For all of Marian Hossa's skill, talent and respect, he ought to be lauded by Detroit Red Wing fans for his decision to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks, thus spurning the Wings' $4 million-per-year offer.
Yes, that rather large echo you're hearing is a collective, "Thank God" from Red Wing fans nationwide.
Hossa's legacy in hockey thus far? His inability to lead two conference champions in two consecutive years to a Stanley Cup championship. In 2008, as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, he and Sidney Crosby were runner-ups to the league's perennial powerhouse, Detroit, losing in six games. He would have been lucky to have been only saddled with this legacy but a year later, his star fell further.
In June Hossa was author to one of the biggest chokes in superstar history. He failed to score a goal in seven games of the Stanley Cup Finals, a series that his new team, the then-defending Cup champions Wings, dropped to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hossa not only posted nothing but a greasy, fat doughnut in the goals department, he avoided the punishment of driving to the goal and engaging in distracting the goaltender like it was a deadly disease and was the one component of the Red Wings who didn't contribute. His failures in the seven-game series could be the reason the series went seven games at all, much less Detroit losing the deciding game in its' outdated but ferocious barn, Joe Louis Arena.
Losing Hossa to the Blackhawks might be a blessing in disguise for Detroit, which needs a defensive overhaul and will now have the salary cap space to do it by saying goodbye to a superstar who was anything but when it mattered most.
HANDSHAKE-GATE: I could care less about Sidney Crosby's excuse for not participating in the handshake line after his Pittsburgh Penguins de-throned the defending champions, 2-1, at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.
You honor the sport, the great players who served before you and the sports' heritage by shaking hands. Crosby was too busy, apparantly caught up in the 'Me' of the moment, so to speak. I don't remember captains Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman or Mario Lemuiex being too busy to shake hands, regardless if their teams won or lost a playoff series.
It's all bush-league semantics. Crosby is the captain of the Stanley Cup champions. He should have been a man and shook hands.
~T.C. Cameron authored two prep sports rivalry books focused on metro Detroit's prep football and basketball scene from 2008-09 while passionately rooting for the Red Wings. His author site is located at www.TCCameron.com
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