Marian Hossa loving life in Hockey Town

Detroit — Marian Hossa has it good these days.

He plays for the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, who oddsmakers consider the favorites to hoist the trophy again in 2009. He skates on a line with Pavel Datsyuk, who was just one assist shy of the league lead last season. And he plays in Hockey Town, where the NHL team commands mainstream attention year-round.

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John L. Russell/AP

Detroit Red Wings right wing Marian Hossa takes a shot on goal during an intrasquad workout at the first day of training camp for the NHL hockey champion Detroit Red Wings.

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Hossa didn’t have those things in Atlanta. That’s why he’s not in Atlanta anymore.

Talk with Hossa about the team he played for only seven months ago and you soon realize he has had little trouble putting his Thrashers seasons behind him. He stays in touch with the team’s trainers. His former teammates? Not so much.

Former locker room neighbor Brad Larsen just got traded. Bobby Holik, the neighbor on the other side, left in free agency. Hossa didn’t play in Sunday’s exhibition game against the Thrashers, and having his former team in town was clearly no big deal.

Push Hossa to reflect on his three seasons with the Thrashers and he shares his pride in helping with the 2006-07 division title and his disappointment the team didn’t build on that accomplishment.

“I have good memories of Atlanta,” Hossa said. “A great group of guys. Great city. Crazy fans, especially in the playoffs. Too bad we didn’t win any [playoff] games, but the people were great.”

Still, Atlanta didn’t have what Detroit has, on the ice and off. That’s why instead of re-signing with the Thrashers, Hossa forced them into trading him. He went to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the trade deadline, helped them reach the Stanley Cup Finals, then decided not to re-sign with the Penguins, either. He rejected bigger-money deals and chose the Red Wings, with whom he signed a one-year, $7.45 million contract.

He wears No. 81 now; the No. 18 he wore with the Thrashers belongs to Kirk Maltby in Detroit. No problem, said Hossa, who also wore No. 81 while playing for his native Slovakia.

He likes to play where hockey matters, not just to the loyal fans but to a lot of people.

“We came to practice in Traverse City, and it’s a sellout [every day] for practice,” Hossa said. “It’s a small arena, but that shows me something. Obviously, in Atlanta there were good fans, but it’s not a traditional hockey market. You can tell the difference.”

It’s a difference, he said, that helps the Red Wings.

“You’re still playing the same game, [but] there’s definitely more atmosphere,” he said. “You get more fired up before the game. Everybody’s talking about it. You’re more under the microscope. Everybody’s talking about hockey.”

Atmosphere matters, but teammates matter more. Hossa says the Thrashers didn’t acquire “a couple of pieces I was hoping for.”

Now that he’s gone, though, the Thrashers have made some moves, though mostly on defense. They drafted Zach Bogosian, signed free agent Ron Hainsey and traded for Mathieu Schneider.

“They’re going to get stronger,” Hossa said, “so I wish them good luck.”