106 replies to this topic

[Tatonka]

So I got into an arguement with a friend last night because he said that Hossa was a ***** in his book for leaving Pittsburg to go to the Wings just to win a cup.

I proceeded to point out that Hossa was only just traded to Pitt and really had no affiliation to them other than being sent there without a choice. But what I was wondering is could Pitt even have resigned the guy if they wanted to?? I mean they have some huge salaries in Crosby and Malkin. I also remember last year, them saying that Hossa was essentially a rental player because there was no way that Pitt could keep all three.

Just wondering if I am even right in that respect. Pitt didnt make any big moves at the trade deadline either this year did they? was that a money issue as well?

I looked for an article on it to send my friend, but couldn't find anything. He is a Wings hater, so I love to prove him wrong. Funny thing is, he thought it was ok for Borque to sell out on Boston to get a cup, but not for Hossa who played for Pitt for such a short time.. lol.

[Bad Vlad Forever]

hoss turned down a 5yr / 35 mil contract to come to detroit for a one year deal

we got conklin too, didn't we

won't be long before crosby comes knocking trying to get a contract buyout, and babs turns him away because he could never fit into the wings self-disciplined, team-based system

[wingsfanforlife]

didnt he like dislike the coach also?

[titanium2]

They got Kunitz and Guerin at the trade deadline I think.

You could point out that Hossa was almost traded to Detroit only Kenny didn't want to give up Filppula. And thus, the Pittsburgh trade happened. Hossa was going to be a Wing one way or another.

They could have re-signed him for that 7.6? mil deal or whatever but they wouldn't have the quality depth that they do now. You'd have 2 maybe 3 spots filled by players who should be in the minors.

[Bad Vlad Forever]

their whole team disliked therrien. that guy made the ducks look like a classy organization

[Greatness=PavelDatsyuk]

The thing is, if Pittsburg had signed Hossa, they would have had around 3 million dollars to sign 6-8 players to have a complete roster, they should be thanking him for turning their contract down, not hating him for it.

Also, even if they worked that out, they would not have been able to get the experience and depth at the trade deadline, so who knows if they would have even made the playoffs, i don't think they would have.

[MississippiWing]

So I got into an arguement with a friend last night because he said that Hossa was a ***** in his book for leaving Pittsburg to go to the Wings just to win a cup.

I proceeded to point out that Hossa was only just traded to Pitt and really had no affiliation to them other than being sent there without a choice. But what I was wondering is could Pitt even have resigned the guy if they wanted to?? I mean they have some huge salaries in Crosby and Malkin. I also remember last year, them saying that Hossa was essentially a rental player because there was no way that Pitt could keep all three.

Just wondering if I am even right in that respect. Pitt didnt make any big moves at the trade deadline either this year did they? was that a money issue as well?

I looked for an article on it to send my friend, but couldn't find anything. He is a Wings hater, so I love to prove him wrong. Funny thing is, he thought it was ok for Borque to sell out on Boston to get a cup, but not for Hossa who played for Pitt for such a short time.. lol.

It's great man. The Pitt fans are no worse than the Atlanta fans yelling at Hossa for being a sellout. At least in Atlanta I found a few fans who realized their owners are too cheap to pay for good talent. I don't think you'll find that in Pitt. You should also ask your friend if Robatille and Bourque are sellouts for trying to win a cup before they call it quits

[titanium2]

Pens fans aren't really mad at Hossa for leaving. They're mad at the way he left.

By the time Hossa made a decision, most of the other good free agents already had contracts, thus leaving PIT with players that weren't their first or second options.

Now, you could say that Shero should've enforced a deadline on Hossa, but come on. Hossa in their eyes was perfect on Crosby's wing. They had struggled for years to find linemates for Sid and finally they had someone who can play with him. Wouldn't you take that risk of waiting for him?

Thing is, no one wants to ask this question and I don't know why, but why is it so difficult for their management to find players who can play alongside Crosby? They're having cattle call auditions for him while Malkin seems to fit with mostly everybody they've put next to him.

[Tatonka]

has anyone seen an article addressing hossa leaving that would help prove my friend wrong? the ones i keep finding are slanted towards pitt like hossa did something wrong.. i just dont see it.

[Konnan511]

Pens fans aren't really mad at Hossa for leaving. They're mad at the way he left.

By the time Hossa made a decision, most of the other good free agents already had contracts, thus leaving PIT with players that weren't their first or second options.

Now, you could say that Shero should've enforced a deadline on Hossa, but come on. Hossa in their eyes was perfect on Crosby's wing. They had struggled for years to find linemates for Sid and finally they had someone who can play with him. Wouldn't you take that risk of waiting for him?

Thing is, no one wants to ask this question and I don't know why, but why is it so difficult for their management to find players who can play alongside Crosby? They're having cattle call auditions for him while Malkin seems to fit with mostly everybody they've put next to him.

I thought we signed Hossa on the first day of Free Agency?

[Frozen-Man]

Pens fans aren't really mad at Hossa for leaving. They're mad at the way he left.

By the time Hossa made a decision, most of the other good free agents already had contracts, thus leaving PIT with players that weren't their first or second options.

Now, you could say that Shero should've enforced a deadline on Hossa, but come on. Hossa in their eyes was perfect on Crosby's wing. They had struggled for years to find linemates for Sid and finally they had someone who can play with him. Wouldn't you take that risk of waiting for him?

