Marian Hossa signs a 12-year deal with the Blackhawks after spending last season with the Red Wing

How can he do that to the Red Wings? I mean we were his chosen team. Doesn't loyalty mean anything anymore?

Oh wait...I was looking through the eyes of Menudo, Hugh One and Squeegie.


12-year deal. WOW!

Things I know: Puddy sucks.

Things I think: The Red Wings now have a better chance at winning the Cup next year since that loser Hossa is gone. Blackhawks fans shouldn't bother buying tickets for the next 12 years as they have just signed away any chance of winning Lord Stanley's Cup during that duration. BTW, why the hell would you sign a 30 year old to a 12 year deal?

Things I don't want to admit: If the Hawks can sign Kane and Toews to long term deals (which has to be a HUGH priority in Chicago right now), they will be a very good team for many years, and they probably give Hossa the best chance in the Western Conference to win a Cup at some point. Of course, the whole karma thing will inevitably prevent that from ever happening.

This doesnt bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. I am sure part of it is the hugh sized choking he did in the playoffs is stil fresh in my brain. But if I step back and look at this, the Wings didnt have cap space for the likes of Helm, Abdelkader, or Leino last year. Its a good problem to have for sure. But if signing Samuelson and Hudler (is he signed yet??), and clearing room for these 3 youngsters to come up means loosing Hossa, Im OK with that. I dont believe loosing 40 goals is going to kill the Wings. They may not win The Presidents Cup, but come next year, or hopefully playoff time, I think they might be better off this way.

It really doesnt matter what I think though. What matters is what Ken Holland thinks. And I am extrememly comfortable in trusting him blindly.

Neither Hudler nor Samuelson are signed. ESPN has a pretty handy little FA tracker here: http://espn.go.com/nhl/freeagents

Thanks. Couldnt remember what Hudler's status was and work is not cooperating with my free agent tracking. This will help.

Well, the Blackhawks ain't gonna win dick unless they find themselves a goalie, Khabibulin signed a 4 year, $15 million deal with the Oilers. Christobal Huet ain't the answer kids.

when given the chance, huet proved to be very good at stretches last year...not saying he is the answer, but with the D they have, he could be good for the next 2 years. That stop he made with his foot against the wings was out of this world. He sucked when splitting time, but had a few stretches of great goaltending when he was given the consistent start.

Not sure what to say about the Hossa thing...IF they somehow manage to keep Havlat, they are well on their way to a top 4 team next year.

Well, the Wild sent a qualifying offer to Harding, and speculation around here is that he's probably going to be used for trade bait before the season starts. The Hawks could do worse.........

Ain't happening, so essentially you've dropped your leading scorer for a guy who has proven he can't win in the playoffs. Well done.

And done, Havlat signs a 6 year deal worth $30 million and goes to Minnesota.

Seductive Nun, you're a Wild fan, what do you think of losing Gaborik and getting Havlat. Gaborik seems like a super talent, but he kinda reminds me of a guy like Kovalev, lotsa talent, but much to show for it, and when the game's on the line he's not a real go to guy. Would you agree?

Hawks lost Pahlsson to Columbus too, 3 year, $7.95 million.

Two big items to remember about Gaborik

1. He's incredibly injury prone. Now that he's had his hip surgery he may last longer into the season, but hip surgeries for skaters are not something to take lightly when you're betting the farm on that player.

2. He's famous for disappearing in the playoffs.

Now I also realize that Havlat comes with his own injury issues, but I'd much rather have a player who wants to be here than someone who pouts about the coaches making him play defense. There were 2 guys in free agency I thought we'd have a decent shot at, Camalleri and Havlat. I'm glad we got one of them, and I'd be thrilled to get Saku Koivu in a Wild jersey as well.

And I will agree with you about Gabby not being much of a go-to guy. I can't recall at any time during his career here that he would step up and take leadership of the team, let alone the game. That's why guys like Rolston and Koivu were captains and not so much Gabby. Good luck to the Rangers, they just might have signed the second coming of Scott Gomez (related entirely to signing a big contract and then underperforming).

This means three things to me:

1) Hawks/Wings is going to be a real rivalry for at least the next five-plus years.

2) The Wings will now be the beneficiary of the Hossa Curse.

3) The Wings are going to lack size/grit up front again. I worry about a return to the early 90's Wings teams, where they kill everyone in the regular season with skill, then go down hard in the playoffs whining about the lack of calls.

Peace
policy

Scuderi to the Kings, 4 year for $13.6 million. Hate to see him go, but I wish him all the best, the Pens just couldn't afford him.

Coulda used him in MN.

I figured he would go, but, was hoping he would stay for a discount, but, perhaps the Pens didn't have the $$$ to even offer a reasonable discount.

Madden was a good add for the loss of Pahlsson...the worst part about the Hossa signing is that the Hawks are going to have major cap concerns in 2-3 years....They'll need to find someone to take Campbell eventually.

At least the Hawks are serious about contending, and the mere fact that hockey is being talked about in Chicago during the month of July is amazing.

Here's hoping that the Penguins meet and beat the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals.

It was funny the first time, but, would be even funnier if it happened again.

...oh, and Puddy, if Hossa stated that he left the Wings for the Blackhawks because he wanted to win a championship, you'd be lying if you said it didn't anger you as a Wings fan.

Wings were offering him $4 million a year for 4 years, he got over $5 million a year for 12 years in Chicago, the comparison isn't even close to what he did last year.

I think the Hawks are going to have problems starting next year, especially if the cap goes down. They'll have to resign some of their young stars and will they have the $ to do so? If there's one thing they could take back from last year it would surely be signing Huet.

Biggest overpay so far in free agency IMO is Montreal giving Brian Gionta a 5 year/25 mil contract.

DAMMIT!!!!

Ducks sign Saku Koivu to 1 year deal

F'n Wild better find someone else to get some offense this year. Can't rely solely on Havlat.

Havlat got his money...he'll blow for the next 2 years. Shoulder will pop out again.