From Cradle to Cup will be a series running throughout July 2013
looking back at players on the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks roster for their
Stanley Cup-winning campaign. Part 17 describes the illustrious career of star winger Marian Hossa.
Marian Hossa was born on January 12th, 1979, in Stara Lubovna, Czechoslovakia. He began playing in his age seventeen season of 1995-1996 with Dukla Trencin's junior level team in the Slovak Junior Extraliga. In fifty-three games, he had forty-two goals and forty-nine assists. He also represented Slovakia for the first time internationally, in the European Junior Championships. During five games, he had one goal and three assists. Hossa was promoted to the Dukla Trencin parent team in the Slovak Extraliga for the 1996-1997 season, appearing in forty-six games and registering twenty-five goals and nineteen assists in the regular season. During the playoffs, Hossa played in seven games and had five goals and five assists. Hossa then played in three international tournaments for Slovakia, scoring five goals and two assists in six games during the World Junior Championships, two assists in eight games in the World Championships, and three goals in two games in the European Junior Championship. Hossa was drafted in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft as the twelfth overall selection in the first round, selected by the Ottawa Senators. He came to North America for the 1997-1998 season, and immediately joined the Senators for seven games, with only one assist, before going to the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League to play junior hockey. In fifty-three games with Portland, Hossa scored forty-five goals and dished forty assists, followed by thirteen goals and six assists in sixteen postseason games, leading the Winter Hawks to a WHL championship. This earned them a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament, and Hossa supplied another five goals and four assists in four games to capture the Memorial Cup. Other notable players on the Portland Memorial Cup champion teams include Andrew Ference (now of the Oilers), Jason LaBarbera (Oilers), Brenden Morrow (free agent), and Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who was the third goalie. Hossa had many personal awards in 1998, including WHL West First All-Star Team, Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as WHL Rookie of the Year, Canadian Hockey Leagues First Team All-Star, a WHL Championship, the Memorial Cup, and a nomination to the Memorial Cup tournament All-Star team. Hossa also played in the World Junior Championship, appearing in six games with four goals and four assists for Slovakia. Hossa managed to stick in the NHL in 1998-1999, appearing in sixty games for the Senators in a season riddled with injuries, and scoring fifteen goals and fifteen assists, followed by two assists in four postseason games. Hossa also played in the World Championships, scoring five goals and two assists in six games. Hossa developed well in 1999-2000, appearing in seventy-eight games and recording twenty-nine goals and twenty-seven assists, although the playoffs still gave him trouble and he had no points in six games. Durability was less of a question in 2000-2001, where Hossa played in eighty-one games in the regular season and scored to the tune of thirty-two goals and forty-three assists, followed by one goal and one assist in four playoff games. This performance led him to be selected for the All-Star Game in Denver, his first nomination. Representing Slovakia in the 2001 World Championships, Hossa had one goal and two assists in six games. Unhappy with contract negotiations in 2001, Hossa took his game back to Dukla Trencin for eight games, scoring three goals and four assists before agreeing to a three-year deal with the Senators, worth $8.5 million. In eighty games for the 2001-2002 season, he had thirty-one goals and thirty-five assists, a dip in production that may be attributed to a rough offseason and the pressure of the new contract, but he rebounded nicely with four goals and six assists in twelve playoff games. Hossa represented Slovakia in Salt Lake City at the Olympic Games mid-season in 2002, and played in two games with four goals and two assists. In 2002-2003, Hossa hit one point-per-game by playing in eighty games with forty-five goals and thirty-five assists in a rebound year, which also saw him named to his second All-Star Game, in Sunrise. He then added five goals and eleven assists in eighteen postseason games. Hossa maintained strong production in the final year of his contract, scoring thirty-six goals and passing forty-six assists in eighty-one games for 2003-2004, followed by three goals and an assist in seven playoff games. He also had the opportunity to represent Slovakia twice in 2004, playing in nine games at the World Championships, with two goals and five assists, followed by one goal in four games during the World Cup of Hockey, which has not been played since 2004. The NHL locked out the players for the 2004-2005 season, which was cancelled completely. This afforded Hossa the chance to return to Europe. He began in the Swedish Elitserien, playing for Mora IK in twenty-four games, potting eighteen goals and supplying fourteen assists. Then he moved back to Dukla Trencin for twenty-five games, and