See, Hate can lead to Happiness

Here's an image that will stick with me today whenever I'm feeling blue...

That's a lasting image...breaks your heart, doesn't it?  Let me clarify that I do respect Toews as a player, and I don't wish him any serious injury...but I hate Chicago.

Yawn

No, the title doesn't come from the fact I played a men's league game that didn't start until 10:45 PM last night, it's because I'm getting sick of reading all of the gloom and doom crap that is still creeping it's way in to Red Wings news...well it's really not news, just predictions by a bunch of people who don't know what they're talking about.

Here's the latest from the Kingston Whig Standard...yeah, national mainstream media, I know, but here's what they had to say...

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Detroit Red Wings: That's right, Detroit in fifth (in the Western Conference). An exodus of talent during the off-season and a long-term injury to Johan Franzen will test the resolve of a club that is used to locking up a playoff spot by December.

*Sigh...Actually, the explanation of Detroit is one of the only predictions that is made for more than one reason. Other than that, this person (Jan...don't know if that's a guy or girl) makes predictions based on well-thought out one point arguments like "Luongo is the best goalie in the NHL". Let's look at some other well-researched predictions and break them down...

Washington Capitals Jan's prediction: 1st in the East.

This juggernaut led by Alex Ovechkin has been tearing defences apart so far in the early going. Ovech -kin is in a league of his own in the NHL and will walk to the scoring title this season. The only question for this club lies in goal, where Jose Theodore and Semyon Varlamov tend to the twine.

You mean that same juggernaut that tore Detroit's defense apart and scored a whopping TWO GOALS to the poor, depleted Detroit Red Wings? Oh, and they lost last night to your fifth place prediction in the Leastern Conference last night too. Hmmm...

Pittsburgh Penguins Jan's prediction: 2nd in the East.

They're the defending champs and the team to beat in the NHL. With Sidney Crosby, Evgeny Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, the Pens will be good for a very long time. No weaknesses on this club.

Who can argue that Pittsburgh has ZERO WEAKNESSES? Oh that's right...everybody. How soon people forget that this team was below .500 deep into the season last year, even with the three players mentioned above playing the main roles. The three guys who actually made the difference in their season was Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, Dan Bylsma. They beat a mediocre Flyers team, a Washington team with shotty goaltending, and a completely exhausted Carolina team. You can really thank the Anaheim Ducks for your cup, Pittsburgh. I'd love to see what a series between the two of you would have looked like.

Chicago Blackhawks Jan's prediction: 2nd in the West

Toews, Kane, Sharp, Hossa ... the list goes on and on. Make no mistake, this is the Western Conference powerhouse of the future. Depending on Hossa's status, the future could be now.

If by "powerhouse of the future" you mean, "this year and this year only". This team's disgusting lack of salary cap management will be it's downfall after a single season. Enjoy your dozen years of Hossa's bum shoulder and Brian Campbell's $7+ million contract. Oh, and with all the cap space Detroit will have after this year, we'd be more than happy to take one of those stars off your hands when their contract is up and you have no more room. Payback's a b!tch.

Why bother even going on with any more? I feel like I wasted enough time reading the ones that I did.

Sorry.

More Pot Shots Against Chicago

...and I don't even have to make this stuff up. Other people are writing it. Credible people are writing it. Well, maybe credible is too strong a word, but I still found this at canada.com:

The second-best team in the National Hockey League's Western Conference was second-best once again Thursday, absorbing a 3-2 setback at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit's home opener at Joe Louis Arena.

To that, and Chicago, I offer two short, but meaningful words...

Okay, so it's one word repeated twice...are we going to split hairs on Simpson's references?

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Did I mention that I HATE Chicago?

Back in Business

Alright, like the title states...I'm back in business and thankfully, so are the Wings.

The games in Sweden had me pretty angry and depressed, plus the work load that piled up during my absence and some blogging business (more on that later) kept me from posting until today. Guess what? It's freakin' Friday, the Wings beat the Hawks (again) last night and I'm in a damn good mood.

