 12 year deal worth 62.8 million dollars; seems like a bargain now.  In the recent talks of swings and misses, this was definitely a swing and a drive.  He has turned out to be awesome for the Blackhawks.

It didn’t start off so well…  his signing meant the end of the road for Martin Havlat, who had played awesome for the Hawks the year before.  Also, Hossa started the season recovering from an injury, and didn’t debut until November 25, 2009 against the Sharks; I actually remember that game.  I remember that he scored twice, including a short handed breakaway; nice start to the Blackhawks career.  That 2009-2010 season was magical for the Hawks as we all know… In the playoffs, the Hawks were in serious trouble against the Predators.  It was Hossa who was in the penalty box late in the 3rd period with the Hawks down a goal, and already down in the series 2-1.  You remember what happened next?  Yep, Kane scored a shorhander to tie the game and send it to OT.  Then, Hossa’s 5 minute penalty expired, he came out of the box, and promptly scored the game winner.  It was all gravy from there.

Making the Stanley Cup finals against the Flyers marked the 3rd consecutive Stanley Cup finals appearance for Hossa.  He had made it first with Pittsburgh who lost to Detroit, then with Detroit who lost to Pittsburgh, and now, with Chicago who faced Philadelphia.  The third time was a charm as they say, and Hossa finally got his Cup.  Once the cup was handed to Toews, Marian was the first person he turned to; he deserved it.

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Now, 5 years later, and another Stanley Cup in the bank, Marian Hossa is 36 years old… and still has 6 years left on his contract!!!  You wonder if he’ll be back next year, with the Blackhawks in need of some financial gymnastics to stay under the cap.  You hope he IS back.  The guy is rock solid.  He plays awesome offense and defense… a true two way player as they call it.  He plays much bigger than his size at 6’1″ and 210 lbs; when he has the puck, it seems impossible to get it away from him.  He is one of the most consistent Hawks on a team full of superstars.  You can’t take someone like this for granted… to finally see some of his shots going in lately, has been great.

7 goals in the past 4 games!  Yeah, OK, so there was an empty netter in there, still… a pretty impressive streak to say the least.  In the game against Vancouver, he looked like Patrick Kane on the game tying goal.  No, not just the way he scored the goal from the side of the net ala the 2010 Cup winner, but the way he flew down the ice… I had to do a double take.  When I saw it was #81 and not #88, I was shocked.  This is a 36 year old flying around the ice like he’s 20 something.  Not sure if he’s been saving some of this energy up, but the speed at which he’s been playing, coupled with the power, reminds us of why he is an elite player.  I hope we all know how lucky we are as Blackhawk fans right now.

It’s crazy enough that we have Toews AND Kane, but we have someone like Hossa too.  It’s no wonder why this Blackhawks team has been great.  I guess I’d have to rank Hossa as the 3rd best player on the Hawks right now, although I’m sure you can make an argument for a couple others; just another example of why we’re so lucky.

We’ll now welcome the 3rd member of the Blackhawks to the Players Club; there’s still plenty of room at that table.  I’m not sure how long we’ll have you Marian, but we’ve been lucky to have you for as long as we have.   Keep those hits coming.  Keep that goal streak alive.  Let’s raise that 3rd Cup together. Here’s hoping something gets worked out, and you end up retiring a Blackhawk.  You deserve it.