[News] Hossa won't play 2017/18 due to side effects of skin condition meds

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

That rule needs to be changed. If a player says he can't play anymore he is retired.

Even if he can't play because s he's injured?

That is senseless.

He's not saying he can't play. He's saying he's injured and can't play.

Apples and oranges.

Basically you are saying that if a player gets a career ending injury, he does't get paid and the team get's penalized.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm not so sure about that because he supposedly played with the condition and it magically got unbearable when his salary dropped to only $1 million/season. The reality is that when he signed that deal in 2009 he never intended to play the last 4 seasons at a measly $1 million/season. This condition was a convenient way to help the team escape cap penalties. Make no mistake he would have played last season if his contract paid him $4 million as he was still a 25 goal and solid all around player. That contract basically caused him to retire early while he could still play which is a shame.

Like most injuries and sicknesses, they get progressively worse over time.

Since the NHL doctors have confirmed this, it hard to figure otherwise.

[Jimdon]

Just pure curiosity because I'm not great at looking up these kind of stats, how many players in the years where these back sliding contracts were allowed have played out the final years that paid them next to nothing comparatively?

[jlh2640]

I have no doubt he has a legit medical issue, however if he was in the prime of his career while his contract was paying him more, he would find a way to play through it

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by jlh2640

I have no doubt he has a legit medical issue, however if he was in the prime of his career while his contract was paying him more, he would find a way to play through it

Why? He gets paid while on LTIR

So there’s no financial benefit to playing vs not playing

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Even if he can't play because s he's injured?

That is senseless.

He's not saying he can't play. He's saying he's injured and can't play.

Apples and oranges.

Basically you are saying that if a player gets a career ending injury, he does't get paid and the team get's penalized.

I am saying it because it is obvious he is not playing due to his own choice, not because he can't. He has had this condition for years and all of the sudden at the end of a front loaded contract where he is only making 1M/yr it is suddenly a problem? I call B.S. It is clear that he is not retiring so the Hawks can not get dinged with the cap hit which any way you cut it is cap circumvention. He didn't suddenly experience a career ending concussion or injury, he just doesn't want to go through some discomfort for a measly 1M/yr.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

Like most injuries and sicknesses, they get progressively worse over time.

Since the NHL doctors have confirmed this, it hard to figure otherwise.

They confirmed he has the condition, that is all. Show me medical evidence his condition has gotten worse.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Which, of course, is why the NHL's own medical staff have confirmed that the illness is genuine and he is unable to play. Because Hossa has a mind control ray and stuff.

Ok, but if Hossa had been checked out by NHL medical staff 4 years ago would they have come to the same conclusion even if he wanted to still play? I would bet the farm they would have. No one is questioning if he has it, the question is if he has always had it and has now decided that once his yearly salary has dropped he can't play with it any more how is that not actually retiring? This is not a concussion he may eventually recover from or other injury, he is not going to play again so why can the Hawks put him on LTIR to circumvent the cap?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Which, of course, is why the NHL's own medical staff have confirmed that the illness is genuine and he is unable to play. Because Hossa has a mind control ray and stuff.

First of all stop saying "illness". It's a skin condition. It's likely similar to eczema which is something thousands of people live with every day. Any doctor can observe a rash and say "yes he's got a skin condition" the grey area is if this skin condition really prohibits him from playing and a doctor probably can't come to that conclusion properly as all he can form as a conclusion is that "yes it could be uncomfortable". All I can say is in a world where a guy like Theo Fleury can play with Crohn's disease, Bryan Bickel with MS, a few with cancer, diabetes, it's very dubious that a skin condition could be too difficult to play through. The fact he decided it was too difficult to play through when his salary dropped to $1 million is also very dubious. I get that a lot of you like the player and think he's above this but like I said before when he signed this contract in the beginning he never planned on playing after this contract dropped to $1 million and he and the Hawks had plenty of time to plan for this. Still a great player and a great career but it's a just a shame about the tainted ending.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I am saying it because it is obvious he is not playing due to his own choice, not because he can't. He has had this condition for years and all of the sudden at the end of a front loaded contract where he is only making 1M/yr it is suddenly a problem? I call B.S. It is clear that he is not retiring so the Hawks can not get dinged with the cap hit which any way you cut it is cap circumvention. He didn't suddenly experience a career ending concussion or injury, he just doesn't want to go through some discomfort for a measly 1M/yr.