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So I was sitting in on a conference call when my buddy sends me a message saying that he has a (free) ticket for me for last night's game. Luckily, the afternoon staff meeting didn't run too long and I had time to run home, eat, and meet up with him to drive down to the game.

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And what a roller coaster that game turned out to be. A real rough start. The Hawks were keeping control of the puck in our end, they were out shooting us badly, sloppy passes by the Wings lead to giveaways, the game was getting ugly. The one thing that kept us tied going into the second: Chris motherf@#$ing Osgood. After a dog turd of a performance last Friday in Stockholm, Osgood returned to form last night.

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The Hawks scored on a total miscommunication between a tired Zetterberg who was caught out there on an icing call and a bad decision to pass up the middle by Holmstrom and on a powerplay that was really like a two man advantage since Ericsson was visibly hurt blocking another puck.

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King Lidas' goal wasn't a thing of legend, but I remain certain that Hank (who he was trying to pass to anyway) would have buried it if not for that fortuitous bounce. And what? Draper with a wicked snipe? You bet your sweet bippy. And of course, Franzen cleaning up the garbage caused by Holmstrom in front. It's about time, Mule.

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Out shot? Who cares. How many times do we lose games where we have more shots? A win is a win. We needed those two points I needed those two points. Dropping three straight to divisional rivals to start the season would have been unacceptable. But thankfully, we don't need to worry about that anymore. Now all we have to do is worry about #8 on Washington coming to town tomorrow. I'll be there.

Damn, it feels good to write Wings stuff again.

The Battle of I-94 - The Rivery Rekindled

In preparation of tonight's beat-down of the Indians of Chicago, I think it is time to recall just why we should hate the Hawks. (Remember, I'm only 25, so the real hate happened before that but yeah...)

Reason #1: History- Chicago fans being the bandwagoners that they are, might not realize this, but man have there been some battles in the past. This is a battle that started in 1926 damnit. Sure the past 15 years have been absolutely dominated by the Wings and no one showed up to games in Chicago until last year, but still.

#2 - Getting our star baseball players drunk before the most important games of the year. You fuckers.

#3 - Douchebag, bandwagon fans. Drew's got a great blog of how retarded they can be at KK. What a read. I believe that blog is what got him to found the revitalized NOHS as you know it.
All I can add is this...Some shit blog out there named Chicago fans the #2 fanbase in hockey. Ridiculous I know. Then, this genius throws this out there. Jesus.


#4 - Management. Detroit has the best in the business. The loyalty to the players and staff is one of the most impressive things in sports. The Hawks? Not so much. Ask Marty Havlat. Ask the Bulin Wall. Ask Dale Tallon. Ask Denis Savard. One minute you're the toast of the town, the next minute you're outta here. As Havlat said so perfectly after being named the team MVP last year, then not even offered a contract when it came down to it.




#5 - The Hawks simply hate the Wings. I know, I know. Tons of teams hate the Wings. The Dive, the Bitter Blues, the Sharks, the Pens. All these teams blow a load anytime they can beat the Wings. But they really mean nothing to us right now.

However, here is where the Hawks come in. They are a good team and Bettman's new wet dream. And boy do they hate some Wings.

First proven by this website. And this...




The Hawks live to hate the Wings and I love that. And I can always point to this photo for a simple, yet effective response...


I searched for one from all his years in Chicago and came up with nothing.

Speaking of Chicago...

I wonder if THN watched how their season ended last year...



Oh that's right...

That's Right...Just Keep on Talkin'

Ready to get even angrier? Just read this from the Daily Herald...

The first preseason magazine is out, the Hockey News Yearbook, and the publication has picked the Hawks win the Central Division and finish second in the Western Conference behind the San Jose Sharks.Saying the Hawks are "fully loaded for a Stanley Cup push," the Hockey News believes in goalie Cristobal Huet and apparently has no concerns about the defense after Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell.

**Gag** What do Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, and Brian Campbell all have in common? Oh that's right; they're Canadian! No wonder the Hockey News fails to note the fact that they got carved up by Detroit in the Conference Finals after squeaking by a banged-up Calgary squad and a mediocre Vancouver Canucks. And Cristobal Huet? I'm guessing that because the man is French, there's some sentimentality there from THN's francophone staff members. Hey guys, you have no idea what you are talking about. How about some sobering facts, Chicago?

