Did Marian Hossa Make the Wrong Decision?

Perhaps the most intriguing storyline from the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins was Marian Hossa. Hossa was a key member of the 2008 Penguins team that lost in the finals to the Red Wings in six games. Less than a month later, he spurned the Penguins by signing a one-year contract with Detroit, hoping that the Wings would give him a better chance to hoist the cup than did the Pens. This time around, it was the Penguins who prevailed in a thrilling seven game series, once again leaving Hossa as a spectator as the opposition celebrated the championship victory. This raises the obvious question: did Hossa make a mistake when he elected to leave Pittsburgh in favor of Hockeytown?

On the surface, the logic behind his decision was sound. While Pittsburgh was a great team in 2008, and certainly the elite team from the Eastern Conference, the Stanley Cup showed that the Pens were not quite performing at the level of the Red Wings. By joining the better team, Hossa would add to Detroit's superiority, making them the clear favorite to repeat. Furthermore, he would be playing under Mike Babcock, who is widely regarded as one of the elite coaches in the league. Hossa appeared to be a perfect fit in Detroit's system, which largely favors skilled, two-way players.

After scoring 40 goals in the regular season playing alongside MVP candidate Pavel Datsyuk, and with Detroit finishing second in the West behind only San Jose, Hossa and the Wings appeared poised to have another long postseason run. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, struggled though most of the regular season in Hossa's absence, falling out of the playoff picture for a period early in 2009. After a coaching change and a series of transactions, the Penguins finished the regular season on a strong run that propelled them to the fourth seed in the East. At least through the first 82 games, it appeared as though Hossa had made the right decision to jump ship to the Wings. Detroit breezed past Columbus in a first-round sweep, while Pittsburgh defeated the Flyers in a six-game series. The second round saw both teams taken to the limit, each narrowly escaping with a game 7 win, Detroit over Anaheim, and Pittsburgh over Washington. Detroit then upended Chicago in five games, while Pittsburgh swept Carolina, thus setting up a rematch from the Finals of a year prior. Hossa stood only four victories away from achieving his goal with Detroit, while his former teammates stood in the way.

If Hossa was taken out of the equation, the Wings and Pens in this series played to a near standstill, with many of the superstars canceling out their counterparts. Certainly a player of Hossa's caliber should have been enough to tilt the scales in Detroit's favor, enabling them to repeat as champions. Hossa, however, was ultimately a non-factor in the series, and his performance was a critical reason as to why the Penguins prevailed this year. Much like a year ago, Detroit turned to Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lidstrom to neutralize Penguins captain Sidney Crobsy. Once again, Detroit primarily achieved this goal. Likewise, the goaltending in the series proved to be nearly a wash, as both Marc-Andre Fleury and Chris Osgood overall were excellent. Although much more of a factor than last playoffs, MVP candidate Evgeni Malkin was relatively held in check by the Wings, especially in the final three contests of the series. After missing the first four games of the Finals with an injury, Datsyuk was unable to play at an elite level. All of this created the perfect opportunity for Hossa to step up and prove to be the difference maker in the series.

After chipping in with only 6 goals through the initial three rounds of the playoffs, Hossa was due to contribute offensively. Moreover, being the only significant member of the Red Wings to have yet to win a cup, many expected him to be the most motivated player wearing the winged-wheel. Playing against the team he spurned figured to fuel Hossa's desire even more intensely to raise Lord Stanley. On the biggest stage, however, Hossa did not record a single goal. At his regular season pace, Hossa would have scored nearly 4 goals over a 7 game period. After a two-assist effort in a game 2 victory, Hossa contributed only a single assist in the final five games of the series. Perhaps most disappointing for Hossa, he generated only four shots total over the last two games of the series, both 2-1 Penguins' victories. While Marian was not the only Wing to struggle to find his scoring touch throughout the playoffs, Jiri Hudler and Tomas Holmstrom for instance, Hossa was by far the most prominent and vital to Detroit's success.

Ultimately, despite tasting bitter defeat to his former team, Hossa still may have made the correct decision to sign with Detroit, at least based on his justification. Hossa, after signing his one-year deal for $7.45 million, said he thought the Red Wings gave him the best chance to win a Stanley Cup in 2009. Detroit made it within a single win of repeating as Stanley Cup Champions, despite minimal contributions from Hossa. Had Hossa simply played to his talent-level and expectations in the finals, almost certainly Detroit would be celebrating another championship. It was not the Red Wings that let Marian Hossa down in his quest to win his first Stanley Cup, but rather, it was Marian Hossa that let the Red Wings down in their quest to repeat as champions.