Marian Hossa appreciation thread

[Rick C137]

With all the negativity I’ve seen on this board recently, I think we all need to take a step back and appreciate what we had in Marian Hossa. I don’t think I will ever respect a player in the Indian head in the same way I had respect for Hossa. I was a winger myself when I played competitively and if I’m lucky enough to have a child (who hopefully wants to play hockey), if he/she is a forward they’re going to see quite a bit of Hossa footage so they know how the game is supposed to be played. Hossa also gave me my favorite spectator moment in hockey:



I vividly remember that game. Me and my buddy almost turned the game off after that Hossa major. You couldn’t write a better ending to that game... straight out of the box to score the game winner.

I miss Hossa a lot

Please don’t turn this into BS about unrelated things, let’s just respect one of the all-time greats to ever put on a Blackhawks uniform. Got a good Hossa moment/story? Let’s hear it!

Click to read more...

 

[piteus]

2 years ago, I said Hossa was DONE. Then he proceeded to score 26 goals. LOL.

His 81 will be hanging at the UC. Hossa is OUR 81 ... as he was 18 with Ottawa. Plus, there's another 18 on the Blackhawks.

Hossa will always be remembered as a Blackhawk as he won 3 Cups in Chicago.

 

[migi]

My all-time favourite Blackhawk. Liked him already in Ottawa. First hockey jersey ever, bought it in summer 2010.

First-ballot HHOF. Legend and hopefully he comes back to the organisation. And the number has to go to the rafters. Without him, we would not have three Cups.

Best UFA signing in cap era and most likely will be that way for years to come.

Love you and hopefully you can live healthy life Marian. We miss you. All of us. Nobody hates you, you are all class. Not a single bad word about you, obviously that major in 2010 was a bit head scratcher but we all know how it ended.

 

[migi]

I dont know how to add a GIF but:

https://media.giphy.com/media/eYmZIcKjJaixq/giphy.gif

 

[Blackhawks]

When he left it all fell apart, sometimes the true captain is realized or identified only when he’s gone. Without him there would be no 3 cups, that’s for sure.

 

[Enyaw]

He's should be a HOFer

Great 2 way player .... loved how he would back check

 

[Taze em]

What a stud

 

[Sarava]

Talk about a great Blackhawk. I hope he has a fabulous retirement

 

[ColdSteel2]

God ain’t making another one, glad we got to have him for awhile.

 

[ChiHawks10]

One of my all-time favorite NHL players, and my favorite Hawk of their entire run. Shame to see him have to hang em up.

 

[Blue Liner]

Best free agent signing in Chicago sports history. I too think history will remember him as a Blackhawk. A pro's pro, by all accounts a great human being, and a future Hall of Famer.

I remember seeing quotes and hearing through the grapevine the amazement Hawk players had of Hossa when he first arrived and they all first started skating together at the beginning of his first season. Players were in awe of him and what he was able to do out there. He will be greatly missed and I look forward to his 81 hanging down in the future.

 

[AmericanDream]

I remember some of my family upset that we moved out Havlat to get Hossa. Havlat was actually a pretty similar guy to Hossa, not in every aspect, but at that time the move didn't make sense to some outside of Hossa being more playoff proven. Havlat was a damn good player those years for us, so even I was kind of like here we go again as we had something good building and we are shaking it up.

But like others have said, we all followed Hossa prior, and though I hated the Red Wings I had no problems with him there, just one of those good guys you can tell in every interview, so when I saw him on the ice with us for the first time, plain and simply - shit got real. I mean, I know many of us on here felt like we were legit contenders, just by getting him, Soupy and Huet to come on board it signaled the days of us being bottom dwellers and a destination to avoid were finally over!!

There are so many memories of what he did out there, but for me it was always be the ridiculousness of his back check. I mean come on..hahahaha...how was that not called a penalty 75% of the time??? lol!! The guy was so good at stealing the puck back and knocking people over in the process, the refs simply couldn't call it as he made it an art form. I have never seen another player close to the level that Hossa did this at, his ferocity to never give up, he ALWAYS back checked, and his unwillingness to stop regardless if he was crossing second base on the player he was "molesting" lol! He was just a player that lead by example and every younger player should have learned from that having a gift from God is one thing, but outworking your opponent can take you so much farther in this world...I think a few of our younger guys learned from him and made careers for themselves with his help.

