Marian Hossa with the magic stick against Tampa Bay. He catches the puck, tosses it down and takes a swing. Hossa actually hit the puck out of mid air and sent it flying into the goal. Just an absolutely sick play by Marian Hossa.
Posts Tagged Marian Hossa
Chicago Blackhawks
Sep 29
Captain Jonathan Toews looks to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup this season.
A young speedy team who finished 2nd in the tough Central Division, and 4th in the Western Conference, looks to improve upon their Cup ending loss to the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals.
During the offseason the Blackhawks received some negative press about ousting general manager Dale Tallon to be replaced by Stan Bowman. Stan, the son of retired NHL coach Scotty Bowman, replaced Tallon due to a filed grievance from the NHL Players Association pertaining to the team missing deadlines for sending qualifying offers to restricted free agents. The team has since moved forward with the off season acquisitions of some pretty big names.
The Blackhawks were unable to resign unrestricted free agent Martin Havlat who eventually signed with the Minnesota Wild. Havlat scored 29 goals with 48 assists to total 77 points. He also posted 15 points in 16 games played in the playoffs last season, which happened to lead the team.
The void is to be replaced by NHL All Star player Marian Hossa who played for the Detroit Red Wings in the previous year. Hossa, who played for the Pittsburg Penguins before the Wings, has made the NHL finals 2 years in a row, yet both times have come up empty handed. Hossa underwent shoulder surgery in the off season and is expected to make his debut you in a Hawk’s jersey in late November. A question of full rehabilitation, game ready physical capability and team chemistry will be answered when he returns to the ice.
Center John Madden joins the mix of the Blackhawks this year. Madden has played for the New Jersey Devils for all his NHL career, posting 297 points in 712 regular season games and 41 points in 112 playoff games.
The Blackhawks have parted ways with goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin in hopes that Cristobal Huet will be able to carry the workload. The two goaltenders split time last year during the regular season, only one game difference. However, come playoff time, Khabibulin played all but 3 games. With the success of last year, one would think the possibility of doing the same two goalie system again, or if having to choose between the one, would have chosen to stay with Khabibulin, but that is not the case.
All hope is not lost though as the 34 year old Cristobal Huet has a respectable record and stats. Last season he had a 20-15-4-3 record in 41 games, with a .909 save percentage and a 2.53 goals against average. This number is down in comparison to the ’07-’08 season where he had a combined 32-14-6-4 record between Montreal Canadiens and the Washington Capitals.
The team is led by young stars Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Together the duo is nearly impossible to stop, all things considering they are only 21 and 20 years of age. Together the two were able to net 59 goals and 80 assists between their 162 games played.
Defensively the team is led by offensive defenseman Brian Campbell. Campbell was 5th in points last year with 52, the majority of them being 45 assists. Shortly behind in points are defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook who both have better +/- ratings then Campbell. Keith tallied in at + 33 while Seabrook with +23.
The Chicago Blackhawks lack no skill in scoring points, and have a solid defensive core that also are able to contribute offensively. The goaltender position will be a test this year, but should not be a factor as the team is projected to be first within the Central Division as last year’s leader the Detroit Red Wings have suffered a major rebuild of new and young players.
Last year’s playoff’s were a learning experience for the young team. This year with one more year under their belt, and the addition of some veteran playoff performers, the Chicago Blackhawks have their eyes set on the Cup.
Atlanta Thrashers
Sep 13
Last season, Atlanta played its best hockey when it was already eliminated from playoff contention when it won 12 of its final 18 games. Atlanta hopes to use the strong finish last season to continue early this season.
This franchise has had superstars Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov, Marian Hossa, and Dany Heatley in its 10-year history and has manged to make the playoffs only once when they won the Southeast Division in 2007. The one constant throughout the Thrashers history is GM Don Waddell, and he needs to start showing improvement with this franchise before his seat will start to become hot.
Will Atlanta trade Ilya Kovalchuk to a contender at the deadline?
Kovalchuk is perhaps the best player on a bad team in the NHL. Last season he finished fourth in goals with 43 and tied for sixth with 91 points. In the final year of his contract, Waddell has to give him the proper help needed to carry the team into the playoffs. He wants the same success Russian countrymen Kozlov, Sergei Federov, Evgeni Malkin, and Pavel Datsyuk have had as all three have had their names on the Stanley Cup. Kovalchuk is also in the final year of his contract. Expect him to be traded at the deadline if Atlanta isn’t in playoff contention.
Waddell has given Kovalchuk help on the first line with the addition of Nik Antropov on the right wing. Also coming from Toronto was defenseman Pavel Kubina.
Kubina’s main job is to anchor a defensive unit that was one of the worse in the league last season. They allowed 280 goals, the second-worse amount in the NHL. Defense also has to be a team effort as the forwards have to play more two-way hockey and goalie Kari Lehtonen has to be more consistent. While the team in front of him did let him out to dry several times during the season, Lehtonen has to take the defense on his back and not allow as many soft goals as he had.
Head coach John Anderson also has the task of improving the special teams. While they were a respectable 11th on the power play, Atlanta was 29th in penalty kill at 76 percent. Atlanta also surrendered 13 shorthanded goals, which is not acceptable to any NHL team. Again, this goes back to defense.
With their future prospects, none of the top-10 prospects ranked by The Hockey News are defensemen. Having six centers, two wingers, and two goalies isn’t the outlook Thrashers fans want to see of a team that’s as deficient on defense as they have been.
Overall, don’t expect Atlanta to do much this season. They are still 1-2 solid defensemen away from being a contender, but isn’t big spenders in free agency. Lehtonen has to be more solid in goal and not become as injury prone as he has been. A team with low attendance (29th in the league averaging 14,626 per game) in a non-hockey market, expect Atlanta to finish between 13th and 15th in the Eastern Conference.
Mended… Feather?
Jul 23
Marian Hossa
Reports are circulating about winger Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks undergoing shoulder surgery to repair his right rotator cuff. Hossa, who was acquired from Detroit Red Wings in the free agency, is expected to fill Martin Havlat’s void in the Blackhawk lineup. Marian posted 71pts in 74 regular season games as well as 15pts in the post season last year.
With surgery expected to be done July 24 and a 4 month recovery, fans should not fear his absence, as the youthful duo Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane should be able to maintain the level of play from last year’s season. Concerns still would arise after the fact. Could the surgery affect Hossa’s game? And if it does affect his game, will the Blackhawks make the post season? And how far will they go if they do? Potentially the most concerning, with a 12 year contract, is this the start of another injury plagued Marian?
Time will tell what all plays out. Regardless, the Chicago Blackhawks should be a great team to watch this upcoming season and seasons to come in arguably the most competitive division in the western conference.