The Hawks haven't won a division title since the 1992-93 season when it still was the great, old Norris. The Detroit Red Wings have won eight Central Division crowns in a row and nine of the last 10.

Any time you get in an argument with a Blackhawks fan, make sure you remind them of that. Chicago has NEVER won the Central Division...EVER. Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy doesn't it?

"Nice try...LOSERS!"

Cheap Shot and a Lousy Tipper

It was a slow weekend in hockey news, so I didn't feel so bad about not posting anything amidst my travels from the east coast to west coast of Michigan. Then my buddy tipped me off about this...

From the Chicago Tribune:

"Ever since the Blackhawks made Patrick Kane the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft two summers ago, the baby-faced winger has been the golden boy of the franchise, sparking a resurgence on and off the ice.

But with his arrest early Sunday in his hometown of Buffalo after an altercation with a male cabdriver, allegedly over 20 cents, the high-scoring, quick-with-a-grin Kane has had his public image tarnished."

I guess the headlines could have read "Kane gets in first fight as an NHL-er", but people probably would have known right away that I would be lying. And over 20 cents? I wonder if the little tyke might have had a few non-Zima beverages.

"The other one [Patrick] punched me in the head. He says, 'You don't know who you're [expletive] with! You don't know who you're [expletive] with! And he kept pounding and pounding on me."

Oh wow, real original Pat. The old NFL/NBA/drunken celebrity cry. The witness that called the police probably informed them that they saw some little kid and his dad trying to beat up a cab driver.

This statement was released from the Chicago Blackhawks...

"We are aware of the allegations toward Patrick Kane. He is a big part of our organization and a team leader and we stand behind him. As we are still collecting all the facts, it would be premature to comment further at this time."

Well it would be dangerous to speculate... wouldn't it, Stan? Somehow I don't think this is what the Chicago franchise had in mind when it wanted to get some of the bad press away from management.

Oh well, could be worse...they could have put Pat Kane on the cover of EA NHL 2010 or something.

Whoops!

This just keeps getting better and better.

Let me Break it Down for You

NHL.com is currently doing its “30 Teams in 30 Days” feature, whereby they focus on a different franchise each day until all 30 NHL teams have been analyzed.

Guess who today is…the Chicago Blackhawks. I choked a little on my morning protein bar while reading what NHL.com had to report and this odious franchise. Here’s a few of my thoughts on their analysis.

STATE OF THE UNION - A successful spring led directly into a whirlwind summer for the NHL's newest "it" team, but the Chicago Blackhawks remain on strong footing despite the somewhat surprising change at the top from Dale Tallon to Stan Bowman."It's fair to say expectations are high," (Stan)Bowman, the Blackhawks' new general manager, told NHL.com. "I like our team."

So once again, years of sucking is finally paying dividends making Chicago the new Pittsburgh. “Hey look how good we’ve become by being so terrible for so many years!” I’m waiting to hear Gary Bettman call Chicago the “2nd Model Franchise”.

Expectations are high in Chicago because the team overachieved last year…big time. Look at their play-off run: they took out and injury riddled Calgary Flames in the first round, knocked out an offensively inept Vancouver Canucks, and then got steam-rolled by Detroit in the Conference Finals. Going from not making the play-offs in 2008, to reaching the 2009 Western Conference Finals was a fluke. Don’t let the NHL or idiots from Chicago tell you different.

There's a lot to like, what with the additions of Marian Hossa, John Madden and Tomas Kopecky to last season's Western Conference Finalists. Bowman's task now is to keep it all together.How he plans to do that seems to be the biggest question around the Blackhawks today.

Is that really a question? There is no friggin’ way the core of this team can remain intact after this season. Even if the Cap stays flat (un-likely), they have over half their Cap committed to eight players. Sure, Madden’s Cap hit comes off, but that was really a ho-hum signing to begin with. My guess is that if they can’t find a dance partner for Patrick Sharp and unload him somewhere else, they’re going to lose Kane or Keith or both. Toews will stay, he’s the captain and they’d be stupid to get rid him.

