Hossa Wants to Stay

Justin Maffei | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jun 7, 07:57 AM | Hype this story!

For the first time, Marian Hossa has given us some indication of what may come during this off-season. Many have felt that Hossa would command top dollar and go to the highest bidder. However, Hossa explained that that was not necessarily the case.

“If I wanted to make a couple more dollars, I would probably just re-sign with Atlanta,” said Hossa. “But I’m glad Pittsburgh got me here. This was a fun journey for myself, and a great experience. I hope I can stick with a great team like this. ... There’s always a limit, but I’d rather take a little less and play on a good team, definitely.”

This is very good news for the Penguins, and for Sidney Crosby. At first, Crosby and Hossa did not seem to have much chemistry playing on the same line. However, as the playoffs went on, they seemed to become more comfortable with each other and the points followed. Crosby is making a pitch for Hossa to stay.

“I want to play with him,” Crosby said. “He’s a great player. I hope it works out that he’s able to stay. He’s a great person. He works hard. I enjoy playing with him. As we played together more and got used to each other, things started to happen, and it was a lot of fun out there. It would be a lot of fun to keep playing with someone like that. I hope it works out.”

Penguins fans could not have dreamed of a better working relationship between Crosby and Hossa. It seems to be a large factor in Hossa’s willingness to stay. The sentiments by Crosby were later repeated by Hossa. Hossa, however, gives us some necessary cautious optimism.

“Sid is an incredible player and even better person,” Hossa said. “But there’s lot of players to be signed. We’ll see what’s going to happen. I’m sure Ray’s going to do everything he can to keep everybody together.”

Comments

  1. Matt Bodenschatz

    Jun 7, 08:35 AM

    There’s always the media pandering side to this, but I tend to believe what he is saying. Last summer, Atlanta tried to lock him up longterm and he turned down a decent long-term contract. His response was not that he disliked the money aspect (though I recall it wasn’t significantly more than he makes now), but that he wanted to play for a winner and wanted Altanta to prove to him that they were willing and capable of winning.

    I truly believe he is number one on the priority list for Ray Shero as far as impending UFA’s are concerned. We all love Malone, but Hossa brings so much to the table and is the first legitimate winger (aside from the short-lived Palffy)that Crosby has had in his brief career.

  2. Eric

    Jun 7, 10:46 AM

    For those of you who don’t get or read The Hockey News, there was a full page story on the vindication of Hossa’s playoff performance. He and his agent (Ritch Winter) also included some interesting quotes.

    - “It’s definitely not just about the money. You could sign somewhere for lots and lots of money, but if the team is not good, you’re going to be struggling and life is going to be just miserable.”

    - “Atlanta offered me a really nice contract, but I told myself, ‘I will not be a contender’, and then I was waiting for a trade. And now what I’m with this organization, the situation is great.”

    - From his Agent: “The (negative) view (of Hossa) seems to exist. And so (his playoff output with Pittsburgh) is really helping him put that to rest once and for all. But I don’t know that his performance helps him money-wise, because that’s not his primary focus.”

    I take most of this with a grain of salt due to the way cliche’s have affected the way athlete’s talk to the press. But, nonetheless, his quotes are comforting to him wanting to stay in PGH.

  3. Pens1967

    Jun 7, 11:03 AM

    This was posted in one of the Hossa threads over at LGP. It’s consistent with the current quotes.
    —————————————————-

    Hoping to gain any insight into Hoss’s mindset, here’s something a Slovakian fan wrote last summer:

    To whom it may concern.
    Marian Hossa has big interview in today´s slovak newspapers about his future, life and so on. It is not possible to write you everything, so I choosed these main points, he said:

    - Atlanta wants to offer me a new contract before the start of new season, so I´ll see what they´ll offer
    -Atlanta doesn´t want to give me a chance to let go, so if I don´t sign before new season, they´ll try to speak with me also during the season
    -9 seasons I couldn´t choose club, city, where I want to play so first time after next season I´ll have a chance as a free player on players market and depends on Atlanta if I take this chance or not. Priority no.1 for me is to win. – journalist question: You are 28, do you accept e.g. 8 year´s contract for 50 mil.? Answer: It is a long time, better are 4 years, but if it is a club which I like, why not. – Atlanta got some newcommers, so will see how good they will be and which team will be build. Atlanta has a chance to be in playoff again, but there we need really good players. in this playoffs we missed good creative defenseplayers. – He also critised new astronomic contracts in NHL which leaded to the lock out in the past – last sentence: Who want to win doesn´t care of money.
    //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    I have read the full interview, and he does not seem to like Atlanta so much. Talks about lots of alergens in the air for instance and about how he would like to be on a winning team … mentioning also that Atlanta is a team that is on the edge of the playoffs at the moment. So it’s more about building a winning team for him to stay. I doubt he signs this summer … I think he will wait how the season goes, how the team develops and then he decides to stay or not. Unless it’s an offer that you can’t resist (8yrs/64mil or some insanity like this).

    About pricing out of the Ottawa… well that’s one side of the story, but even if he would sign for less, he would have been traded for Heatley. That opportunity was on the table and it was an opportunity that Ottawa would be stupid to miss simply… Hossa was their king, but just look how much marketing they did based on the “Heatley coming home” etc. If they (OTT) would not be able to get a high caliber player in return, they would definitely not let Hossa go. It was more about Heatley than about Hossa’s contract. That contract was already signed by DW, not Muckler to say the truth. It was 1hr before arbitration, so they needed to overpay a bit to close it quickly, because Hossa with 1yr contract would not be such an interesting thing to Atlanta.

  4. Keep Hossa In Pittsburgh

    Jun 7, 03:09 PM

    Yes,this is good news indeed. Thank you Captain Sidney for saying what needed to be said, you are the true leader of this team and wise beyond your years. I want all you Pens fans to march the streets and let them know that you will NOT ACCEPT WATCHING HOSSA SMOKE YOU LIKE A BAD CIGAR WITH CAPTAIN PUFF NUTTS AND THE RANGER. I would do it too but I’m “out of the country” for the moment. KEEP HOSSA IN PITTSBURGH!!!!

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