The Chicago Blackhawks will retire Hall of Fame forward Marián Hossa’s No. 81 next season, the team announced Thursday, shortly after he signed a one-day contract to officially retire as a Hawk.
“It’s amazing,” Hossa told the Tribune. “I’m honored and really humbled to be in that company … in the United Center in the rafters.”
Before their 2-0 loss to the the Seattle Kraken on Thursday, the Hawks held a ceremonial contract signing in the United Center atrium.
“To me, the greatest free-agent signing in Chicago sports history, Marian was the franchise’s missing piece,” Hawks CEO Danny Wirtz said in a statement. “Both on and off the ice, he made an indelible mark on his teammates and our organization. … His humble demeanor and vaunted work ethic was everything we could have asked for and more in a superstar when we signed him in 2009. We feel that it’s only fitting that Marian retire as a Blackhawk as he starts a new chapter in his life.”
The last week made for quite the homecoming for Hossa.
On Sunday, he reunited with Jonathan Toews — his teammate on three Stanley Cup winners — for Toews’ 1,000th-game celebration, and they were joined on the ice by Hawks greats, including Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook.
Then came Hossa’s retirement-contract ceremony, but the number retirement was a surprise. He is the only player in franchise history to have worn No. 81.
“I still don’t get it,” Hossa said. “When (Chairman) Rocky (Wirtz) told me the news, I was blown away.
“I was expecting one thing — to sign with the Blackhawks my last contract so I can retire as a Blackhawk. And then when he announced the other news, retiring my number, I was blown away, I was speechless and really thankful, humble. It’s amazing to finish my career like that. It’s something I never thought about.”
During a break in Thursday’s game, the Hossa news was announced via the video board with a graphic of a banner unfurling to reveal his name and number. Hossa told in-game host Genna Rose, “Being here in the United Center next year in the rafters mean so much to me.”
The most recent Hawks to have their sweaters retired were Pierre Pilote and Keith Magnuson, who both wore No. 3, on Nov. 12, 2008. The others include Glenn Hall (1), Bobby Hull (9), Denis Savard (18), Stan Mikita (21) and Tony Esposito (35).
The first-ballot Hall of Famer chatted about the honor and other topics with the Tribune.
1. Hossa credits a ‘great environment’ in Chicago.
Hossa’s 525 goals with five teams in 19 NHL seasons rank 35th all time, but his key moments with the Hawks demonstrate the two-way game he became known for.
For example, Hossa prided himself on backchecking, which neutralized Dustin Brown’s attempt at forechecking — leaving Brown flat on his back when the Hawks and the Los Angeles Kings met in Game 1 of the 2014 Western Conference finals.
Hossa’s Hawks tenure started with two goals against the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 25, 2009, but no goal was more important than his overtime winner in Game 5 of the quarterfinal series against the Nashville Predators. The Hawks went on to win the first of three championships in six years.
“My goal was always to play at the best capacity possible, and I know that I had some qualities in me and my game, that’s why I tried to help the team/,” Hossa said. “But I never thought about the Hall of Fame, I never thought about being in the rafters with the great ones playing in the United Center. But I guess I got lucky to play with the great players that I did, I had accomplishments we did with the teams through my career in Chicago.
“They helped me, we helped each other, together we won the championships. So that definitely was a big help why I was (inducted into) the Hall of Fame (in November and) why I’m getting my jersey retired. So I thank the team of people, my players, the coaching staff, because I was lucky to be in a great environment.”
2. Hossa explained how No. 18 became 81.
The winger wore No. 18 for the Ottawa Senators, Atlanta Thrashers and Pittsburgh Penguins, but he switched to 81 for the Detroit Red Wings and Hawks.
“When I started in the National Hockey League as an 18-year-old — that’s why I got 18 — because in Ottawa I had three choices for a number, one of them was 18,” the Stará Ľubovňa, Slovakia, native said. “And I told myself, ‘That could be a cool start.’ ”
“In Detroit, Kirk Maltby had already won four Stanley Cups, so I didn’t even bother to ask him to switch numbers. So I just switched digits and since then I was 81. So good things happened, and 81 was luck for me in Chicago.”
Besides, in Chicago, 18 is most associated with fellow Hall of Famer Denis Savard.
“Exactly,” Hossa said. “So it worked out well.”
If Hossa had continued playing after his July 2018 trade to the Arizona Coyotes, he could have run into a third conflict: No. 81 Phil Kessel, a two-time Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins who finished his career with the Coyotes.
“Good thing when they traded my contract to Arizona I didn’t play for them because Phil would lose his number,” Hossa said with a smile.
3. As much as Hossa helped the Hawks, Pavel Datsyuk influenced him.
Hossa spent only the 2008-09 season with the Red Wings, but it had an undeniable impact on his career.
“Obviously I had the talent to score goals, but then I learned — especially from Detroit, learning from Pavel Datsyuk so much — that helped me to become way better a two-way player at stealing pucks and help the team that way,” Hossa said.
Like Hossa, Datsyuk clearly was no slouch on offense, so if he could pay attention to defense and his play away from the puck, Hossa could too.
“Datsyuk, he was like (the) magic man,” Hossa said. “Nobody’s got hands like Datsyuk. (Patrick Kane) got really close.
“But Pavel, with the body language on the ice and the style (he had), he could make the moves.
“But what I tried to learn from him was backchecking ability, lifting the pucks from behind, catching guys unexpected, stealing the pucks.”
Datsyuk helped Hossa work on his skills after practice.
“Then I started learning slowly how to take the pucks from him, and that helped me be better in the games,” Hossa said. “So when I came to Chicago I was prepared to be better in that area, and I was glad Jonny (Toews) or Kaner could see me doing that and grab something out of it and use it in their games.”
4. One of Chicago’s biggest draws for Hossa was … Michael Jordan?
The Hawks being an Original Six franchise appealed to Hossa when he was a free agent in summer 2009 — and a 12-year, $63 million deal didn’t hurt — but Chicago’s reputation as a big sports town was a bonus.
“I knew when I was coming here, when I was young kid I used to admire Michael Jordan because of what he did,” Hossa said of the Chicago Bulls’ six-time NBA champion. “I wasn’t even a basketball fan, but he sucked me in because he was Michael Jordan, and I became a basketball fan because of him.
Toni Kukoč, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman made the game fun to watch, he said, and helped familiarize him with Chicago.
“There’s so much potential in the city to choose different sports, and I’m glad in 2010 we won and brought the Cup back to the city,” he said.
5. The Hawks and Hossa are hashing out a role for him — if they can pull him away from his food business.
“I’m talking with the Blackhawks (about) certain possibilities,” Hossa told the Tribune. “We’re having deeper and deeper conversations. I would like to be involved for the future and help them in some way.”
Hossa stepped away from the game after the 2016-17 season because of eczema, a skin disorder, but he hasn’t been idle.
He runs a food supplier in Slovakia called Hossa Family that employs 250 people and has a fleet of 100 vehicles.
“We’ve got pasta, dumplings, pierogies and that type of thing,” Hossa said. “Plus if you’ve own a restaurant, we can supply you with different types of meat, fish and things like that. We can deliver to you.”
It started in 2008 as a 2008 investment in his cousin’s business.
“My focus was strictly on hockey. … I told him ‘I trust you, I don’t want to do anything with this business,’ ” he said.
But the business wasn’t working out.
After hockey, “I got involved way more, I started making changes,” Hossa said.
“I bought him out, and after I became the full owner of the company and make some changes, hire the right people,” he said. “We try to grow it.”
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