Happy about the acquisition of Kopecky, Chicago? He was just a package deal to get Hossa, no one in Detroit wept when Coke ‘N Pepsi left town…if you can’t reach your potential within Detroit’s organ-i-zation, what chance do you have in Chicago?

"I think it's dangerous to speculate because it doesn't really benefit anybody," Bowman said. "We're going to plan for a few different scenarios, but all last year we heard how the cap would go down and it didn't. Now we're hearing it's going to go down next year. It might, but we haven't played a game yet and next year's cap is based on this upcoming year's revenue. Let's wait before we say the sky is falling."

Translation: “It’s dangerous to speculate, but we are going to speculate”. It’s called planning for the future, Stan, and you better be good at it. You want to wait for the Cap number next year? You’re setting yourself up to get smacked right between the eyes, which is fine by me.

Could that mean Bowman will put Patrick Sharp on the trading block? What about Brian Campbell and his big contract? Would he try to move goaltender Cristobal Huet if Corey Crawford and/or Antti Niemi step up?

I already touched on Sharp, I think that he is actually movable. But Campbell and Huet’s contracts aren’t going anywhere. I pray to the hockey gods that there isn’t a GM (left) in the league stupid enough to take these contracts off of Chicago’s hands. You made your bed, now lay in it. Essentially, Dale Tallon destroyed much of this team’s future last summer. His love of making “blockbuster deals” and getting his name in the paper is what got them into this mess in the first place. Oh and the fact he doesn’t get his mail out in time. Remember that the fans booed team president John McDonough when they fired him…morons.

"There is no pressure now," Bowman said. "We don't have to make a move to affect our team for this season. We may choose to as we look down the road."

No pressure, eh? What happens if this team is slow out of the gate, Stan? You don’t think there’d be a little pressure from all of those fickle fans packing in the United Center night after night? Are you familiar with Chicago’s fan-base? If there is pressure on ANY franchise in the league this year, it’s Chicago.

This is it for them, it’s going to be fun to watch them burn.

There goes half my respect for Toledo...

From the Detroit Examiner:

The Toledo Walleye announced this morning that an affiliation agreement has been sealed with the Chicago Blackhawks in the National Hockey League.

Um...what? Is this some kind of joke that Chicago is trying to play on Detroit? Because if it is, I sure ain't laughing. I'd like my Red Wings to stay as far away from your Blackhawks as possible, please.

The announcement comes just two days after their affiliation with the Detroit Red Wings, a fellow "Original Six" and Central Division rival, was confirmed. Similar to the agreement with the Red Wings, the Blackhawks will send prospects and lower-level players to the Walleye from time to time. The Walleye will work with the Rockford IceHogs, Chicago's American Hockey League affiliate to groom players for the NHL.

Beat them up, boys. Beat them all up. Hope you weren't looking for the starting goaltender job, I hear that Jordan Pearce has a bit of a meanstreak.

I'm going to have a lot of hockey to follow on top of the Wings this year. The Grand Rapids Griffins, Tatar in Plymouth, and the great Chicago-Detroit experiment in Toledo.

Anger on a Tuesday in August

They say that hate is like a disease. Well, thanks to the Chief over at Abel to Yzerman, it is flowing through my veins this morning. Because of the Chief’s little ditty, I may be angry all day, all off-season, all regular season, until the Cup is hoisted by the Perfect Human again.

Chief takes a stroll down Painful Memory Lane…ones of losses to Avs in ’96, the Ducks in ’07, and this year’s fiasco to Pittsburgh. Chief wants the Wings to use these memories as motivation for the team. All I can think about is how angry I was at the time….and actually still am.