had twenty-two goals as well as twenty assists in the regular season. During the playoffs, he added four goals and five assists in five games. Slovakia brought him on for the 2005 World Championships, where he had four goals and three assists in seven games. Hossa was promptly signed by the Senators on August 23rd, 2005 to a three-year and $18 million contract, and was then traded with Greg de Vries to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for troubled fellow superstar winger Dany Heatley. If he didn't already have a bright star in the NHL, playing alongside Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta certainly upped the wattage a bit. In eighty games during 2005-2006, Hossa notched thirty-nine goals and fifty-three assists for the Thrashers. In 2006, Hossa represented Slovakia in the Turin Olympics, with five goals and five assists in six games, as well as one goal and six assists in five games later that year at the World Championships. He stepped it up even more in 2006-2007, helping the Thrashers clinch a playoff spot and division title for the first time in their existence by scoring forty-three goals and fifty-seven assists, an even one hundred points. He was rewarded with his third nomination to the All-Star Game, played in Dallas. He had only one assist in four postseason games as the Thrashers were swept out. In the 2007 World Championships, Hossa potted two goals and four assists in six games for Slovakia. He was well on his way to another strong season for Atlanta in 2007-2008, playing in sixty games with twenty-six goals and thirty assists and being named to his fourth All-Star Game to represent the host city, Atlanta, before having things get shaken up. With the Thrashers looking well out of the playoff picture, Hossa and Pascal Dupuis were traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito, and Pittsburgh's first round selection in 2008, which the Thrashers used to select Daultan Leveille. In twelve games with the Penguins, Hossa supplied three goals and seven assists, before going on a tear in the playoffs to the tune of twelve goals and fourteen assists in twenty games, shaking once and for all the label of playoff slacker. Despite his best efforts, the Penguins lost the Stanley Cup in six games to the Detroit Red Wings. Coming off his last contract as a free agent, Hossa elected to sign a one-year deal with the Red Wings for $7.45 million. Hossa scored forty goals and thirty-one assists in seventy-four regular season games with Detroit in 2008-2009, and then helped them to a rematch with the Penguins in the Stanley Cup with six goals and nine assists in twenty-three playoff games, but once again Hossa was forced to watch the opponent lift the Stanley Cup as the Penguins won in seven games. This confirmed the media hype surrounding the Hossa Hex, meaning that despite his best efforts, he could not win the Stanley Cup and was a curse to the team he played for. This did not deter the Blackhawks from signing the thirty-year-old Hossa to a salary-cap circumventing twelve-year contract worth $62.8 million in the offseason. Contracts like this led to new provisions in the CBA signed in 2013 (more about that situation soon). Struggling with injuries to begin the year, Hossa played only fifty-seven regular season games in 2009-2010 for the Blackhawks, and had twenty-four goals and twenty-seven assists. He also represented Slovakia in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, playing in seven games with three goals and six assists to his credit. In the postseason, Hossa had three goals and twelve assists in twenty-two games, and also proved the cliché "third time's the charm" right as he was finally on a Stanley Cup winning team in his third trip to the finals. Hossa again struggled with injury in 2010-2011, playing just sixty-five games and scoring at a pace of twenty-five goals and thirty-two assists in the regular season for Chicago. In the playoffs, he had two goals and four assists in seven games, as the Blackhawks had a very short defense of their championship. He then made his most recent international appearance for Slovakia, playing in five games at the World Championships, but scoring just one goal and one assist. Hossa returned to full health in 2011-2012, playing in eighty-one games with twenty-nine goals and forty-eight assists during the regular season, but the health did not last in the playoffs. Hossa made only three postseason appearances, the last one shortened due to a brutal open-ice hit by Raffi Torres (then of the Phoenix Coyotes) that resulted in a landmark twenty-five game suspension, which was later appealed down to twenty-one games. Hossa was pointless in his playoff games that season. Hossa recovered from his concussion during the 2012 lockout, and was able to play in forty games during the truncated season, with seventeen goals and fourteen assists in the regular season. During the playoffs, Hossa made twenty-two appearances, missing just one game in the Stanley Cup Finals, and he had seven goals and nine assists as a vital part of the offense, which was enough to help the Blackhawks win their second Stanley Cup in four years. At this rate, the Blackhawks are not regretting gambling on the Hossa Hex, and they have eight more years of him. At the pace they are on, 2016 looks like another good year for the Blackhawks.
