Marian Hossa defends Sidney Crosby

I’ve posted before, Hossa leaving was good for the Penguins. It allowed them to get other guys for the $$$ Hossa would have tied up. His remarks upon leaving Pittsburgh were regrettable but may well have provided the Pens some incentive. So again Thank you. I think his less than perfect English skills were largely behind his remarks. Had his English been 100% he could have said essentially the same thing and been a lot more coy about it. I forgave the guy a long time ago, I enjoy sticking the Hossa thing in Ding Trollz faces after they mercilessly ripped the Pens about him leaving. Pens are the Cup Champs, Hossa made the wrong call, let’s bury the hatchet. He did play well in his brief stay in Pittsburgh.

  Though I bleed Black and Gold, I must take time to pay respect to Marian Hossa. Originally I thought, what sweet justice it was for Hossa to have lost the cup after the way he left Pittsburgh. After watching the handshake ceremony and the way Hossa could not look the Pens in the eyes, and all the negative comments and coverage that was aimed towards him, Hossa was professional enough to defend Sidney from the whining and babbling off H. Zetterberg complaining about Sidney and the handshake ceremony. First off, there are pictures of Captain Sidney Crosby shaking Zetterbergs hand, secondly, I would like to see video of Zetterberg winning his first Cup and how he responded to the overwhelming emotions and throngs of people wanting a piece of his time. Remember Hank, Sid is the YOUNGEST Captain to ever hoist the Cup. Thirdly, if it was so damn important to shake Sid’s hand, stay on the damn ice and congratulate him like the rest of your team.
  This is the quote made by Hossa: "After the game, when I start shaking their hands, I did not think, ‘Who is there and who is not there?’ " Hossa said. “After, I think about it and I thought that I did not remember shaking hands with Sid. I’m sure he was caught in the emotion and did not know where he was. I know him. He would not do it deliberately. He is a great guy. I think he was just excited and caught up in the emotion”
  Marian Hossa’s sportsmanship should not go unnoticed, especially by Henrik Zetterberg.

Gorgalor, you are the non fan of the year! If you are unable to still celebrate the cup victory for the pens, then move on to the U.S. Open. I enjoy and savor my city of Champions accomplishments. You must not be too much of a fan if you are not reading blogs and articles regarding this great game and storylines that have grown from it. Keep in mind that you have no clue what has been magnified or said at in opportune times.
  Time for you to move on and pretend you know what you are talking about.

Many of us had a little too much fun with this story, but we should give it a rest. Is there any animosity towards Ty Conklin, who’s essentially in the same boat as Hossa?

Hossa made the single biggest mistake a pro athlete can make when leaving Pittsburgh — he was not entirely gracious towards the team and/or city of Pittsburgh on his way out the door. If Guerin signs with the Pens for less money next year and leaves some offers on the table we’ll hold him up as a champion who plays to win, even if he has also bounced around with a bunch of teams in recent years. I still think Hossa’s biggest mistake was leaving money on the table from a contending team, not his choice of team or the circumstances around his signing.

I read a little bit of a mea culpa in Hossa’s support for Crosby. Going to the Wings for a Cup was a back handed insult towards the Pens who were well positioned for another run, but he probably did not mean to insult his former teammates, organization, or city of Pittsburgh. It came across that way and he had to live with the fallout. Anyone who signs with the Pens this offseason will say more or less the same thing — the defending champs have the best chance for a Cup next year.

What if Hossa had stayed in Pittsburgh & they would NOT have struggled mid-season? Would there have been a coaching change, style of play change, etc, etc that would have led to the Stanley Cup? Maybe Hossa determined that the coach he just lost with wasn’t going to effectively lead them to the cup the following year either. Looks like by mid-year Lemieux agreed with him & the rest is history. So, was Hossa right after all?