Marian Hossa and Mats Sundin both have one thing in common. Despite both having a lot of skill neither has won a Stanley Cup and both would like to add one to their resume.
Hossa in order to do so left a 5 year multimillion dollar contract on the table and went to the Red Wings for a paycut and a one year deal. Hossa was praised for his decision by the media labelling him as a rare example of an athlete that was not a mercenary. He was following the example of Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne who also took major paycuts to leave a one-year removed Stanley Cup Finalist Ducks team to play for the Colorado Avalanche, who they felt were closer to winning a Cup. The experiment badly failed. Kariya still has not won a Cup and Selanne only won one by returning to the team he had spurned.
As for Sundin he hemmed and hawed before signing on to play with a Canucks team, while decent, that wasn't a true Cup contender but paid him more money than any other team. When he signed Sundin was offended by the suggestion that he signed for a team that didn't have a legitimate chance at a Cup.
The end result: both ended up without the Stanley Cup. Sundin though has a lot more money to console him.
The funny thing is Hossa almost shed his "playoff choker" reputation last year on Crosby's wing. This year? Not so much.
ReplyDeleteLooks like hossa picked the wrong team, again
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