Marian Hossa was born on January 12th, 1979, in Stara Lubovna, Czechoslovakia. He began playing in his age seventeen season of 1995-1996 with Dukla Trencin's junior level team in the Slovak Junior Extraliga. In fifty-three games, he had forty-two goals and forty-nine assists. He also represented Slovakia for the first time internationally, in the European Junior Championships. During five games, he had one goal and three assists. Hossa was promoted to the Dukla Trencin parent team in the Slovak Extraliga for the 1996-1997 season, appearing in forty-six games and registering twenty-five goals and nineteen assists in the regular season. During the playoffs, Hossa played in seven games and had five goals and five assists. Hossa then played in three international tournaments for Slovakia, scoring five goals and two assists in six games during the World Junior Championships, two assists in eight games in the World Championships, and three goals in two games in the European Junior Championship. Hossa was drafted in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft as the twelfth overall selection in the first round, selected by the Ottawa Senators. He came to North America for the 1997-1998 season, and immediately joined the Senators for seven games, with only one assist, before going to the Portland Winter Hawks of the Western Hockey League to play junior hockey. In fifty-three games with Portland, Hossa scored forty-five goals and dished forty assists, followed by thirteen goals and six assists in sixteen postseason games, leading the Winter Hawks to a WHL championship. This earned them a spot in the Memorial Cup tournament, and Hossa supplied another five goals and four assists in four games to capture the Memorial Cup. Other notable players on the Portland Memorial Cup champion teams include Andrew Ference (now of the Oilers), Jason LaBarbera (Oilers), Brenden Morrow (free agent), and Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who was the third goalie. Hossa had many personal awards in 1998, including WHL West First All-Star Team, Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as WHL Rookie of the Year, Canadian Hockey Leagues First Team All-Star, a WHL Championship, the Memorial Cup, and a nomination to the Memorial Cup tournament All-Star team. Hossa also played in the World Junior Championship, appearing in six games with four goals and four assists for Slovakia. Hossa managed to stick in the NHL in 1998-1999, appearing in sixty games for the Senators in a season riddled with injuries, and scoring fifteen goals and fifteen assists, followed by two assists in four postseason games. Hossa also played in the World Championships, scoring five goals and two assists in six games. Hossa developed well in 1999-2000, appearing in seventy-eight games and recording twenty-nine goals and twenty-seven assists, although the playoffs still gave him trouble and he had no points in six games. Durability was less of a question in 2000-2001, where Hossa played in eighty-one games in the regular season and scored to the tune of thirty-two goals and forty-three assists, followed by one goal and one assist in four playoff games. This performance led him to be selected for the All-Star Game in Denver, his first nomination. Representing Slovakia in the 2001 World Championships, Hossa had one goal and two assists in six games. Unhappy with contract negotiations in 2001, Hossa took his game back to Dukla Trencin for eight games, scoring three goals and four assists before agreeing to a three-year deal with the Senators, worth $8.5 million. In eighty games for the 2001-2002 season, he had thirty-one goals and thirty-five assists, a dip in production that may be attributed to a rough offseason and the pressure of the new contract, but he rebounded nicely with four goals and six assists in twelve playoff games. Hossa represented Slovakia in Salt Lake City at the Olympic Games mid-season in 2002, and played in two games with four goals and two assists. In 2002-2003, Hossa hit one point-per-game by playing in eighty games with forty-five goals and thirty-five assists in a rebound year, which also saw him named to his second All-Star Game, in Sunrise. He then added five goals and eleven assists in eighteen postseason games. Hossa maintained strong production in the final year of his contract, scoring thirty-six goals and passing forty-six assists in eighty-one games for 2003-2004, followed by three goals and an assist in seven playoff games. He also had the opportunity to represent Slovakia twice in 2004, playing in nine games at the World Championships, with two goals and five assists, followed by one goal in four games during the World Cup of Hockey, which has not been played since 2004. The NHL locked out the players for the 2004-2005 season, which was cancelled completely. This afforded Hossa the chance to return to Europe. He began in the Swedish Elitserien, playing for Mora IK in twenty-four games, potting eighteen goals and supplying fourteen assists. Then he moved back to Dukla Trencin for twenty-five games, and had twenty-two goals as well as twenty assists in the regular season. During the playoffs, he added four goals and five assists in five games. Slovakia brought him on for the 