Hossa, a native of Stara Lubovna, Slovakia, who was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020, did more than win the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. He also made history, becoming the first NHL player to appear in the Stanley Cup Final three straight seasons with three different teams. Hossa lost in the Final in 2008 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and in 2009 with the Detroit Red Wings.
Selected by the Ottawa Senators with the No. 12 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft, Hossa made his League debut Oct. 1, 1997, against the Montreal Canadiens. He had one assist in seven games before being assigned to Portland of the Western Hockey League, where he won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie (45 goals, 40 assists, 85 points in 53 games) and helped Portland win the 1998 Memorial Cup.
Hossa, a native of Stara Lubovna, Slovakia, did more than win the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. He also made history, becoming the first NHL player to appear in the Stanley Cup Final three straight seasons with three different teams. Hossa lost in the Final in 2008 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and in 2009 with the Detroit Red Wings.
Selected by the Ottawa Senators with the No. 12 pick in the 1997 NHL Draft, Hossa made his League debut Oct. 1, 1997, against the Montreal Canadiens. He had one assist in seven games before being assigned to Portland of the Western Hockey League, where he won the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the league's top rookie (45 goals, 40 assists, 85 points in 53 games) and helped Portland win the 1998 Memorial Cup.
Hossa scored his first NHL goal against the Florida Panthers on Dec. 9, 1998, and was named to the 1998-99 NHL All-Rookie Team. He also was second to Chris Drury in voting for the Calder Trophy, awarded to the League's top rookie, after scoring 15 goals and 30 points. Hossa scored at least 31 goals four times with the Senators, finishing fourth in the NHL with 45 in 2002-03.
Ottawa traded him to the Atlanta Thrashers with Greg DeVries for Dany Heatley on Aug. 23, 2005. Hossa led the NHL with seven shorthanded goals in 2005-06 and had his first 100-point season (43 goals, 57 assists) in 2006-07.
The Thrashers traded Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to the Penguins on Feb. 26, 2008 for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a first-round pick in the 2008 NHL Draft. He scored 12 goals and finished with 26 points in 20 Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2008 to help the Penguins reach the Cup Final.
Hossa signed a one-year contract with the Red Wings as a free agent on July 2, 2008, and scored 40 goals in 2008-09, becoming the eighth NHL player to score 40 goals with three teams. He helped the Red Wings make it to the Cup Final and was named to the NHL Second All-Star Team.
After becoming a free agent, Hossa signed a 12-year contract with the Blackhawks on July 1, 2009, but missed the first 22 games of the season because of injury. He made his Blackhawks debut Nov. 25, 2009, scoring twice against the San Jose Sharks. Hossa shared the NHL lead with five shorthanded goals that season. When Chicago was presented with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the Final, captain Jonathan Toews made the ceremonial first pass of the Cup to Hossa.
Hossa and the Blackhawks returned to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013; he scored seven goals and finished with 16 points in 22 games as Chicago won the title. Two years later, Hossa helped Chicago win its third championship in six seasons, finishing with 17 points (four goals, 13 assists) in 23 games. He scored his 1,000th NHL point against Ottawa on Oct. 30, 2014, and scored his 500th goal on Oct. 18, 2016, against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Although Hossa scored 26 goals in 2016-17, he had to stop playing hockey because of a skin condition. He finished with 1,134 points (525 goals, 609 assists) in 1,309 NHL games during 19 seasons, and made the postseason in 17 of them, scoring 149 points (52 goals, 92 assists) in 205 playoff games. Hossa was voted into the Hall of Fame in 2020, his first year of eligibility.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- WHL West First All-Star Team (1998)
- WHL Rookie of the Year (1998)
- Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team (1998)
- NHL All-Rookie Team (1999)
- NHL Second All-Star Team (2009)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2012)
- Signed as a free agent by Trencin (Slovakia), September 16, 2004.
- Signed as a free agent by Mora (Sweden), November 11, 2004.
- Traded to Atlanta by Ottawa with Greg de Vries for Dany Heatley, August 23, 2005.
- Traded to Pittsburgh by Atlanta with Pascal Dupuis for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and Pittsburgh's 1st round pick (Daulton Leveille) in 2008 NHL Draft, February 26, 2008.
- Signed as a free agent by Detroit, July 2, 2008.
- Signed as a free agent by Chicago, July 1, 2009.
- Traded to Arizona by Chicago with Vinnie Hinostroza, Jordan Oesterle and Chicago's 3rd-round pick in 2019 NHL Draft for Marcus Kruger, Jordan Maletta, Andrew Campbell, Mackenzie Entwistle and Arizona's 5th-round pick in 2019 NHL Draft, July 12, 2018.
