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Regret not signing a 50 million multi-year deal, he will if injured he gets.

I mean he could have finished his career playing with some of the best players in the league with Malkin and Crosby. Plus those two are so young they're only going to get better. I don't see how he could have lost playing in Pittsburgh.

The media is talking about it as if its some type of 'classy' move he did because he turned down bigger money.
I don't see what's so classy about jumping to a stacked team that is already faovored to repeat. Pittsburgh has a young exciting team and he could have part of something great.
This is what, team number 5 for him now? He'll probably have played for 10 teams by the end of his career.

My thought is, wanting to win the cup is fine, but why would you want to do it with the team that just won it? Say he goes to the Wings and they repeat. What's that say about Hossa? It's not like he was the missing piece that puts them over the hump, given they won it this year without him.

I'm OK with him wanting to carry the Cup, but you'd think a player of his caliber would want to actually feel like he was a key reason his team won it. I just don't see how he'd walk away with that impression.

Thinking Detroit will win again is quite simply...silly. There's a reason only 2 teams have repeated in the last 20 years. The 92-93 Pens were argueably the most talented of the teams they had...and lost to the Islanders. Anything can happen over the course of a season. Playing with Crosby for 7 years would have made Hossa a lock for the Hall of Fame and I believe these Pens will win at least one Cup. Classy is not a word to describe Hossa.

I agree with all the comments said. Hossa will not be the person to bring them over the hump since they have already won the cup. Good point perfect. I also agree with the statement that if Hossa played with Crosby for seven years, he would be a Hall of Famer.

Whatever his reasoning was, he burned a big bridge in Pittsburgh now. Yoda, of Hossa's next 5 or so teams he plays for, it won't be Pittsburgh again.

Thinking Detroit will win again is quite simply...silly.

Not so silly really, just look at the history. The Wings have made the playoffs for 17 seasons in a row, repeating as champions in 96/97-97/98. True, anything can happen in the course of a season,, but of any team in the NHL, the Wings are the team I would feel most comfortable puting my money on to win it all at the begining of the season. From the front office down to the ice, the Detroit franchise is tops in the league and will be for many years to come. I look forward to many more epic battles between the Pens and Wings...what a great gift these teams gave to Hockey fans this last year. Go Wings!!

Hossa was very careful with the words he used. He never said he would like to spend a lot of years in Pittsburgh or that he would except less money to stay there. He said he would take less money to play for a good team LIKE the Pens. Hossa has wanted to be a Wing for a while, it didnt start on July 1st. Detroit was his first choice at the trade deadline, but they couldnt offer Atlanta the assets that Pittsburgh could. There is also something obviously wrong in Pittsburgh right now, you can tell by the fact that so many players are abandoning ship. As Pens fans, Im sure most of you know that there are a lot of players on that team that dont like playing for Therrien.

All that aside, can you blame him for wanting to play in Detroit? They are a great organization. The front office treats their players GREAT and show tons of loyalty. Yes, Hossa will lose having Crosby on his side, as well as Dupuis (sp?). He will likely be on a line with Datsyuk though, who isnt really much of a step down from Crosby in terms of play making, and Holmstrom, who will be a much bigger asset to Hossa than Dupuis was. Not to mention having Lidstrom and Rafalski on the point is a step up over what he had in Pittsburgh. Also the fact that all Detroits forwards are all exceptional in the defensive aspects of the game really fits well with the way Hossa plays.

I can understand you Pens fans being upset about losing a great player, especially under these circumstances, but there was more to his decision than wanting to win a cup this year. He has a good friend on the team with Kopecky. The organization is known for treating their players well. They play a style that is very complimentary of the way Hossa plays. Also, just because he only signed a one year deal doesnt necessarily mean he will leave next summer. Detroit has to re-sign a few players next year, but they will have around $25 million to do it with while most of their players are already locked up. Im not saying he will return, but Detroit wont be under major cap restraints either and will have a chance of re-signing him.

The problem is not that Hossa left to play with Detroit, but HOW he did it. He told the Pens that they were at the top of his list and he gave every indication to the players that he wanted to return. If he wanted to play with Detorit so badly that he would take a crappy one-year contract, why didn't he let the Pens know that, so that they were not spinning their wheels and could have gone after other free-agent wingers earlier in free agency. Instead of being upfront, he was disingenuous and for that the Pens should not forgive him

I meant to say a lock to win next year, of course they have as good as chance as anyone, but it's very hard to repeat.

It's rather unlikely that the Red Wings will repeat. I severely doubt Chris Osgood can do it. The last netminder who anchored consecutive Stanley Cups was Tom Barraso in '92. So Hossa signed on to a team which will probably lose in the Conference Finals. Whether it's San Jose, Dallas or a Cinderella team.

