Note to Red Wings Fans: Stop Embarassing Us!

In the past few days, I've heard Marian Hossa called second-rate, a nobody, useless.

I've read these words everywhere from Detroit Free Press forums to hockey message boards like hfboards.com and heard them from Red Wings fans everywhere I've been.

These comments are usually followed by things like "We need to get rid of Draper and Maltby next" and "We really should have kept Ty Conklin."

I wouldn't be writing this article if a there wasn't a large contingent of fans to refer to, and judging by the sheer amount of comments like this that I've seen, it seems to be the majority of Detroit fans who feel this way.

Enough is enough people. Zip it. You're giving us a bad name.

"Marian Hossa is second-rate"

Marian Hossa is certainly not second-rate. He scored 40 goals last season which put him precisely tied for fifth among NHL forwards.

If Hossa is second rate, then so is Dany Heatley, Tomas Vanek, Zach Parise, and Ilya Kovalchuk. See how stupid that sounds now?

People say his average playoff performance is the reason why he's unneeded. OK, so the guy had one average playoffs. This is supposed to mean that he's doomed to have less than stellar playoffs for the rest of his days?

What's more believable, at least to me, is that Hossa tried too hard. I saw a player that put the weight of the team on his shoulders after excruciating injuries to Nick Lidstrom, Brian Rafalski, Pavel Datsyuk and Dan Cleary took their toll.

Even star players like Hossa can try too hard and be crushed by the weight of that pressure. This won't be a recurring thing with him though, mark my words.

Can Detroit survive without Hossa? Of course they can. We won the cup without Hossa in 2008 and we can win it again without him. Make no mistake though, Hossa made this team better, it is sad to see him go, and to the Blackhawks no less.

Don't blame him. GM Ken Holland offered Hossa all the salary cap would allow him too, and even then, Detroit would be parting with players to retain him.

Hossa was worth more than $4M a season. In actuality, he's probably worth Zetterberg money. Chicago offered somewhere in between and Hossa took it. Would you turn down making $1.5M more a year?

So if Red Wings fans want to boo Hossa, go ahead. I won't be joining you though. Hossa played his heart out for us. Boo the Blackhawks, sure, but not him.

"They should get rid of Draper and Maltby next"

OK, maybe I can see their point. Drapes and Maltby are aging players who no longer contribute a whole lot. Detroit must keep them until they're ready to hang up the skates though.

Why? Because that's what makes Detroit a first-class organization. They treat their players with respect. Draper and Maltby are part of a core that were there for the 1997 Championship and have been there ever since.

They've earned the right to be Red Wings until they retire.

Don't think that other players around the league don't notice, because they do. That's why free agents want to play for Detroit, that's why Detroit is a premier destination for hockey.

That's why Detroit has great team chemistry and a sense of family that a lot of organizations just don't have.

Look at Chicago. Their MVP last season, Martin Havlat just had one of the best seasons of his career. Chicago only offered him a one-year contract when multiple other teams offered him long term contracts.

This would be the equivalent of Detroit cutting Dan Cleary loose after the playoffs he just had for us. Havlat was disrespected by the Blackhawks, plain and simple.

Detroit will never dump Draper and Maltby because they offer leadership, they still offer grit. They add to team chemistry.

They've been there since the beginning of Detroit's resurgence and they deserve to bow out only when they're ready.

"We should have kept Conklin"

So here was a journeyman goalie that came to Detroit on a one-year contract and had a fantastic season for Detroit.

Conklin was probably a big reason why Detroit was able to win the division despite Osgood's horrible regular season. Yes, he was fantastic.

However, the thing about one-year contracts is that players who perform well after that year are always due for big paydays.

Detroit couldn't afford to pay Conklin millions. They don't need to anyway. They have Jimmy Howard.

Remember Jimmy Howard? He's a Detroit draft pick who has spent four seasons in the minor leagues. He's 25 years old and just had his best season with the Griffins.

Howard is more than ready to be an NHL goaltender. That's the great thing about being a Detroit draft pick, he was allowed to develop fully in the minor leagues before getting the call.

Best of all, Howard will back up Osgood next year for a price tag of about $500,000

Osgood isn't going to have another bad regular season. He says he's learned from his mistakes and I believe him.

With Osgood playing like his normal self during the regular season, we won't need a multi-million dollar Conklin backing up him up. Howard will do just fine.

Relax

Everything is going to be fine Red Wings fans. Stop being angry at Hossa, he gave his all and went to a team that could afford his services.

Don't worry about Draper and Maltby. Just remember all they've done for us. We never wanted Yzerman gone when his production slowed in his final years, and we shouldn't treat Drapes and Maltby any differently.

If you don't like them anymore, they won't be around much longer anyway.

Ty Conklin was a great one-year stopgap while Jimmy Howard got some more seasoning in the minors, but cap issues won't allow Detroit to keep him. It's OK, we'll be fine.

Please, just stop whining. Realize we still have a great team. Start acting like the knowledgeable, respectful fans you can be.