The Chicago Blackhawks were lucky to have someone like Marian Hossa as a part of the organization for as long as he was. Although he was not a Blackhawk for life, he is one of the most important players in the history of the franchise.
On Wednesday, the team announced that they are going to retire his number 81 in Hossa’s honor. Obviously, having your number retired is one of the great honors that you can receive in your life as a National Hockey League player.
Hossa has already been inducted into the Hall of Fame because of his outstanding play. In addition to his amazing play as a defensive forward, Hossa was an absolute force as an offensive superstar.
In his career, he scored 529 goals and had 609 assists for 1134 points in 1309 games played. Looking at those gaudy statistics would make you think that he was all about offense so when you know how good he was defensive, it makes it even better.
The Chicago Blackhawks were fortunate to have Marian Hossa when they did.
Championship success came to Chicago with Marian Hossa as well. Before coming to the Blackhawks in 2009-10, Hossa had lost in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings respectively. He certainly followed that Cup around for a while.
When he got to Chicago, things changed. He won the Stanley Cup three times with his new team in 2010, 2013, and 2015. It was one of the greatest runs in the history of the franchise. It made him the greatest free agent signing in the history of Chicago sports.
He was so clearly the final piece of an elite core that had the potential to win multiple championships. Everyone did their part and it worked to perfection. Hossa was one of the biggest keys to all of that success. He should be so proud of everything he did.
The jersey retirement ceremony is going to come on November 20th against the Pittsburgh Penguins. It will be a great way for the team to honor him with another franchise that he played for in the building. Being there with guys like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the building will certainly be special.
Other great NHL teammates that he had back then like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang will be in attendance to watch as one of their former mates is honored like that. All of these legends will receive a similar treatment one day.
Hossa, as mentioned before, is well deserving of all of this. It is going to be a great night for this Blackhawks team as they honor one of their all-time greats while trying to build a team that can have similar success one day soon. 81 deserves to fly at the United Center forever.