Detroit is the absolute best bet for winning the cup next year. Repeats are tough of course, but Detroit is certainly the best looking team right now, having just won the cup and with the only important unsigned player being Flip. The Pens will be good, but they seem to be losing many wingers, and as good as Crosby and Malkin are, having second class wingers is going to slow them down.

In Detroit, Hossa gets to play with Datsyuk and/or Zetterberg. While they don't rack up quite as many points in the regular season, they are MUCH better defensively than Crosby/Malkin, which lets Hossa cheat a bit to make a few more plays.

I don't understand why so many Pens fans are upset about this. You knew cap space was tight when you signed him. Your GM should have been moving to hold the others while Hossa dawdled. Instead of forcing Hossa's hand sooner, he let it slide and now he's paying the price.

If what Hossa wants is the cup, Detroit is the best looking team right now. He said he'd take less to play in Pitt, well, it turns out he'll take even LESS to play for a team with a better system, a better coach, and a better office.

ajhill, the reason some players are leaving Pittsburgh is because they were receiving more money than Shero believed they were worth. Gary Roberts had no place on this team for $2 million a year. Ryan Malone, even though he is a Pitt native, does not deserve $4.5 million a year. Adam Hall, Conklin, Laraque, and Ruutu are all complementary players on who the Pens can replace and for the most part have replaced.

There is also something obviously wrong in Pittsburgh right now, you can tell by the fact that so many players are abandoning ship. As Pens fans, Im sure most of you know that there are a lot of players on that team that dont like playing for Therrien. = ajhill


Yeah - it's called the salary cap. I won't go into full detail as I already listed it in another blog (How Detroit got Hossa - or something like that), but the Therrien argument went out the window when they re-signed Orpik for LESS than he could have gotten elsewhere. The Orpik/Therrien rift was the most wide;y talked about of any of the Pens players.

rmustud19 covered Malone and Roberts, Conklin? Why WOULD Conklin sign with the Pens when it's abundantly clear they're hitching their wagon to Fleury? As for Hall, Ruutu and LaRaque, no offense to those guys, but it's hardly mutiny by any stretch.

From what I've read about Matt Cooke, he's an improvement over Ruutu. 9th in the league among forwards in hits and can penalty kill more. Laraque turned into a major liability (read wussbag) and wouldn't drop the gloves at all towards the end of the season. Thank God he's gone. As for Roberts, Conklin and Hall...no big deal really. The Pens will be an elite team, take that one to the bank.

Players dont follow colors unless its gr$$nbacks.

as an avid wings fan and supporter for many years, hossa is not unwelcoe here. i think i would play for any amount, even a dollar, to play for the wings. they are simply the best and no one can argue that fact

Cooke will be a solid player for us I think too. Granted he can't replace Ruutu in personality, but his solid play will win over fans.

ajhill.....the Pens had 11 UFAs this year. What other team has had 11 UFAs and signed them all? There is nothing "wrong" in Pittsburgh. Don't fall into reading and believing the crap that people who don't like Pittsburgh to begin with are posting.

Look at the players they "lost" to free agency.....everyone of them is replaceable skill-wise. Roberts and Ruutu ended up being cult heroes in The Burgh but skill-wise they are replaceable. (Hurt me to say that 'cause I really liked their gritty play.)

Malone....we knew he was gone. Pens weren't gonna pay him $5 mil/year. Not worth it. (No offense, Ryan. Classy guy. Good luck to you!)

Hossa....rent a player. He didn't even contact Pittsburgh about a one year deal so it was obvious he wanted Detroit all along.

Hall....if it wasn't for the injuries at mid-season he'd still be in Wilkes-Barre.

And the others the Pens lost?

As for the garbage about nobody wants to play for Therrien. Ho hum. Old news and dead news. No one would be saying a thing about this excpet for the complete crap coming from that certain Canadian paper. Libelous slander. It's obvious you didn't catch Orpik's telephone interview over TV after he re-signed with the Pens. He was pointedly asked about his tiff with Therrien and his comments were they both want to win, are strong willed, and Orpik also said the decisions Therrien made concerning his play made him "a better player and a better man". Something he did NOT have to say if he really hated his coach. And remember, Orpik never went to the media with his complaints, either. Classy comments from a classy player.

Besides, if all of these alleged players don't like Therrien....why were the Pens able to re-sign all of their top players? If Therrien had been the true problem, he wouldn't be there. They would want to keep their players. Poor reporting by the news media, as usual.

Wow, didn't realize it was that long. Sorry about that, readers......