Hossa’s Contract Being Investigated
August 1, 2009 by Jeanne Dupuis
Filed under Chicago Blackhawks, NHL, News, Signings and Contracts
Marian Hossa’s new contract with the Chicago Blackhawks is being investigated by the NHL. Why am I not surprised? First of all, can I just say that I think long-term deals are a really bad idea and when it was first announced that Hossa the team hopper had been signed for 12 years, I thought it was ridiculous.
image: TSN
I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m starting to think that Hossa is a bad luck charm after each of the last teams he played on fell just short of winning the Stanley Cup – twice in two years!
Anyway, the NHL is saying that the deal could circumvent the collective bargain agreement and the club could be fined as much as $5 million and might lose draft picks. Pretty serious… Apparently, the Blackhawks and Hossa had an understanding that the player would retire before his contract is up so that it could lessen the cap hit on the team. This was possible because Hossa was set to receive the largest sums during the early part of the deal ($7.9 million for each of the first seven seasons, $4 million for the eighth year and then $3.5 million for the remainder).
Yes, Hossa is great and I know he’s been an All-Star four times but I’m growing really tired of him. Part of me would like to see him just sign with the KHL and get it over with. That’s what all the greedy guys are doing these days…
