The Chicago Blackhawks made a very special announcement

The Chicago Blackhawks had one of thier most embarrassing games of the season on Thursday night. They were defeated by the Seattle Kraken at home by a final score of 2-0. They had an embarrassing two minute 5 on 3 power play that saw them look lost for the entire duration.

Luckily for them, they had something to distract everyone from the embarrassment of a game that they had. Marian Hossa was in attendance because he signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks. It was a great honor for one of the best players in franchise history.

That isn’t where the honor ends for the first-ballot Hall of Famer either. The Chicago Blackhawks announced that they are going to retire Marian Hossa’s number 81 next season. Nobody in Blackhawks history will ever wear that sweater ever again and that feels right.

Hossa is one of the best and deserves this level of praise. He is the greatest free-agent signing in the history of Chicago sports. He has scored a lot of goals while playing amazing defense from the wing which is incredibly rare.

Marian Hossa was an incredibly important player on the Chicago Blackhawks.

Hossa was also a member of all three Stanley Cup championship teams that the Hawks had from 20010 to 2015. He was as good of a player as they could have asked for. Winning those championships would have been impossible without him.

He had lost the two previous Stanley Cup finals (2008 and 2009) as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. Finally, his arrival in Chicago delivered not only one but three. It was an amazing decision made by both parties.

When his number goes up into the United Center rafters, it will be the 8th. There are certainly a few more to follow which tell you how dominant this team was during his tenure there. It is going to be a lot of fun celebrating those times over the next few years.

Hossa was one of the advisers that helped the Chicago Blackhawks select Kyle Davidson as the full-time general manager so it is clear that he will be a part of the organization for a long time.

Once his number is hanging up there forever, we will be able to look up at every game and remember what it was like to have a player like that on the squad. Hopefully, this team can start to put teams like that on the ice again soon.

He deserves as much respect as you can give a former hockey player for their accomplishments. This announcement came out of nowhere but it is the right announcement. That will certainly be a special night in Chicago.