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.
