Hossa won't be the talk of the town

When he suffered one of the most stinging setbacks in his career last month, losing with his Detroit teammates to Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup finals a year after he absorbed the very same blowback in reverse (losing to the Reds Wings as a Penguin in the title round the previous year), Hossa pulled out his Readers Digest handbook for heartbreak react.

"That's life," he said.

Could you expand on that?

"Sometimes that's life and you just have to move on," he continued. "It's a tough pill to swallow."

If he does happen to struggle in Chicago, and all high profile athletes do have slumps, look for him to swallow hard with more pill quotes.

History shows there is plenty more where that came from.

"I just have to be myself and play the same game."

"It's a great feeling when people are shouting your name. It gives you that extra boost."

"I had some good playoffs and I had some bad playoffs," he told ESPN.com. "I can't control what people say...I always try...I just enjoy the ride."

Take it from foreign policy expert and well-known linguist George Bush, it's quite easy to mix up Slovakia and Slovenia. Bush, in fact, did so when he was governor of Texas, thinking the Slovenian foreign minster with whom he spoke was a Slovak.

Fans wanting to make conversation next weekend with Hossa should brush up on Slovak facts. In 1993, Slovakia separated peacefully from Czechoslovakia. Since the country sits in a mountainous region at the precise geographic center of Europe, it's called the heart of Europe.

With a traditional Slovak meal of small potato dough dumplings made with sheep cheese and topped with scrambled bacon, that heart needs a frequent stress test. More Slovak cuisine is pictured above. Hossa might gorge on Wisconsin sausages.

The language is described as melodious. If you run into Hossa during the day say "dobry den" (good day}, at night ("dobry vecer") and a quick "dovidenia" (until me meet again) upon parting. Unless we part before reaching the Stanley Cup finals. Then much stronger language is required.

Each day in the Slovak calendar is assigned a given name, which is considered a Slovak's name day. Marian's name day is March 25. By then, we will know if he has made a name for himself in Chicago or not.

Even though he never will make a name for itself as a hockey wit, his teammates seem to like him.

"He's a great player, even a better guy," Detroit goalie Chris Osgood said at the end of last season.

Sometimes the best teammates are those that know how to keep a lid on the best quotes.

Or as Hawks defenseman Steve Smith once said to me about a young, loquacious and not always popular Roenick. "Won't he ever learn to shut up?"