Marian Hossa Signs With Chicago

He'll give 40-50 goals a year without a doubt and between 80 and 100 points easily. He'll be good for the Hawks.

Sadly he came with another Wing, Kopecky. They're friends and share the same agent. Pretty sure this was a package deal. To get Hossa, you have to take Kopecky. $3 million over two seasons for Kopecky is insane and is going to make things difficult next season when you need to resign your core.

And 12 years isn't insane in the NHL. The Red Wings (my hometown team and the team Hossa left) have three players signed to ten or more year contracts in Datsyuk, Zetterberg, and Franzen. Every franchise player is getting 10-15 year contracts now.

Yeah. I know what you mean. That's how it was in the NHL too until Rick DiPietro signed a 15 year contract. I know in the NBA the max is either a 6 year or 7 year contract. Honestly, that is what it should be in the NHL too.

I'm fine with Ozzy and Howard for now. It's about time we give Howard a shot. Ozzy is a homegrown goalie, maybe Howard could be the next Ozzy and replace Ozzy. lol

How could you not call them legitimate Stanley Cup contenders they were 1 of the final 4 teams left in the playoffs and they essentially traded Hossa for Havlat which is a fine deal because Hossa has played at least 70 games a year while Havlat in injury prone...Big upgrade on offense, i'm more concerned with the goaltending situation with Huet as the starter.

Just because a team makes it to the final four does not necessarily mean that they are a serious threat to win the cup. To illustrate, here are some stats for the last 41 years since 1968:

Blackhawks : 14 Conferance finals appearances, Zero cups

Maple Leafs : 5 Conferance finals appearances, Zero cups

Minnesota North Stars : Six appearances, Zero Cups

Buffalo Sabres : Five appearances, Zero Cups

Heck - even the Quebec Nordiques are in there with two appearances, zero cups.

As far as how good Hossa really is in the playoffs - just ask an Ottawa Senator fan who had him on their team for seven years, and never saw him hoist the cup. The year the Sens made it to the finals, Hossa no longer was with them (played in Atlanta that year)

I never said they would win the cup but they definitely are Cup contenders. By making it to the conference finals that means you are a threat because you are that much better than the teams in your conference. Also, you need to rework your research because the Minnesota North Stars and the Dallas stars are the same franchise and they won the Cup in '99, but i'm sure you have another loophole for that not counting cause they moved to a new state.

Wow you really did put the Quebec Nordiques up there too....must have forgot that they moved to Colorado and won a few Cups there huh? It is really easy to pick teams that aren't around much longer. You need to stop looking at websites and copying what you see and do some of your own research.

So according to your logic, the Toronto Maple Leafs who have been on the receiving end of many jokes have actually been serious cup contenders five times. I don't buy that. Making it to the conferance finals means that you have only made it halfway through the playoffs with a long way to go.

To your other point, no, I don't believe that when you change a teams owernership, change the jersey, change the name, change a good portion of the front office, and move it to a different city that it's the same team. That's like saying that the California Golden Seals who moved to Minnesota, then became Dallas are actually the San Jose Sharks in disguise. They are completely different entities.

You talk about all the changes that happens to those teams but did you notice the one thing that didn't change?....The majority of those teams players...you know the ones who are responsible for putting the puck in the net and keeping it out...teams jerseys, names, and location have very little to do with winning..its the players that are responsible for the outcome of the games.

Well - if you take a look at the Quebec Nordiques, the last time they made the conferance final was in 1985 against the Flyers. The Avalanche (if you want to make the comparison) didn't win the cup until 1996, over a decade later. Know how many players were on that Avalanche team from Quebec? Zero! The Minnesota North Stars played in the conferance finals in 1991 against Edmonton. The Dallas Stars didn't win the cup until 1999. There was only one player that played on both teams - Mike Modano. Once again, IF you want to make the comparison, both teams couldn't win the cup until their entire roster was overhauled - that DESPITE having made it to the conferance finals.

The Blackhawks are another great example - fourteen trips to the conferance finals - only halfway through the playoffs, and have never won the cup in the past 41 years. Even if you look at this last year, the Wings bounced them out of the conferance finals in only five games! You call that a serious contender?

Chicago is a young and exciting team. Marion Hossa is going to help them - no question about it. But putting your hopes on Hossa to take this young team to the promised land and give the city a cup parade is in my opinion too high of an expectation. More pieces need to be in place before that can happen.

Just my opinion. :-)
Peace.