2005 World Championships, where he had four goals and three assists in seven games. Hossa was promptly signed by the Senators on August 23rd, 2005 to a three-year and $18 million contract, and was then traded with Greg de Vries to the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for troubled fellow superstar winger Dany Heatley. If he didn't already have a bright star in the NHL, playing alongside Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta certainly upped the wattage a bit. In eighty games during 2005-2006, Hossa notched thirty-nine goals and fifty-three assists for the Thrashers. In 2006, Hossa represented Slovakia in the Turin Olympics, with five goals and five assists in six games, as well as one goal and six assists in five games later that year at the World Championships. He stepped it up even more in 2006-2007, helping the Thrashers clinch a playoff spot and division title for the first time in their existence by scoring forty-three goals and fifty-seven assists, an even one hundred points. He was rewarded with his third nomination to the All-Star Game, played in Dallas. He had only one assist in four postseason games as the Thrashers were swept out. In the 2007 World Championships, Hossa potted two goals and four assists in six games for Slovakia. He was well on his way to another strong season for Atlanta in 2007-2008, playing in sixty games with twenty-six goals and thirty assists and being named to his fourth All-Star Game to represent the host city, Atlanta, before having things get shaken up. With the Thrashers looking well out of the playoff picture, Hossa and Pascal Dupuis were traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito, and Pittsburgh's first round selection in 2008, which the Thrashers used to select Daultan Leveille. In twelve games with the Penguins, Hossa supplied three goals and seven assists, before going on a tear in the playoffs to the tune of twelve goals and fourteen assists in twenty games, shaking once and for all the label of playoff slacker. Despite his best efforts, the Penguins lost the Stanley Cup in six games to the Detroit Red Wings. Coming off his last contract as a free agent, Hossa elected to sign a one-year deal with the Red Wings for $7.45 million. Hossa scored forty goals and thirty-one assists in seventy-four regular season games with Detroit in 2008-2009, and then helped them to a rematch with the Penguins in the Stanley Cup with six goals and nine assists in twenty-three playoff games, but once again Hossa was forced to watch the opponent lift the Stanley Cup as the Penguins won in seven games. This confirmed the media hype surrounding the Hossa Hex, meaning that despite his best efforts, he could not win the Stanley Cup and was a curse to the team he played for. This did not deter the Blackhawks from signing the thirty-year-old Hossa to a salary-cap circumventing twelve-year contract worth $62.8 million in the offseason. Contracts like this led to new provisions in the CBA signed in 2013 (more about that situation soon). Struggling with injuries to begin the year, Hossa played only fifty-seven regular season games in 2009-2010 for the Blackhawks, and had twenty-four goals and twenty-seven assists. He also represented Slovakia in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, playing in seven games with three goals and six assists to his credit. In the postseason, Hossa had three goals and twelve assists in twenty-two games, and also proved the cliché "third time's the charm" right as he was finally on a Stanley Cup winning team in his third trip to the finals. Hossa again struggled with injury in 2010-2011, playing just sixty-five games and scoring at a pace of twenty-five goals and thirty-two assists in the regular season for Chicago. In the playoffs, he had two goals and four assists in seven games, as the Blackhawks had a very short defense of their championship. He then made his most recent international appearance for Slovakia, playing in five games at the World Championships, but scoring just one goal and one assist. Hossa returned to full health in 2011-2012, playing in eighty-one games with twenty-nine goals and forty-eight assists during the regular season, but the health did not last in the playoffs. Hossa made only three postseason appearances, the last one shortened due to a brutal open-ice hit by Raffi Torres (then of the Phoenix Coyotes) that resulted in a landmark twenty-five game suspension, which was later appealed down to twenty-one games. Hossa was pointless in his playoff games that season. Hossa recovered from his concussion during the 2012 lockout, and was able to play in forty games during the truncated season, with seventeen goals and fourteen assists in the regular season. During the playoffs, Hossa made twenty-two appearances, missing just one game in the Stanley Cup Finals, and he had seven goals and nine assists as a vital part of the offense, which was enough to help the Blackhawks win their second Stanley Cup in four years. At this rate, the Blackhawks are not regretting gambling on the Hossa Hex, and they have eight more years of him. At the pace they are on, 2016 looks like another good year for the Blackhawks.
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