KnightXC1 wrote: ^^ Get over it already! He didn't backstab the Penguins at all or play them in any way. They offered him more money, he turned it down. That's not backstabbing. He left a good team and thought he had a better chance in Detroit and was 1 game away from being right. No Detroit fan holds anything against him for going to the Hawks after a year yet Pens fans continue to be upset over a guy who played there for a season and then decided to leave. That's sports, get over it. Obviously the money doesn't mean that much to him since he took less to play in Detroit last year so your argument is mute. And he was hurt last year in the finals which is why he had surgery about 5 days after the series ended.

All Hossa had to do was say so. He told Shero they would get the final chance to sign him, Hossa and his agent never got back to them. These are facts from Shero's mouth, that's why Pens fans hate the guy. Again, all the guy had to do was say no thanks and move on, he never did that.

BTW, get over that Finals loss and quit with the excuses! So what if Hossa was hurt, Talbot played most of the playoffs with a bad shoulder and Crosby missed almost two thirds of game seven. What if's don't mean shit!

I never had a problem with him leaving. If he didn't leave, how would the Pens been able to re-sign Orpik, Malkin, Staal, and Fleury???

Going back to what I said about those 4 players and salaries.

Here's is what those 4 guys make;

Malkin-8.7mil
Fleury-5.0mil
Staal-4.0mil
Orpik-3.75mil

They equal about 21.45mil. Now if Hossa had signed for 7.5 for 5 years these players most likely wouldn't be on the team right now; Staal, Orpik, Talbot, Letang, (Most likely wou;dn't have gotten Kunitz or Guerin last year in trades, and most importantly we didn't wouldn't have gotten Tangradi.)

^^^^I'm sure Shero had some sort of plan or he wouldn't have offered him that type of money. I've come to learn that Ray Shero is a genius when it comes to signing players and dealing with the salary cap.

I also think the backstabbing comments are a little old. Professional sports are large businesses and the employees must do what they can to put themselves in what they believe to be the best situation. Hossa did what he thought was best to give him the chance to win a Stanley Cup and also in a position to make more money. Granted he didn't win the Cup but he got a more lucrative deal. What's done is done and obviously the Pens aren't missing his services too much considering they won the Cup without him and are doing quite well this year too - some people just need to get over it.

bulldog8 wrote: I also think the backstabbing comments are a little old. Professional sports are large businesses and the employees must do what they can to put themselves in what they believe to be the best situation. Hossa did what he thought was best to give him the chance to win a Stanley Cup and also in a position to make more money. Granted he didn't win the Cup but he got a more lucrative deal. What's done is done and obviously the Pens aren't missing his services too much considering they won the Cup without him and are doing quite well this year too - some people just need to get over it.

I'm just giving the perspective of Pens fans in Pittsburgh. Trust me, we are way over Hossa but the fact remains, the way he went about leaving Pittsburgh was underhanded, he promised Shero a final chance and he never delivered on that chance. I don't have a problem with a player leaving for what they deem to be greener pastures, just follow through on your word, Hossa didn't do that. I'd be curious to hear the reaction from fans of other teams if he did it to them, I'd bet they would have been pissed too.

rock_knutne wrote:
All Hossa had to do was say so. He told Shero they would get the final chance to sign him, Hossa and his agent never got back to them. These are facts from Shero's mouth, that's why Pens fans hate the guy. Again, all the guy had to do was say no thanks and move on, he never did that.

BTW, get over that Finals loss and quit with the excuses! So what if Hossa was hurt, Talbot played most of the playoffs with a bad shoulder and Crosby missed almost two thirds of game seven. What if's don't mean shit!

So everything your GM says is fact then? They offered Hossa a deal, he turned it down, and went to Detroit. That would be saying no thanks but maybe in your eyes, he should have called a press conference to decline the offer. Pens fans don't hate him because he supposedly said he would give them a final chance. Pens fans hate him because he turned down more money to play for the team that defeated them in the Finals just weeks before.

Secondly, I am over the Finals loss, and didn't make any excuses anywhere in this thread. You said he stunk in the Finals to which I responded he was hurt the entire time and had a severe surgery once the season was over, which was a fact since you like to point out that word to try and prove yourself. Hockey players play through great amounts of pain, which Hossa, the Wings and Pens did and what every team does every year.

