FanHouse Marianhossa

SAN JOSE -- As if Wednesday night's matchup against the Western Conference's two top teams didn't have enough appeal, throw Marian Hossa into the mix for one heck of a showdown between star-studded top lines.

Hossa, Chicago's top offseason acquisition, hasn't played this season because of a shoulder injury, but tonight at HP Pavilion, he'll be joining the Blackhawks' great young players Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. San Jose, the NHL's best team to date, counters with the goal-happy line of Dany Heatley, Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

Whew. What a way to step onto the ice for the first time with a new team.

What has been a bizarre offseason in Chicago, complete with lost mail and unexpected general manager changes, has turned downright disappointing if you're a Blackhawks fan.

Word surfaced earlier this week that newly-acquired forward Marian Hossa was fighting a shoulder injury that could require surgery, and ultimately keep him out of the lineup until December. The team announced on Thursday that Hossa will in fact be going under the knife to repair a small tear in his rotator cuff. Estimated recovery time? Four months.

Dale Tallon made a tremendous blunder this offseason when the qualifying offers for Cam Barker, Kris Versteeg and the team's other restricted free agents didn't get sent out in time. Tallon admitted it was his responsibility, admitted he screwed up, and in the end, worked out contract extensions with the key players (Barker, Versteeg), assuring that they wouldn't hit the open market as unrestricted free agents, free to sign with the highest bidder with no compensation coming back to Chicago.

In the end, it appears that blunder cost him his job, as reports out of Chicago early Tuesday morning indicated that Tallon was removed from his position, and replaced by Stan Bowman.

It's been a one-way street out of Detroit this offseason, as the Red Wings have watched Marian Hossa, Mikael Samuelsson, Ty Conklin and Tomas Kopecky sign with rival teams in the Western Conference, while Jiri Hudler attempts to make a jump to the KHL (even though the NHL isn't all that happy about it). Such losses would be a sizable blow to most teams, but the Red Wings aren't like most teams.

While it's true they lost some talent and production, and haven't added anything of consequence in the early stages of the offseason, it still shouldn't put much of a dent in the Red Wings' Stanley Cup chances for 2009-10.

Let's take a look at what Detroit is really losing, and what it has coming up through the Grand Rapids pipeline.

The Philadelphia Flyers raised quite a few eyebrows at the NHL draft when they acquired defenseman Chris Pronger from the Anaheim Ducks. It was a bold move, and one that solidified the Flyers as a contender for the Stanley Cup this season. The concern was that Philadelphia traded away what amounted to three consecutive first-round picks and Joffrey Lupul, for what appeared to be one year of a soon-to-be 35-year-old Pronger.

On Tuesday, the Flyers raised a few more eyebrows when they locked up Pronger to a seven-year contract extension that will reportedly pay him close to $35 million. The key phrases to repeat are "35-year-old" and "seven years."

The Minnesota Wild had quite the busy day in free agency on Wednesday, signing shot-blocker Greg Zanon from the Nashville Predators, and swapping one oft-injured, yet supremely talented forward (Marian Gaborik) for another oft-injured, yet supremely talented forward (Martin Havlat). There was also a report from Michael Russo of the Star Tribune that the team was working on a deal with Saku Koivu.

Havlat, 28, signed a six-year, $30 million deal in Minnesota late Wednesday night, and followed it up by voicing his displeasure with the negotiating process in Chicago ... via Twitter.

For the second year in a row Marian Hossa has left the Stanley Cup runner-up in free agency. Unlike a year ago when he signed a one-year deal with the Red Wings, multiple media outlets are reporting on Wednesday that Hossa has signed a long-term, 12-year deal with the Chicago Blackhawks. The contract reportedly carries a cap hit of just over $5 million per season.

Let the free agent frenzy begin! Sort of. There are reports surfacing out of Russia that KHL clubs Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Bary's Astana are interested in signing Pittsburgh Penguins free agents Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan.

Any truth to the rumors? Not if you ask their agent, Allan Walsh, who denied the reports via his twitter feed (technology ... amazing).

Because the NFL rules the sports landscape in North America, it shouldn't be a surprise that Bill Cowher, former head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 years, has worked his way into the storyline of the NHL's Eastern Conference final between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes.

Prior to the start of the series, there was some debate as to Cowher's rooting interest for the series, seeing as how he not only coached in Pittsburgh for a decade-and-a-half, but because he was born and raised in Pittsburgh, and now currently lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. Prior to Tuesday's Game 4, Cowher will be sounding the Hurricanes' pre-game warning siren, and, as far as many people in the steel city are concerned, turning his back on Pittsburgh.

Following Niklas Kronwall's hit on Martin Havlat Friday night, there's been plenty of discussion about the officiating in the Western Conference final. Actually, there's always a lot of discussion about officiating in the NHL, and following Detroit's 6-1 dismantling of Chicago on Sunday afternoon, Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville sounded off, blaming the referees for ruining a good hockey game. Seriously.

That sound you're hearing is Red Wings fans laughing out loud.