Former Chicago Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa has another title to add to his illustrious resume, as he’s been elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Hossa, who last played for the Blackhawks during the 2016-17 season, will join this year’s class in Toronto after an illustrious career that saw him win three Stanley Cup championships and make five NHL All-Star Game appearances.
Hossa signed a 12-year contract with the Blackhawks prior to the 2009-10 season, and his arrival paid immediate dividends as the team won its first Stanley Cup championship in 49 years. The winger would go on to win two more Cups in Chicago, scoring 186 goals and dishing out 229 assists in 534 career regular season games.
After the 2016-17 season, Hossa was forced to step away from the game due to a skin condition, and his contract was later traded to the Arizona Coyotes.
Drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the first round of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Hossa would ultimately play games for the Senators, Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings before arriving in Chicago. In 1,309 career NHL games, Hossa scored 525 goals and added 609 assists, all while developing a reputation as one of the best two-way players in the NHL.
Hossa came up short of Stanley Cup glory in the 2007-08 season with the Penguins, falling to the Red Wings in the Cup Final, and then was on the wrong side again in 2009 when his Red Wings fell to those very same Penguins.
He finally broke through in 2010 with the Blackhawks, with three goals and 12 assists in 22 playoff games as Chicago knocked off the Philadelphia Flyers in the Stanley Cup Final.
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Hossa’s Blackhawks career was marked by financial controversy, as his contract was determined to violate the spirit of the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement due to the final years of the contract helping to drive down the average value of the deal.
The NHL ultimately ruled that the Blackhawks wouldn’t be punished with salary cap recapture penalties after Hossa’s skin condition was diagnosed, and the winger’s contract will finally expire after the 2020-21 season.