So while news is slow, and my writing has been pretty devoid of opinion for some time, I thought I would do a little venting while we wait patiently for Kenny to fill in our roster. Here’s a visual trip down some of the lasting images from down Rivalry Boulevard…


Do you remember the Avalanche? Do you REALLY remember what it was like and the hatred shared between these two teams? Forsberg, Foote, Krupp, Deadmarsh, Roy, and of course, Lemieux. The Avalanche franchise has become a complete joke over the years but at the time this photo was taken, I doubt there were two teams in ALL of sports that hated each other more than these two. We went on to win 4 Cups in 12 years. The team that Lindros built finished at the bottom of the Western Conference this past year. Check.Mate.


Take a good, long look at this photo. Notice the position of Holmer’s helmet and Pronger’s elbows. Checkout where Neideramayer’s follow through took him. This had to be one of the single most dirty hits perpetrated by any TWO players at ONE time. Those cement heads went on to win this series and hoist the Cup after dispatching yet another soft Eastern Conference team in the Finals. Now, Pronger is gone, but the rivalry with the Ducks is still going strong. With punks like Getzlaf and Perry still around to cheap shot and chirp all game, you can bet this one is going to around for a while.



How about this shot from Game 2 of this years’ Finals? This was “the message that wasn’t”. After neutering his boyfriend for 2 straight games, Malkin decides to jump Zetterberg for absolutely no reason in the dying moments of a Wings victory. Malkin threw punches wildly without a single one landing solidly. Coach Dan Bylsma had already come to grips with the impending suspension, un-knowing that Gary and his pet, Collie Campbell, already rescinded the suspension probably before Malkin was courted off the ice. We all know what happened. Four Games in five nights and Gary finally got what he wanted. Oh, and Malkin scored in that game he had no business playing in by the way.



Chicago: ‘Nuff said.

Get angry, Wings fans. Stay angry. Bask in it. It’s a long road back to holding what is rightfully ours. Babcock will crack the whip and right the ship. Datsyuk and Zetterberg are going to have big years. Lidstrom and Rafalski are angry. Osgood will be focused all season. Oh, and we’ll have 6’5 Johnny Ericsson and every opposition’s Nightmare wearing #43 all season.

And the Hits keep on Comin'

From Neil Hayes of the Chicago Times and my reactions…

“Turns out Marian Hossa has a bum shoulder. Wasn't Martin Havlat's history of shoulder injuries a big reason why the Blackhawks inked Hossa instead?”

No, Neil. Hossa was signed to spite Detroit and Havlat was ousted because Kronwall made him “eat his lunch”. The whole injury bug trade-off just happens to be a pleasant surprise (for us Detroit fans).

“But why try to conceal something that is bound to leak out eventually? If the Hawks were aware of the injury, which they claim they were, why not get in front of the story rather than wait for it to appear on the front pages of sports sections?”

That’s an easy one, Neil. Because they didn’t know. They didn’t have the first damn clue. And do you know why, Neil? Because Ritch Winter and Marian Hossa put a lid on it so tight that Dale Tallon and his pudgy, money-grubbing little fingers could never have pulled that intel out of him. And why not? You think Winter and Hossa are stupid enough to believe that admitting to a bum shoulder prior to contract-signing would add to his value? Tallon meanwhile was so distracted with getting another “blockbuster” deal done, and one that was a “stick it to the Wings” deal, who could blame him for not doing anything important, like looking at medical records.

“Now this. If the Hawks knew about Hossa's injury, isn't it risky bordering on reckless to sign him to a $62.8 million deal without so much as a physical?”

Like I said, they were in too much of a hurry to get the deal done. Risky? Absolutely. Reckless? Dale Tallon wasn’t exactly worried about his job security, rumor has it he lost his job late in the season when he tried to trade then starter Nikolai Khabiboulin to Washington for Michael Nylander. John McDonough vetoed the deal and was waiting for an excuse to fire him ever since.

“Recent news seems symptomatic of a sense of urgency bordering on desperation that has gripped the franchise since the season-ending loss in Detroit. It's troubling. When organizations begin to cannibalize themselves, diners can become dinner and the feel-good vibe around a team evaporates.”

