You have to consider the Penguins situation when Hossa made his decision. If they had continued the year with the coach they started it with, chances are that they would have not even made the playoffs. In that case, Hossa's decision would have been golden. But the Pens changed coach which turned the team completely around. So you really can't say he made the wrong choice at the time he made it.
Anyways they managed to pull it out and they won a well deserved Stanley Cup. Thanks to Max Talbot! Congrats to a home town boy!
A couple of things I wish the NHL would change for next years playoffs:
ONE: have the refs call the games the same way as in the regular season. Either that or call the regular season like the playoffs. Anything else makes a total farce of the rules and makes the game as a whole look bad. Considering how much they put the rulebook away, I was afraid of seeing a series or even the cup decided by a delay of game call for the puck being cleared over the glass. And that would have been a huge embarassment.
TWO: let the players shake hands before the media is permitted to start their interviews. Crosby barely had the time to get to shake the hands of one or two players. The handshake is a tradition unique to hockey and it should be upheld and not let to fall into a farce. The captain of the winning team should have been among the first, if not
the first, in line to shake hands, not the last. Whether that was due to Crosby's youth, simple lack of class, which I highly doubt, or because he was held up by the media, it's irrelevant. He should have been in line.
Congratulations to the Penguins. And I'm damn glad I didn't have any money on the series cause I would have lost!
