Hossa

DETROIT — Marian Hossa couldn't escape scrutiny last week, even when it seemed absurd to fault him for his decision to join the Red Wings.

Instead of breaking the bank in free agency, Hossa turned down tens of millions of dollars and long-term job security to sign a one-year deal for $7.4 million with the Wings. After losing in six games to the Wings in the Stanley Cup finals as a member of the Penguins, Hossa decided the defending champions gave him his best chance to win a Cup next season.

But some weren't ready to hail Hossa a hero for thinking championship over cha-ching.

Tony Gallagher of the Vancouver Province newspaper criticized Hossa, saying he would "step into Detroit for one fun-filled season, pick up his ring, and then go for the big financial score the following season, when some poor team will lay out a huge wad of cash for some guy who's already invited himself to the championship dance by joining a team that may well have got there whether he'd been involved or not."

Damien Cox of the Toronto Star said joining a loaded team "is the only way to understand the decision . . . to accept a 25 percent discount on his services for one year to go and live in Detroit and play out of crumbling, smelly Joe Louis Arena."

Michael Rushton of the Sports Network wrote that Hossa "managed to slap the faces of both competitiveness and logic with one sweep of the pen."

Hossa's response: "I wanted to have the best chance to win the Stanley Cup. I think the team in Detroit is something special. It wasn't easy, and there were a few (big offers), but I know it's right."

Hossa didn't even demand to be the Wings' highest-paid player. When general manager Ken Holland told Hossa that captain Nicklas Lidstrom had to be No. 1, he said Hossa could call Lidstrom to work something out. But Hossa reportedly told him not to bother.

Wings forward Dan Cleary, a teammate of Hossa in the Swedish Elite League during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, knows something about taking less money to play for the Wings. He signed a five-year, $14-million contract in March instead of testing free agency.

"It's just a matter of buying into the whole mentality," Cleary said. "There's only so much money to go around. If you're willing to take a little less and stay in a great organization — some guys opt to take the money. There's a price for winning and knowing you've got a great chance of winning. We work hard together. I just fell in line. That's all I did."

Hossa, a native of Slovakia, is used to being criticized, though. A lot was expected of him after he was drafted 12th overall by Ottawa in 1997. But he was part of three consecutive first-round exits in the playoffs (1999-2001) and had just one goal and three assists in his first 14 playoff games.

Hossa's stay in Ottawa ended badly, as general manager John Muckler didn't want to pay him on par with other top players in the league. He signed Hossa to a three-year, $18-million deal in 2005, then packaged him with defenseman Greg deVries in a trade with Atlanta for Dany Heatley hours later.

The Thrashers missed the playoffs in 2005-06. The following year, Hossa scored 43 goals and 100 points to lead the Thrashers into the playoffs but had no goals and one assist in a four-game sweep by the Rangers. It was the fifth time Hossa had played for a team that lost in the opening round of the playoffs.

Hossa fared much better in the playoffs with the Penguins, who acquired him in a deal at February's trading deadline. His 26 playoff points (12 goals, 14 assists) in 20 games ranked third in the NHL behind teammate Sidney Crosby and Red Wing Henrik Zetterberg.

Hossa knocked out the Rangers with an overtime goal in Game 5 of the second round of the playoffs and had three goals and four assists in the final four games against the Wings, who beat the Pens in six games.

Cleary said Hossa will fit in well with the Wings. Cleary said he and former Spartan Shawn Horcoff routinely had dinner with the Hossa brothers, Marian and Marcel, when they were playing in the Swedish Elite League.

"He's got great respect for players," Cleary said of Marian Hossa. "I saw that in the four months we were together. He's really humble. He doesn't walk around thinking he's something. He's a humble superstar."