That's far from obvious.

Like most medical conditions, they worsen over time.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

They confirmed he has the condition, that is all. Show me medical evidence his condition has gotten worse.

I don't have access to his medical records.

But Hossa has indicated that the skin condition is "progressive", which means it worsens over time.

And one of the big problems is the side effects of the medicine used to treat the condition.

And if he doesn't wear his hockey equipment, it seems he doesn't get flare ups, and doesn't need the medicine, so no side effects.

[Lumby Lager]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

First of all stop saying "illness". It's a skin condition. It's likely similar to eczema which is something thousands of people live with every day. Any doctor can observe a rash and say "yes he's got a skin condition" the grey area is if this skin condition really prohibits him from playing and a doctor probably can't come to that conclusion properly as all he can form as a conclusion is that "yes it could be uncomfortable". All I can say is in a world where a guy like Theo Fleury can play with Crohn's disease, Bryan Bickel with MS, a few with cancer, diabetes, it's very dubious that a skin condition could be too difficult to play through. The fact he decided it was too difficult to play through when his salary dropped to $1 million is also very dubious. I get that a lot of you like the player and think he's above this but like I said before when he signed this contract in the beginning he never planned on playing after this contract dropped to $1 million and he and the Hawks had plenty of time to plan for this. Still a great player and a great career but it's a just a shame about the tainted ending.

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/illness


A skin condition is a disease and an illness. Just because something is common it does not make that specific disease something else it is still an illness.

[Sylvanfan]

Changing the rules now would be too late. These excessively long back loaded contracts don't exist anymore, or at least they are not the cheat they once we're. Teams are not giving 32 year Olds an 8 year extension. They didn't bat an eye at giving a 28 year old a 12 year deal with 3 million paid in the last 3 years.

[FurnaceFace]

Found an interesting article from last summer. You can argue this quote is from a team doctor but there are other comments from other doctors in the article too and a couple of comments from ther players who had similar/same issues. The decreasing effectiveness comment was of interest.

Team physician Michael Terry said in a statement: "Marian has been dealing with the effects of a progressive skin disorder that is becoming more and more difficult to treat and control with conventional medications while he plays hockey. Because of the dramatic nature of the medications required and their decreasing effectiveness, we strongly support his decision not to play during the 2017-18 season."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports...621-story.html

[Party Elephant]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Teams are not giving 32 year Olds an 8 year extension.

Brent Burns begs to differ.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Party Elephant

Brent Burns begs to differ.

True but Burns is still due 5 million a year in the last two years of the deal. It's not quite as egregious as paying him 60 million in the first 5 years and than 4 over the last 3 to get the overall number down.

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

The point was if he was making 100 million, and retired for injury he still gets paid the 100 million

Hossa making 1 million vs 4 million has no effect on the fact he gets his full pay either way when on LTIR

I believe EE's point is that if Hossa couldn't get on LTIR last season, he would have officially retired rather than put his body through another NHL season for 1 million a year. If that were the case, the Blackhawks would have stopped paying him and been hit with the recapture penalty.

But because the NHL has ruled Hossa can get on LTIR, there is no incentive for him to officially retire. He can be effectively retired and still get paid $1 million per year and the Blackhawks can still use the LTIR exemption to exceed the salary cap.

[dissentowner]

Can't wait until we here how Luongo has developed something like chronic diarrhea so he can sit on LTIR with no cap implications.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Can't wait until we here how Luongo has developed something like chronic diarrhea so he can sit on LTIR with no cap implications.

The thing is hes still playing and playing well on a team that isnt up against the cap.

Florida is not Chicago.

[Roof-Daddy]

Next lock out will probably see the last few massively front loaded contracts finally disappear due to another round of compliance buy outs.

Just a guess but that's what I see happening in two more seasons. Contracts of Luongo, Weber, Suter, Parise and this Hossa contract will probably all disappear. Can't think of any others left over.