Find where he made this promise of the Pens getting the final chance and I may believe you. Until then, it's all speculation and word of mouth.

^^^^^Believe what you want, Shero made that statement in an interview and a press conference. Hossa agreed to listen to the Pens after any and every offer he received, Hossa never got back to him. Be a man and say you don't want to come back and end the speculation. Pittsburgh waited on him, which cost them a chance to sign some other prominent free agents. That's why we were pissed not because he chose Detroit.

KnightXC1 wrote: Find where he made this promise of the Pens getting the final chance and I may believe you. Until then, it's all speculation and word of mouth.

Played the Pens like a violin:

http://thehockeywriters.com/did-marian-hossa-ruin-the-penguins-season/

He never got back to Shero about going to Detroit after he bent over backwards to give him everything he wanted.

Nowhere in that article of opinion does it say Hossa would listen to any Pens offer after receiving an offer from somewhere else. How bad it could be for the Pens since him leaving got the Pens other players that contributed to winning the Cup last year? It's Shero's fault for getting rid of guys assuming he would sign Hossa, not anyone elses. That's how business works and Shero got burned on that one, no ones fault but his and again, how bad of a mistake is it when it leads to a championship?

And no, if I went to a Pittsburgh sports bar during a Pens game and surveyed all the fans there, I think it would be a safe bet that the reason they give as to why they hate Hosaa is due to him leaving for Detroit, not for supposedly making promises to Shero.

rock_knutne wrote:

bulldog8 wrote: I also think the backstabbing comments are a little old. Professional sports are large businesses and the employees must do what they can to put themselves in what they believe to be the best situation. Hossa did what he thought was best to give him the chance to win a Stanley Cup and also in a position to make more money. Granted he didn't win the Cup but he got a more lucrative deal. What's done is done and obviously the Pens aren't missing his services too much considering they won the Cup without him and are doing quite well this year too - some people just need to get over it.

I'm just giving the perspective of Pens fans in Pittsburgh. Trust me, we are way over Hossa but the fact remains, the way he went about leaving Pittsburgh was underhanded, he promised Shero a final chance and he never delivered on that chance. I don't have a problem with a player leaving for what they deem to be greener pastures, just follow through on your word, Hossa didn't do that. I'd be curious to hear the reaction from fans of other teams if he did it to them, I'd bet they would have been pissed too.

I'm a Pens fan and I could give 2 shits what Hossa did. I don't blame him one bit for doing what he did. It's a free country and he exercised that right.

bulldog8 wrote: I'm a Pens fan and I could give 2 shits what Hossa did. I don't blame him one bit for doing what he did. It's a free country and he exercised that right.

You're in the minority. Everyone was livid here when he left the way he did.

bulldog8 wrote:

rock_knutne wrote:

bulldog8 wrote: I also think the backstabbing comments are a little old. Professional sports are large businesses and the employees must do what they can to put themselves in what they believe to be the best situation. Hossa did what he thought was best to give him the chance to win a Stanley Cup and also in a position to make more money. Granted he didn't win the Cup but he got a more lucrative deal. What's done is done and obviously the Pens aren't missing his services too much considering they won the Cup without him and are doing quite well this year too - some people just need to get over it.

I'm just giving the perspective of Pens fans in Pittsburgh. Trust me, we are way over Hossa but the fact remains, the way he went about leaving Pittsburgh was underhanded, he promised Shero a final chance and he never delivered on that chance. I don't have a problem with a player leaving for what they deem to be greener pastures, just follow through on your word, Hossa didn't do that. I'd be curious to hear the reaction from fans of other teams if he did it to them, I'd bet they would have been pissed too.

I'm a Pens fan and I could give 2 shits what Hossa did. I don't blame him one bit for doing what he did. It's a free country and he exercised that right.

Same here.

^^^^^You're in the minority too.

This is from last May, Pens fans were still pissed. People could care less now, myself included.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/sports/19594419/detail.html

^^ Again, people in that article were pissed he left after being with a team for a couple of months. That's sports, that's business, that's life. If he had gone to say the Sharks and lost in the first round, people in Pittsburgh wouldn't have cared at all that he left. They were only mad because he went to the team they played 2 years in a row in the finals. No other reason.

