The Pens lose Marian Hossa

By now, everyone in Pittsburgh Penguins country knows that Marian Hossa signed a one year, $7.4 million deal with the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, the team that beat the Pens in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Pens, and General Manager Ray Shero, offered Hossa a reported seven year dear for 49 million, averaging seven million dollars annually. You can read what you will into this move. Some may believe that Hossa thumbed his nose at the Pens and signed with the enemy. On the other hand, he took a one year deal to try and win a Stanley Cup with the very team that now "owns" the sacred chalice. Some feel he was offered a generous deal by the Pens and a chance to play alongside Sidney Crosby for at least the next five seasons. Many are sure to begrudge Hossa and boo him the first time Detroit plays in Pittsburgh. The irony in all of this is the fact that everyone has their right to do, and feel, the way they wish about this chain of events. Hossa has the right to go wherever he pleased, since he was an unrestricted free agent, and Pens fans have the right to feel angry that he betrayed them and the team.

What we are forgetting is the big picture. Shero is going to find another winger to play on Crosby's line and finish scoring chances. The way this team is constructed, and now that Evgeni Malkin is in the fold, the Pens are going to be contenders for a long time. The core of this team is the youth that was drafted, from goal on out, and that is what is going to allow this team to compete for several years. Losing Hossa is a minor bump in the road. Somewhere out there is a winger who Shero is going to plug in and Crosby is going to make better by his shear presence. Mourn the loss of Hossa, then move on. That is what the Penguins are doing and that is what the fans of the Penguins must do as well.

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