I STILL Cant Believe Hossa Is a Red Wing

[Slave 31]

Best of both worlds: To make up for our shallow list of enforcers, Hossa takes to the ice in the Joker's makeup and proceeds to creep the living f*** out of the opposition

"Hey Pronger! Wanna see a magic trick? I'm going to make this hockey stick DISAPPEAR!"

LMAO forgot about that part in the movie

[Red in the ATL 0]

I'm a Wings fan but now live in Atlanta. I wish I could get more excited about Hossa being a Wing. I'm sure he'll be great playing with an organization with Detroit's great players and management but I have to tell you it's a little hard to swallow because he was INVISIBLE for the Thrashers last season up until the trade deadline was looming then suddenly he played his arse off. I can't fault the guy for wanting to play for a contender but he totally quit on his team until he needed to make himself look more valuable near the trade. I hope he's awesome for the Wings but he sure didn't help make the Thrashers ugly season any better. By the way, a few people have slammed Kovalchuk on this thread but he was the ENTIRE team last season. I saw some downright miserable games here last year (a lot of them actually- ugh) and he was the only one who came to play every night (aside from poor Kari Lehtonen who had no help whatsoever, God love him). Even when the team was obviously going to lose, Kovy battled to the end. He scored 52 goals on the miserable Thrashers fer cryin out loud so credit where credit is due. Hossa is talented alright but Kovalchuk has more heart and soul than that guy will ever have. Once his contract is up, I hope Detroit picks him up because he'd make an amazing Wing under Babcock!

Go Wings!

[Guest mindfly]

Anyone have statistics on hossa's 07-08season - like how many pts he did from season start til about a few weeks before the deadline? is there a significant difference?

Agreed with kovie, he's a favourite of mine, detroit need more russians like the good ol' days even though he has a big EGO he's a damn good scorer, basically that's the only thing he does but he's one of the best at it

Edited July 23, 2008 by mindfly

[Red in the ATL 0]

I don't know where to look up the stats on Hossa as the season progressed but the 06-07 season he had 43G/57A. Last year it was 29G/37A. I went to almost every Thrashers game last year and beleive me, there was a noticeable change in output once trade time came around.

Aside from scoring, another think that Kovalchuk does is hit and he's also not afraid to take up for his teammates. Hossa's just not that kind of player.

Speaking of former Russian Wings, Koslov is here in Atlanta and I have to say he broke my heart last year. He was terrible!!! I hope he gets his mojo back this year. I can't stand to see him play like this after playing so well for the Wings. Heart breaking.

[Red in the ATL 0]

Oops, sorry... add 3 more goals to 08 for Hossa. I forgot about his Pens stats. Still, not an impressive year.

[Cern 0]

I think Hossa just needed the motivation of being on a team that - no offense - dosen''t lick balls. It's not like he went lazy again once he was traded to the Penguins - f***, he was one of the only guys on the team who consistently showed up to play in the finals.

[Red in the ATL 0]

No offense taken. The Thrashers suck and until they get new ownership, they will most likely continue to suck. It's like Atlanta Spirit wants to see the team go down the tubes, but that's a different subject.

I hope Hossa plays his ass off for the Wings. It will be interesting to see how the crowd treats him when the Wings play at Phillips this season. There are a lot of Thrasher fans that feel like he bailed on the team way before he was traded so he'll probably get booed pretty hard. I won't get in on that though. I'll be way too excited to see my beloved Wings play again!!!

[Dabura 12,207]

Savard and S. Kozlov -- no Zetterberg or Datsyuk, but easily better than our current second line.

That's over-simplifying things a bit, though. What you really have to ask is, How does that five-man unit back in Atlanta stack up against the one Hossa will likely be a part of here in Motown? Even in a simple three-on-three matchup, I'd take the Wings; on paper, at least, Franzen-Filppula-Hossa is sheer pwnage. Blinding speed, size, strength, grit, loads of finesse (what a set of hands!), an almost limitless offensive upside, a uniform commitment to strong two-way play -- it's got it all. Then you go and add Kronner and Stuart and...well, even bigger PWNAGE.

Something else to consider: this 5-man unit has the potential to be one of the most physically imposing ones in recent Wings history.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Dabura