You say you don't care yet continually bash him so obviously you do. Let it go.

Where am I bashing him? You know you have a knack for putting words in to people's mouth's! That article clearly shows Hossa had the Pens number one on his list and Shero did in fact say those words multiple times in a presser and radio interviews! You guys and your PROOF................please!

And you're DEAD wrong on Hossa's choice of teams. he CLEARLY stated the Pens as tops on his list and never contacted Ray Shero with his decision, that's what they were pissed about! I'd love to see you walk in to a local watering hole in Pittsburgh and ask that question, you'd get an ear full.........where your Detroit sweater while your at it too.

I really don't care what you think, I live near here and work in the city. I know how Pittsburghers felt about it and Ray Shero made those statements.

In your first post in this thread you called him a backstabber and ripped him for supposedly leading your GM on. That would be called bashing. And that article has nothing in it saying Marian Hossa said the Pens were his number one choice. He saw their offer, turned it down and went to Detroit. Your GM made a mistake by assuming he would sign him and had to change his plans (which in turn worked out fine for you) when Hossa decided to take less money to go to Detroit, something a lot of players have done over the years to try and win a title.

It's not worth arguing with you about anything because you twist things in your own way. I would gladly walk right through the middle of downtown Pittsburgh with a Wings jersey on and not worry one bit because no one will do a thing about it. I will gladly ask that question and won't be surprised one bit by the result.

Its Marian Hossa BTW

All good points on this thread, none of them by the OP.

He was pretty dumb to leave Pitt, but he looks pretty smart leaving Detroit as they seem to be a bit past their prime.

He's locked up in a good place right now (minus impending salary cap hell).

KnightXC1 wrote: In your first post in this thread you called him a backstabber and ripped him for supposedly leading your GM on. That would be called bashing. And that article has nothing in it saying Marian Hossa said the Pens were his number one choice. He saw their offer, turned it down and went to Detroit. Your GM made a mistake by assuming he would sign him and had to change his plans (which in turn worked out fine for you) when Hossa decided to take less money to go to Detroit, something a lot of players have done over the years to try and win a title.

It's not worth arguing with you about anything because you twist things in your own way. I would gladly walk right through the middle of downtown Pittsburgh with a Wings jersey on and not worry one bit because no one will do a thing about it. I will gladly ask that question and won't be surprised one bit by the result.

When you state the truth about someone, it's not bashing. Hossa is a underhanded backstabber and that's a fact! BTW, Shero made NO mistakes, he was led on and never given a chance to match or even better that one year deal. These are facts you can't deal with that involves no twisting on my part.

Have a great day.

^^^^

Have you ever met Hossa? Do you know him as a person? I didn't think so; therefore, your statement is not a fact. There is so much shit that happens behind the scenes with professional teams and contracts. You are going by the word of a team executive that he was a backstabber as if that isn't a biased statement since the player decided not to re-sign with the team. You have no first hand account of the situation. Do you really think Shero is going to make himself look bad? Your posts make you look like a fool, shutup. You are very gulible and only believe what you want to believe.

^^^^^Why don't you shut up asshole! You're a hater that believes fiction, there's PLENTY of first hand accounts even from Crosby who repeatedly tried to contact him in the final hours of that deal. The bottom line is if he would have done this shit to youre team you'd be livid but your too pompous of an ass to admit it!

^^ If he had done that to the Wings, I would have been over it in about 5 minutes because that's sports and it happens. I have seen plenty of guys leave my teams to take more money and have a chance to play somewhere else and there is no reason to be upset over it. The difference is the guys who take less money in order to win. Hard to believe most anyone would truly hate an athlete in today's era of sports who actually gave up money for a chance to win. Didn't pan out for him which was unfortunate but since he never said publically he was staying in Pittsburgh, you can't accuse him of backstabbing simply because people representing your team made claims about it since it's only one side of the story. Crosby tried to call him to persuade him stay, great. Doesn't make it fact that Hossa said he would stay since he never made such a claim.

Just because your GM and "captain" make claims doesn't make them fact. And yes, your GM did make a mistake since he assumed he would resign Hossa while letting other players go. That would be a mistake.

Have a nice day too

^^^^^^If Shero would've never tried to re-sign Hossa, the Pens still might have Malone right now.