Thing is, no one wants to ask this question and I don't know why, but why is it so difficult for their management to find players who can play alongside Crosby? They're having cattle call auditions for him while Malkin seems to fit with mostly everybody they've put next to him.

It's not like Hossa dragged them along for months, or even weeks, or even one week, free agency STARTED July 1st and Hossa SIGNED with Detroit July 2nd.

[flip]

I thought we signed Hossa on the first day of Free Agency?

Second day, but the Pens had from the end of the season (or, ostensibly, the second they traded for him) to negotiate with him exclusively. I honestly have a hard time seeing who the Pens "missed out on" by waiting for Hossa, even though Shero was negotiating with multiple players simultaneously. There's no way they were going to offer anything close to what Tampa offered Malone, and most of the other Pens to leave were inconsequential. Ask a Pens fan to identify which players the Pens didn't/couldn't sign because Hossa "led them on." Their silence is your hint that you won the argument.

As an ancillary point, the Pens would be in absolute cap hell if they had signed Hossa, and they would've lost Staal.

What it boils down to is that Hossa played very well for the team, meshed with Crosby better than anyone else has to date (he who makes everyone around him better sure has a difficult time finding someone he's comfortable with), and Pens fans are angry that he didn't stay with their Golden Boy because, in their minds, it's every hockey player's dream to play on Crosby's line.

[titanium2]

I thought we signed Hossa on the first day of Free Agency?

I'm talking about the trade deadline before the 08 cup run. If the Wings were willing to give up Filppula, he would've been a wing.

It's not like Hossa dragged them along for months, or even weeks, or even one week, free agency STARTED July 1st and Hossa SIGNED with Detroit July 2nd.

I'm talking about before when he made that statement, "I'll take a little less to stay on a winning team." It was a tad misleading. Their management planned as if Hossa was going re-sign while he was on the phone with the Wings wondering if he could fit into their roster. Of course, it's not Hossa's fault if the management didn't exactly understand that Hossa didn't specify PIT as the certain team in that public statement. But because Hossa played so well alongside Crosby, he was in quite the position of power because they had tried for years to find someone who could play on Sid's wing. I'm not saying Hossa deserves this or that, but he (or probably his agent) wasn't exactly honest about his intentions.

You could just shrug it off and say, "Well, that's business," but he still didn't exactly do all the right things and if that had happened to the Wings while they were in a rebuilding phase then we would be upset too.

[Konnan511]

Second day, but the Pens had from the end of the season (or, ostensibly, the second they traded for him) to negotiate with him exclusively. I honestly have a hard time seeing who the Pens "missed out on" by waiting for Hossa, even though Shero was negotiating with multiple players simultaneously. There's no way they were going to offer anything close to what Tampa offered Malone, and most of the other Pens to leave were inconsequential. Ask a Pens fan to identify which players the Pens didn't/couldn't sign because Hossa "led them on." Their silence is your hint that you won the argument.

As an ancillary point, the Pens would be in absolute cap hell if they had signed Hossa, and they would've lost Staal.

What it boils down to is that Hossa played very well for the team, meshed with Crosby better than anyone else has to date (he who makes everyone around him better sure has a difficult time finding someone he's comfortable with), and Pens fans are angry that he didn't stay with their Golden Boy because, in their minds, it's every hockey player's dream to play on Crosby's line.

Eh, the Pens should have done what Holland was going to do if we didn't get Hossa, and that would be to sign Sundin.

[flip]

Eh, the Pens should have done what Holland was going to do if we didn't get Hossa, and that would be to sign Sundin.

The last thing the Pens needed was another center.

[thedisappearer]

Second day, but the Pens had from the end of the season (or, ostensibly, the second they traded for him) to negotiate with him exclusively. I honestly have a hard time seeing who the Pens "missed out on" by waiting for Hossa, even though Shero was negotiating with multiple players simultaneously. There's no way they were going to offer anything close to what Tampa offered Malone, and most of the other Pens to leave were inconsequential. Ask a Pens fan to identify which players the Pens didn't/couldn't sign because Hossa "led them on." Their silence is your hint that you won the argument.

As an ancillary point, the Pens would be in absolute cap hell if they had signed Hossa, and they would've lost Staal.

What it boils down to is that Hossa played very well for the team, meshed with Crosby better than anyone else has to date (he who makes everyone around him better sure has a difficult time finding someone he's comfortable with), and Pens fans are angry that he didn't stay with their Golden Boy because, in their minds, it's every hockey player's dream to play on Crosby's line.

You speak true words.

[titanium2]

Ask a Pens fan to identify which players the Pens didn't/couldn't sign because Hossa "led them on." Their silence is your hint that you won the argument.

Brian Rolston is who they claim they could've got. Maybe not necessarily for Sid's wing though. Sykora played decent on Sid's wing but he already had good chemistry with Malkin. Someone else could've played on Malkin's wing that would allow Sykora to be on Sid's wing since those two were decent enough together.

[Konnan511]

I'm talking about the trade deadline before the 08 cup run. If the Wings were willing to give up Filppula, he would've been a wing.

I'm confused then by this:

By the time Hossa made a decision

The only decision he made was to not re-sign and to sign the day after free agency started.

[Konnan511]

The last thing the Pens needed was another center.

A hyes, because other players who are centers don't play wing either right

[eva unit zero]

The last thing the Pens needed was another center.

Sundin has played all three forward positions in his career comfortably.