Blackhawks: Marian Hossa is Chicago’s all-time greatest free agent signing
The Chicago Blackhawks have had some legends play for them but Marian Hossa is Chicago’s all-time greatest free-agent signing.
It is official, former Chicago Blackhawks superstar Marian Hossa is a Hall of Famer. It was a brilliant career for a guy who was just as pleasant to deal with off the ice as he was watching on the ice. What made Hossa so great is the fact that he was an elite offensive player as well as one who was so good in his own end. Those traits are rare for a winger. The success he helped bring makes him the best free-agent signing in the history of Chicago sports.
Some people remember Jon Lester and Jermaine Dye as some all-time great Chicago free agents and those people are correct. They both made significant impacts on our baseball teams trying to end century-long World Series droughts and succeded. Each of them was great and had an amazing amount of impact but it is hard to say it was more than Hossa (or even close).
Hossa was the missing piece on a championship team just like those guys were but instead of helping deliver one he helped deliver three. He was the perfect piece to compliment Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane but not as a supporting depth player, but as someone who was literally a mix of the two players and played that way at a high level.
Hossa was a man that scored over 500 goals in his career which puts him in the company of the greatest players who ever played this game. In eight years with Chicago, he scored 186 goals and added 229 assists for 415 points in 534 regular-season games. That all looks even nicer next to three Stanley Cup rings. He surprisingly ended up playing more years for Chicago than he did with any other team.
It was a great decision for him and the organization to bring him in after the Hawks lost at the hands of Hossa and the Red Wings in the 2009 Western Conference Final. He was finally able to raise that cup over his head and Chicago was finally able to end that 49-year drought. It also helped put hockey on the map in The Windy City so Hossa’s contributions mean more than points and assists (although those were nice too).
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Most of the time, free agents don’t work out in much of a positive manner but Hossa is the best one the city has ever seen by far. We were lucky to have him here and seeing him go into the Hall of Fame is just so sweet. Congrats to Marian and his family!