news broke today that the chicago blackhawks had snagged winger marian hossa to a $68.2 million deal. not too shabby, you might say - but still just a fraction of the money that sluggers like mark teixeira are getting.
but wait... there's more.
this deal keeps hossa with the hawks for - count 'em - 12 years. 12 years. one dozen. double-digits. eleven more than one. no matter how you put, that's a long ass time.
okay, this guy is clearly a great player. he's been successful in every city he's played in, and he helped detroit to another stanley cup finals run in 2008-09. but he's 30 years old. how can a team bank on someone being effective until the age of 42? we're not talking about a low-contact sport like golf where average career spans extend well into middle age. this is a heavy-hitting league, and as a star scorer, hossa takes his fair share of hits every season. he's going to get banged up, and even if he avoids major injuries, it's pretty tough to predict whether he'll be able to maintain his performance levels several years from now.
i get it. chicago is getting close to being a perennial cup contender once again, and it wants star who can get the team over the hump. hossa is likely to do that. the only question is: even if the blackhawks bring home the trophy in the next five years, what's hossa going to do in the seven after that?
12 years. wow.
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