Hossa started playing hockey as a child with three goals in mind: the first goal was to make the men's hockey club in his town, Dukla Trenčin, Slovakia.
"The second goal was play for [the Slovakia men's national hockey] team," said Hossa on the Blackhawks Insider Podcast this week.
The third goal came about after a young Hossa saw a VHS tape at a trading card show he attended.
"There was [a] guy wearing the number 99 playing for Edmonton scoring hat tricks," said Hossa. "I was like, 'What was that league? Who is that guy?' … I traded so many of my cards to get the tape to watch it right away."
With Wayne Gretzky as Hossa's inspiration, following the footsteps of the Great One naturally meant making the NHL and then winning the Stanley Cup. He checked off the first goal when the Ottawa Senators drafted him at 18-year-old 12th overall in the 1997 NHL draft.
The second part - winning a Stanley Cup - proved itself to be much more challenging. He came within spitting distance during his aged 29 and 30 seasons, appearing in back-to-back Cup finals between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings in 2008 and 2009. Hossa played both times for the losing side.
"There was a moment after the second loss [when I heard people say], 'This guy is unlucky, he's never gonna win,'" said Hossa. "You hear these types of words, this type of noise around, and it's either gonna make you or break you."
Hossa tested free agency the next year and found a home with the Blackhawks who possessed a player core as young as they were talented. Surrounded by teammates like Niklas Hjalmarsson, Brent Seabrook and Corey Crawford. Chicago's youthful group energized Hossa, however, two young players stood out among the rest.
"You could tell the potential," said Hossa about Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. "They were stars, and they became superstars. They won lots of games for us. And when we needed to lift at the key moments, those two guys just stepped up when we needed them. At such a young age, that's a special thing to do."
One of his most memorable NHL goals, his OT game winning goal in the first round of the 2010 playoffs against the Nashville Predators in Game 5 sticks out. Hossa's memory of that moment starts nearing the end of the third period. when the Blackhawks were down 4-3. when Kane scored a shorthanded goal to equalize in the final 15 seconds of regulation time.
"I looked at the clock," recalled Hossa, who was serving a five-minute major for boarding. "I was like celebrating, but at the same time I was like praying."
The Blackhawks headed into overtime on fresh ice with four-and-a-half minutes left on the Predators power play.
"I was like, 'please don't score, please don't score," said Hossa. "Those guys just did an unbelievable job killing a whole five-minute penalty."
Hossa hit the ice when the penalty elapsed and saw the Blackhawks had puck possession in the Predator's D-zone:
"I just jumped on [the ice] from the penalty box and I saw we had zone time, so I went straight to the net," said Hossa.
A tripped shot from Chicago defenseman Brent Sopel made Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne drop into the butterfly, opening up the right side of the net in front of Hossa.
"The puck just bounced luckily to me," said Hossa. "All I had to do was travel [the puck] into the half empty net, and that was just the best moment. I never in my career celebrated like that."