Good god. This team is already trying to come to grips with its impending doom. Diners becoming dinner? Is this some sort of metaphor for all of those bandwagon Bears fans that just want another reason to get drunk in public and yell obscenities? Go to a Fire game, no one will even notice. At least Hayes is taking into account how fickle and fragile the attention span of Hawks fans truly is.

“But there's a fine line between demanding excellence and firing a loyal employee who deserves much of the credit -- more than McDonough, in fact -- for building a roster worthy of a Stanley Cup contender over an oversight that didn't cost more than a couple dollars.”

And there goes the last remaining strand of credibility, Neil. McDonough isn’t the reason Chicago will implode in a year or less. It will implode because of Dale Tallon’s poor decision making and disregard for cap management, and any speculation to suggest otherwise is yet another shining example of the ignorance of the Chicago fanbase.

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At least when there’s NO news coming out of Detroit’s camp, we have such an abundance of BAD news coming out of Chicago. That’ll do…for now.

Not a good way to start Friday...

From The Triple Deke...

"Couldn't even revert back to his old #18. Had to go with #81 in red.
Rubbing
it in a little?"

Too bad that ugly jersey is the last thing you're going to have the chance to lift in front of that crowd...seeing as you'll never win a Cup. Ever.

I hate Chicago.

A look at the first four games…

On the heels of the NHL Regular Season Schedule being published, I thought that the first four contests for the Red Wings was worth talking about. What do you guys think?

Fri Oct 2, 2009

Detroit Red Wings

At…(Stockholm)

St. Louis Blues

Yeah ok, call St. Louis the home team all that you want…we wouldn’t want their lone Swede, Patrick Berglund to feel neglected, but we all know who the crowd will be going for in this one. I can’t wait to get over there. Apparently the flight from Amsterdam will have free booze. That should make the time go by a little quicker. How perfect is it that the Wings are playing in a building in Sweden that bares the same name as The Big Rig? I’ll bet Conklin gets the start in one of these games for the Blues.

Sat Oct 3, 2009

St. Louis Blues

At…(Stockholm)

Detroit Red Wings

Did I mention that I’m going to both of these games in Stockholm? Don’t know if they’re going to top the Winter Classic at Wrigley last year, but should be a great experience for someone like me who has never even been to Mexico. I’m wondering what Uncle Mike has in store for the line-up. Now that Hossa’s gone, I’m putting my money on a re-union of Monty Babcock’s Flying Circus (Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Holmstrom). Z’s going to have a big year production-wise now that he’s back with Pav: mark my words.

Thu Oct 8, 2009

Chicago Black Hawks

At…

Detroit Red Wings

Does anyone know when we’re raising the ‘2008-2009 Central Division & Western Conference Champion’ banners into the rafters? This might be a good night to do so. Ericsson, Kronwall, Stuart, you have one job to do: win or lose, catch Mr. Hossa with his head down…make him pay. I think the WCF last season (as brief as it was) effectively put the fuel back into the fire of this rivalry. The idiots in Chicago have been hating the Wings for years but Detroit fans never really put much thought into it after years upon years of domination. Bring your hate, Detroit fans and don’t take it easy on anyone sporting Chicago gear.

Note: So on Saturday, the Wings will be playing St. Louis in Stockholm and on Thursday, they are playing Chicago in Detroit (apparently Gary wasn’t worried about our Swedes spending much time in their native land). That means if they leave on Sunday, they really will have only 3 days (Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday) to rest up and get that jet-lag out of their system. Yeah yeah, I know Chicago is on the same schedule, but they’re playing the Florida-friggin’ Panthers in Helsinki, Finland. Apparently Florida is one of the marquee teams we want to show to rest of the world. Why not just have them play Leino’s old team?

Sat Oct 10, 2009

Washingon Capitals

At…

Detroit Red Wings

Two days after the Chicago game, Ovi-wan-kenobi and his faux hawked Norris wannabe come strolling into town. Detroit can give their ‘boo’ muscles a rest for this one, since Sergei decided to go back to Russia. Last year, the Wings lost their only match to the Caps 4-2 off of a pair of Ovechkin goals. But…we did get to see Dr. eVille Leino score a highlight reel goal about 45 seconds into his NHL on-ice debut.

