Marian Hossa Plays A Little Baseball

Hossa Signs 12 Year Deal With Blackhawks

"The Chicago Blackhawks dipped deep into the free-agent market by signing star forward Marian Hossa away from the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday with a 12-year contract (Sportsline)."

What the fuck?????? Why are hockey contracts so long? Although we don't know the numbers yet, a 12 year contract to a guy who is 30 is just crazy. As far as I know NHL contracts are guaranteed. Don't get me wrong they are getting one hell of a player, but 12 years is just fucking ridiculous.

Hossa Signs with Red Wings, Jagr goes to Russia

The idea of the NHL salary cap preventing the rich from getting richer took a slapshot to the face as Marian Hossa joined the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings. He signed a one year deal worth $7.45 million last week. Detroit was nowhere near the top bidder, but they have more to offer than money. And I guess, it's a bit refreshing to see an athlete take less money in order to play for a better team. Unlike some people...



But there's still an element of greed to it. Hossa is only "stuck" at $7.45M for one season. After which, he can still cash in, or move on to the next top Cup contender. The low salary also gives Detroit flexibility to retain stars like Henrik Zetterberg.

Another top free agent, Jaromir Jagr, signed a deal worth about $7M per season. But he signed with Avangard Omsk, in Russia's Continental Hockey League. That $7M is tax free, so in essence he's getting paid more than Hossa. Considering Jagr is 36, and the NY Rangers didn't even try to retain him, I wouldn't consider this a defection. He played for Omsk during the lockout, and he's always expressed an interest in ending his career in Europe.



This all leaves Maple Leaf legend Mats Sundin as the top free agent forward on the market. But he's 37 years old and might retire. The Montreal Canadiens and Vancouver Canucks are the teams most interested in the old Swede.

-The Commodore

Bruins Sign Michael Ryder, And Are Officially Out of the Running for Marian Hossa

The Bruins signed former Montreal Canadien Michael Ryder to a multi-year deal. The signing reduces the Bruins' salary cap space, making it impossible to sign Hossa. I don't mind that the Bruins got a guy who can score goals (30+ in his first two seasons with Montreal, although he only scored 14 last year), but I'm disappointed that they didn't pull a rabbit out of the hat with Hossa. The Edmonton Oilers offered him a deal worth $9M a year, and the price for the Slovak winger will only go up from there, but the Bruins seemingly did next to nothing to try to create that cap room. They couldv'e shipped Glen Murray to Providence, eaten his salary, but completely removed him from the salary cap equation. But they didn't.

That's just the unending pain of being a Bruins fan.



-The Commodore

Will the Bruins Get Marian Hossa?

The NHL free agency period begins on July 1st, and you can bet the farm that the Bruins will be calling Marian Hossa's agent, if they haven't already started talking to each other.

The Bruins tried to get Marian Hossa in February, but were unwilling to part with Phil Kessel, which turned out to be a deal breaker for the Penguins. But now Hossa has expressed an interest in testing the lucrative waters of free agency.

The problem is that the Bruins don't have much cap space. Making a competitive offer to Hossa would require creating some, most likely through the dismissal of veteran winger Glen Murray. But even then, the best the Bruins could do would be to match the other offers Hossa receives, and there will be plenty of those.

The Red Wings and Penguins will be in the mix, and they can offer Hossa a better chance to hoist the Stanley Cup. Then again, Hossa would be a secondary star for both teams. If he were to come to Boston, he'd already be on the same level with, if not slightly above Patrice Bergeron.

The offensive flexibility offered by Hossa is mouth watering, especially since the Bruins were 24th in goals scored last season. Hossa would also help out the Bruins' 16th ranked power play.

But I honestly don't see why Hossa would choose Boston. Due to the cap, they can't really outbid other teams for him. They can't offer him a great chance at winning a Cup. About the only thing the B's have in their favor is that Zdeno Chara is friends with Hossa. But God only knows what that means. The two played in Ottawa together, and for the Slovakian national team, so I'm sure they're buddies; but I doubt they call each other every night just to chat, or text each other in between periods.

It would be nice, though, for the Bruins to have a Kevin Garnett moment.

I remember finding out about you...

-The Commodore