Marián Hossa had already moved on from hockey, and now his contract has too. What does his future hold?

Marián Hossa was recently at the HOSS Sport Center in Trenčín, Slovakia, when a friend asked if he would mind showing some kids how to shoot a puck.

Hossa was initially reluctant. It had been some time since he picked up a hockey stick. There was a good chance his shot might not resemble the one that led to his Hall of Fame career.

“I started laughing and said I haven’t held a stick, and I’m not lying to you, for four years,” Hossa recently said by phone. “So I grabbed the stick because he had a longer stick there and showed them how they’re supposed to put the weight on it and how to release it and then I slowly got into it. I’m like, ‘I miss shooting pucks.’ After I started shooting 20-30 pucks just by myself, I’m like, ‘Hold on a second.’ I started hitting the net really good. I felt like a little kid again. I haven’t done it in so long and someone gave me a stick, so that was a good reminder.”

Hossa still has those moments when he’s reminded of how long it’s been since he stepped away from playing hockey due to a skin condition, like recently, when he was signing hockey memorabilia and was asked to include the date of his last NHL regular-season game on an item.

“It was 4/8/17,” Hossa said. “I’m like, four years ago I played my last game? No way. You don’t think about it, but that’s four years, man. Like, it’s going super-fast, right?”

Hossa has never wavered on his decision to leave behind hockey. He just couldn’t swallow another pill in an attempt to treat his condition. He had too much life ahead of him to risk his health. He hasn’t worn a piece of hockey equipment since April 17, 2017, when his Chicago Blackhawks were eliminated by the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

If Hossa hadn’t won three Stanley Cups or had the long career he had, leaving hockey may have been harder, but he departed the game content.

“Like, I’m surprised I’m not missing it,” Hossa said. “Because I’m away already four years, I kind of got used to life after hockey. And I’ve been pretty fortunate to be busy with things I like to do in my firm (a food company) and sport center and different types of things.

“But definitely, when the hockey wasn’t on TV, I missed watching it. I missed following the Blackhawks. But I am surprised I thought maybe the first year would be like, OK, you’ve got a break after a long time and then you’re going to be off hockey and then you’re going to start missing it. But I think playing so many seasons, I just felt like, OK, I don’t miss it. You know I don’t miss putting the equipment on and don’t miss going to practice every day. It’s kind of surprised me in one way. But, you know, honestly, this is how I feel.”

This particular season is different than the last three he sat out. This year marked the final season of his contract, and because a medical condition ended his career, his contract carried on with a long-term injured reserve designation. When he stopped playing, he had four years remaining on his 12-year deal with the Blackhawks, who carried the contract for the first of the last four years before trading it in 2018 to the Arizona Coyotes, who have had it for the last three seasons. Hossa had to visit Arizona to be examined after the trade, but there’s been minimal interaction with them since. It’s not as if he’s wearing a Coyotes sweatshirt around Slovakia. He recently received his final NHL paycheck.

(CapFriendly)

Hossa has had a few more of those “reminder” moments this season because it was the end.

“When the season finally started this year, I think my wife told me, this is your last year, you know?” Hossa said. “I told her, yeah, you remember your last year. (laughing) We had a little talk, but obviously, it’s just the last year of the contract. This is my fourth year not playing, but I definitely know this is my last year.”

Marián Hossa achieved everything he wanted to as a player. (Dave Sandford / NHLI via Getty Images)

Hossa fills up his time with plenty else. He’s taken on a large role with his food company. He’s involved with his sports center, which includes a golf course. His two daughters keep him quite busy.

Plus, he’s picked up boxing as a recreational activity.

“I do individual training with my coach, and Fridays we do sparring with my brother (Marcel) and some other guys,” Hossa said. “So we like to get into it a little bit, but there’s limits. It’s not like real hard. It’s controlling. It’s cool to kind of experience it, and you get a respect for fights. You realize how it is to be in an individual sport and those fighters have to be in unbelievable shape. I don’t care how talented you are, you are alone and if you get one punch wrong, you have to deal with it for the next two or three minutes in a ring. You have to be in top shape to handle it.”

Yes, Hossa is still in top shape. He turned 42 in January, but he hasn’t slowed down.

“I feel pretty good,” Hossa said. “Like my wife told me, it feels like you’re going to train for when the season was starting and the guys were in camp. She’s like, ‘Are you going to the training camp or what?’ I’m like, ‘What, are you crazy?’ Because I like to train, I just enjoy it. It’s something I like to do. I think for a longer time I’m going to be doing it. That’s my lifestyle and you just enjoy those things.”

Hossa has continued to keep tabs on the Blackhawks, too. Throughout this season, he’d get up and look at the box scores and dig into who scored and the ice times. He knows less and less of the Blackhawks players personally, but he still keeps in touch with some of them. He still shoots Patrick Kane texts after watching a Kane highlight goal.

Asked about Hossa earlier this season, Kane made it clear he still misses having Hossa around on and off the ice.

“Yeah, talk to him every now and then,” Kane said. “Nice to see him last year when we went overseas, just an amazing teammate, amazing human being. Our team has gone downhill as far as the success we’ve had here. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I was lucky to sit next to him in the room for a long time — had a lot of fun, lot of laughs, definitely miss a guy like that, especially having him around, his presence for younger players, a guy for younger players to watch, how he handles himself, plays the game. We definitely miss him as a teammate, we miss him as a person probably more.”

(Scott Powers / For The Athletic)

Could Hossa rejoin the Blackhawks in some capacity down the line? Former Blackhawks president John McDonough said in 2019, “He will work for the Blackhawks. Rocky (Wirtz) and I feel very strongly about that.”

Hossa seems open to that idea as well, but his contract only recently officially expired. There will be time for those discussions.

Hossa is also waiting to be officially inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. He was part of the 2020 class, but the pandemic has postponed the official ceremony. The plan is for it to happen in 2022. Like everything else, Hossa is in no rush.

“I know it’s going to happen,” Hossa said. “It’s just a year later, which is fine. At least, I can enjoy it longer.”

He might even then be asked to pick up a hockey stick again.

(Top photo: RvS.Media / Monika Majer / Getty Images)