Marian Hossa may be one of the best free agents signed in the entire Chicago sports landscape history. Hossa would be the final piece of the Blackhawks recent dynasty that captured three Stanley Cups. Last Sunday, the Blackhawks organization retired Hossa’s number, 81, and raised it into the rafters at the United Center. Hossa becomes only the 8th player in Blackhawks history to have his number retired. Technically it’s only the 7th number retired by the team. Two players wore the number 3, Pierre Pilote, and Keith Magnuson. The other greats who wore the Indian-head sweater who have their numbers retired, feature goalies (#1) Glen Hall, (#35) Tony Esposito. The other greats on this list feature include (#9) Bobby Hull, (#18) Denis Savard, and (#21) Stan Mikita. You would think the Blackhawks would have had more numbers retired for being around for 100 years. Hossa made an instant impact for probably the best decade of Blackhawks’ hockey in their franchise history ever. You have to believe more players to come from that main core who skated in all three cup finals, will have their numbers hung up in the rafters as well.

Marian Hossa arrived in Chicago for the 2009-10 season after his lone season in Detroit. Hossa brought plenty of playoff experience to a younger team that made some noise in the playoffs a year before his arrival. Adding a veteran all-star that can control the puck and score goals with up and coming stars like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews was genius-like. The Blackhawks brass over the years do not check all the boxes in that category. Hossa would score 24 goals and dish out 27 assists in his first year wearing the Indian head sweater. Hossa did not need to be the man. The young guys watched and learned how Hossa prepared himself for the grind of hockey season and still was able to be counter-productive in the playoffs. Hossa was one of the guys Kane watched and admired growing up in Buffalo as a young fan of the game. The Blackhawks added a player that was well-rounded on both sides of the ice: offensive and defensive. Hossa would be able to poke the puck away from the opposition and skate down the ice controlling the puck with defenders practically draped on him and still be able to get the biscuit in the basket.

Marion Hossa, a native out of Czechoslovakia, was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame last November. In 19 seasons, Hossa played 8 with the Blackhawks as he was drafted by the Ottawa Senators in 1997, 12th overall. Hossa would wear the Atlanta Thrashers jersey when hockey was in hot-lanta. Hossa then skated with the Penguins and the Red Wings. Hossa is the only player to play in three straight Stanley Cups wearing a different uniform each of those seasons. Before arriving in Chicago, Hossa was on the losing end of a Penguins’ Stanley Cup final as he also had the same outcome in Detroit. Hossa has played in 5 Stanley Cup finals where he has a 3-2 edge on the winning side. Hossa was 5 time All-star in his NHL career. Hossa played in 1,309 regular season games in his career as tallied up 525 goals while dishing out 609 assists which adds up to 1,134 career points. That’s not counting the 205 playoff games the right winger skated in. Hossa had 52 career playoff goals with 97 assists in the post-season. Hossa tallied 30 goals in a season in 8 of those 19 seasons he played in. Hossa reached the 40 goals mark in 3 NHL seasons. In a Blackhawks uniform he played in 534 games as he scored 186 goals which is good for number 27th all-time in team history. Hossa had 229 assists as he racked up 415 points. It was not the numbers Hossa put up that has his jersey up high in the rafters. It was the intangibles that he brought to the ice every night. The preparation, the little things that helped this team win three cups. Hossa’s presence gave teams another superstar to worry about on the ice. Hossa was a team guy which other players admired and it caught on in the locker room. The Blackhawks played like a well-oiled machine during that dynasty.

Marion Hossa may have had a few more years in him, but it was a progressive skin discoloration that made him hang up the skates for good after the 2016-17 season. It seemed like after that the Blackhawks have been sliding down the big slide in that game of Chutes and Ladders and finding themselves going about things their old ways. The old ways where they were as low as the LA Clippers in sports franchises out of the 4 main sports that were poorly ran by their owner ships. Right now the Blackhawks need stories like this as they were involved with the cover up of a sexual predator that walked free in the organization as they turned a blind eye on things and the team is still trying to dig themselves out of that gigantic hole. I remember other free agents that helped their team get over the humps in the Chicago sports landscape. Even though the Bulls could have won without him, I think Dennis Rodman helped the Bulls win that second three-peat with his rebounding and defense doing the little things. Blackhawks probably could have won a cup without Hossa. Maybe not though. The Cubs’ Jon Lester was a big free agent getting other players to town and his pitching help beat the goat curse in 2016 winning it all. Then in 2005, White Sox signed A.J Pierzynski, another guy that did the dirty work like Rodman and Hossa. White Sox would go on to win the World Series in his first season in a White Sox uniform. The number 81 fans are more accustomed to seeing a football jersey being retired. Players in all sports are picking higher numbers because they don’t really have any history yet. Hossa will be the only player ever to wear number 81 in the Blackhawks franchise, as he was the first and last. We will have to get used to it because I’m sure number 88 will be retired as soon as Patrick Kane hangs up his skates. Hossa is 43 years old and he has his own book out that could be an interesting read. Hossa might have a job with the Blackhawks at some point as talks are rumored to be kicking the tires around on the idea. Blackhawks would eventually lose the game to the visiting Penguins on Sunday. However, the video montage of Marion Hossa and all the former players in town to see 81 get his number raised into rafters was exciting and brought back many great memories. Well deserved. At least one night the United Center was not haunted by dark clouds hovering over the stadium that follow this franchise on a daily basis.