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All-in-all, it’s looking like a pretty exciting start to the season. Bettman isn’t going to make it easy on us right from the start. (You’re surprised?) Our first four games are in 8 eight days spread across two continents against three play-off teams, one of which made it to the Conference Finals. A slow start to the season can sometimes be the kiss of death so let’s hope the heartbreak from last season is this year’s motivation.

Please don’t make us wait until the post-season to show us some consistency. Last year was very frustrating at times. Babcock did a masterful job of not cracking the whip too hard when his team failed to play up to its potential, but more on that later.

Only two and a half months away. We’ll look ahead to some other intriguing games soon.

And on the menu for the Home Opener? Hate.

Did you see who the Wings play in their home opener this year? That’s right, our little brothers from the Windy City. And guess what? I want blood. In the member’s blog at Kukla’s Korner, I described how it was time for Wings fans to start giving the hate back to Chicago…hey Marian, do you think that’s going to be a challenge anymore?

Now many Wings fans had already come to grips with the fact Hossa was a one year rental long before July 1st rolled around this year. We even went so far as to wish him well on whatever path that lead him out of Detroit. But that all changed for me when that path happened to be 300 miles away down I-94 West.

I was at peace with you leaving, Hossa…I WAS at peace. I appreciated the 40 goal season, the passion you showed at times, and I was willing to forgive your dismal statistics in the playoffs. I could see the pain in your eyes shaking hands to congratulate with your former team as yet another Stanley Cup runner-up. Better get used to shaking hands to say ‘congrats’ to your former team, Marian. Get friggin’ used to it!
There are currently two teams that Marian could have chosen that would spark such a change in heart. And those two teams are Chicago and Anaheim. Anaheim has been a thorn in Detroit’s side for years now and, to be honest, they were the reason we lost the Cup this year. Their “they can’t call them all” style of thuggish play coupled with their ridiculous amounts of whining have planted the seed of hate, but this post isn’t about the franchise that Emilio(!) built…

Let’s put it right out there, Marian. You failed us. We didn’t fail you. We had half of our team banged up, we had survived the previous rounds despite you only producing in one game per series, but we needed you in the Finals. Seven games against your former club and you couldn’t even score one freakin’ goal. None.

And your way of saying ‘thanks’ for us providing you with a golden opportunity to win the Cup? You sign with our biggest rival…long-term and at a discount from what other clubs must have offered. I don’t wish you well anymore, Marian. I am going to ‘boo’ and ‘boo’ loudly when you take your first step out onto the ice. Guess what? You deserve it. You jumped ship to go to a rival after a heartbreaking loss in the Stanley Cup final…and you’ve done it for two seasons in a row. I think that makes you a 1st Class A$$hole.

Pittsburgh fans might call me a hypocrite. We razzed them all last season about their sour grapes for Hossa leaving. But had he gone to the Flyers? Oh boy, all of those teenagers in Pittsburgh would have stayed home from summer school just to cry and pout. The mothers in Pittsburgh would have wept and many of basements would have been ravaged.

(Former) GM Dale Tallon said that Hossa went to Chicago because he wanted to win. Explain to me how leaving the greatest organ-i-zation in sports who has won more Cups in the past 12 years is a move of someone who “wants to win”? Oh, right…there’s all those kids in Chicago that will be great for years.

Is that the pitch that Mr. Tallon gave you, Hossa? Well guess what, turns out the Mr. Tallon was an idiot and got himself fired as a GM less than a month after signing you. Those kids in Chicago? Well now, because of you (and some other idiotic signings and mis-filings), this team is going to implode…just you watch. I wonder what you’re going to think of the remaining 11 years of your contract with the massive salary dump at the end of next season.

This time last year? I was already ordering your player shirt (at least I had the sense not to buy the jersey). And now? I hope that Kronwall does this to you:

So I want you all to hate him with me. Forget about the 40 goals, forget about the passion he showed (at times), and forget about the pain he felt losing again. Remember that he’s a Hawk now, he is the enemy.

Hossa is one of them now. I will hate him as long as he wears that jersey.