The one thing that pisses me off is this - the main board (yeah I know, full of Hawks haters and people trashing Hossa). This guy is a legend and now gets tarnished as uneducated idiots out there just say he walked away when his salary went down to $1 mil.. Those of us who have followed this guy know his heart was broken the day he said he couldn't play anymore, and I know the term gets used a lot, but I really do feel he would play for peanuts at this point if he could go out there and do it. It just pisses me off that countless threads pop up about Hossa/Hawks circumventing the system, and though of course to the untrained eye it doesn't look pretty, but when you realize how much him not playing crippled the Hawks (we just found out how much as we had to lose a great young player to move the contract), but how much him not playing hurt us on the ice as I swear he had 2-3 years left after watching him in 2016-17.

Hossa is a legend, and we will see #81 in the rafters and in the HHOF - and yes, it damn well feels good knowing he goes in the HHOF as a HAWK!!

Damn does time fly by!

 

[Toews2Bickell]

I took Hossa for granted. Just came to expect elite two way play every night, never take a shift off, etc.

Didn’t realize it until he wasn’t there what a treat it was to watch.

Really hope he comes back in a front office role down the road.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

An absolute core piece of the team that we sorely will miss. Fully expect to see him get his number retired by the Hawks eventually as the greatest free agent acquisition in franchise history and a huge part of our three Cup victories and him getting enshrined in the Hall of Fame very soon.

 

[LordKOTL]

Probably the only guy who, when pickpocketed by the likes of Datsyuk could actually go and get it back.

The fact he never got a Selke is still an effing travesty--especially for the very flimsy unwritten "only to Centers" rule that a bunch of glorified bloggers still cling to.

For his "one more shift" (it will happen, you know it), he should come out and steal the puck from Toews, Kane, or both. I know Kane at least would go along with it.

Helluva career for big Hoss both for his beginnings in Portland all the way through Chicago. Na Zdravie!

 

[bwana63]

I bow down. What a great player! First ballot HoF-er, IMO.

 

[Rick C137]

Probably the only guy who, when pickpocketed by the likes of Datsyuk could actually go and get it back.

The fact he never got a Selke is still an effing travesty--especially for the very flimsy unwritten "only to Centers" rule that a bunch of glorified bloggers still cling to.

For his "one more shift" (it will happen, you know it), he should come out and steal the puck from Toews, Kane, or both. I know Kane at least would go along with it.

Helluva career for big Hoss both for his beginnings in Portland all the way through Chicago. Na Zdravie!

One of my more memorable moments of him too. Was able to find the video. There is probably nothing more Hossa than this clip:



Uses his body to protect the puck well then gets striped from behind by Datsyuk. Absolutely busts his ass back the other and strips the puck right back from one of the best puck handlers in the game and makes a good pass for an odd man rush the other way. It’s the little things that you really grow to appreciate in Hossas game.

 

[Fortyfives]

I hope he is behind the bench someday. He’s a Blackhawk forever.

 

[Blue Liner]

One of my more memorable moments of him too. Was able to find the video. There is probably nothing more Hossa than this clip:



Uses his body to protect the puck well then gets striped from behind by Datsyuk. Absolutely busts his ass back the other and strips the puck right back from one of the best puck handlers in the game and makes a good pass for an odd man rush the other way. It’s the little things that you really grow to appreciate in Hossas game.

That clip is amazing.

 

[JaegerDice]

I was in the building for his first game as a Blackhawk. Against the Sharks. He scored two goals, one short-handed (one of 3 that night), and was a monster all over the ice.

It was a pleasure watching him as a Blackhawk.

Honestly, I think he has a legacy larger than most people think. Justin Bourne had an awesome article in the Athletic talking about how the next generation of superstars don't care to hit or scrum, they use their sticks to sneak the puck away and their bodies to protect it, and named Hossa as a prototype or archtype of the player skillset that would come to dominate the next generation of the NHL.

 

[Blue Liner]

That guy needed to pause about 479 less times. Good God. I couldn't watch past a couple of minutes.

 

[JaegerDice]

That guy needed to pause about 479 less times. Good God. I couldn't watch past a couple of minutes.

I think it's tailored for a less educated audience.

In any case, it gets across all the small things Hossa does that helps a team dominate possession and keep dangerous chances down.

 

[Blue Liner]

I think it's tailored for a less educated audience.

In any case, it gets across all the small things Hossa does that helps a team dominate possession and keep dangerous chances down.

I'm no rocket surgeon but even I thought that was excessive.

Hossa was a defensive monster and once he had the puck was very difficult to remove from it. He was a very physical player in that sense.

 

[Hawkaholic]

Literally got goosebumps watching that clip in the OP. Don't think I will never not get goosebumps watching it.

 

[Blue Liner]

My favorite Hossa Signature Move may still be the top-shelf slapper from the hash-marks.