If you can't beat them, join them.
That's what Marian Hossa must be thinking, considering he just signed a one-year contract with the Detroit Red Wings for $7.4M.
Hossa was the biggest name on the market. Pittsburgh wanted to re-sign him to a multi-year deal for a reported $7M/yr, Edmonton wanted to throw $9M/yr at his feet, and the Habs and Rangers were supposedly in the mix too. The Red Wings were mentioned a few times, but they didn't make much noise. Until now.
This signing shocked me, not because it's the Red Wings, but because of the terms of the deal. Considering this deal is for little more than what Shero was offering, I can only assume that Hossa wasn't really interested in being a long-term Penguin.
Maybe he thought that, should he sign with the Pens, the team would become strapped for cash and that there would be little chance of winning the Cup in coming years.
Maybe he just looked at the Detroit Red Wings and sees a very good chance of winning a Cup with them next season (and they have now just become my number 1 pick for winning it all next year).
Maybe we'll never know what happened.
What I do know is this: Ray Shero could not have done any more. Some fans are already calling for Shero's head over this, but what some people don't get is that Shero cannot afford to overpay any player on the team. With Crosby and soon-to-be Malkin locked in for about $8.7M/year each, and MAF needing a contract in the next month, there IS NO money to pay someone upwards of $9M/yr for umpteen seasons.
The teams that overspend this time of year will ultimately lose.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Hossa heading West
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I'm in total agreement with you, Ashley.
I'm kinda miffed with Hossa, but hey, he was free to do what he wanted to do.
It will be interesting to see what happens with him Free Agency time next season.
Yeah, the Hossa thing has me a little insulted as a fan. I mean, it's like he's saying that he has more of a shot at winning the Cup in one season with Detroit than in 6 or 7 years with Pittsburgh.
Oh well, we don't need him. Even though not much has happened yet and I'm starting to feel a little on edge, I have faith in Shero.
In Shero I trust :)
I was terribly dissapointed in Hossa.. but to rub salt in the wound he had to sign with the Wings. Any other team but the Wings!! Ugh! I liked him because he was Slovak like me... my buddy even bought me a Hossa t-shirt last May because of that. Oh well. But I don't really mind considering some people here still walk around with Kasparitis jerseys on.
They replaced Hossa with Satan, which is cool because he is Slovak too.
Keep the faith, Ashley.
Michael - it's hard to not have faith when you have Crosby, Malkin, and Fleury all locked in for the next 5 years.
I hope Miro becomes a great winger on a line with Sid. Maybe the Slovak thing will help him, eh?
Post a Comment