DETROIT - Mike Babcock swears he didn't yell into Marian Hossa's ear, "See you in a month," when the Red Wings coach was in the handshake line on June 4 after his club knocked off Hossa's Pittsburgh Penguins to win the Stanley Cup.

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Marian Hossa of the Detroit Red Wings handles the puck against his former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in NHL action on Tuesday night.

Photograph by : Getty Images

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"I've heard that story ... but I think I was more concerned with drinking right about then," said Babcock.

"I can't imagine going through lineups at that time and thinking about next year. ... But I don't think anything I would have said would have mattered to him. He decided to come here because he wanted to be here."

That Hossa did sign a one-year contract with Detroit in early July was a giddy happenstance to Babcock, who had the big winger on the Wings' top line against the Penguins on Tuesday night in the first meeting between the clubs since the Cup final.

The Penguins won the loosely played game 7-6, with the Pens' third centre Jordan Staal getting three goals in the third, then stealing the puck from Pavel Datsyuk in OT to feed Ruslan Fedotenko for the winner.

Hossa, the Wings' most dominant player in the first month, had two assists to give him 19 points, which puts him in the top five in scoring. He had six shots and was dangerous most of the night but was, however, on for a rare three goals against at even-strength. He's now plus-seven on the year.

Hossa broke a few hearts in Pittsburgh when he turned his back on playing with Sidney Crosby to play with Pavel Datsyuk, among others.

"I made a decision and decided to go with this," shrugged Hossa, who wanted to win a Stanley Cup, and figured this was his best chance.

He can always go back to Pittsburgh next year, or perhaps Edmonton, who put on the full-court press to try and get him to sign for seven, eight or even 10 years.

"You ever worried about signing for just one year and leaving all that money on the table?" he was asked.

"That's what they have insurance for," smiled Hossa. "Anything can happen, but there's lots of guys in the last year of a contract. That's the business we are in, right?"

"We did try to get Marian at the trade deadline, but we couldn't afford to pay what they wanted (maybe Valtteri Filppula)," said Babcock, who watched Hossa leave Atlanta for Pittsburgh in an 11th-hour deal for Colby Armstrong, Eric Christensen and former No. 1 draft Angelo Esposito.

"Everybody talks about how much money he turned down ... but unless they cut his leg off, he'll make all that money later ...

"The reality is there's only so much (money)to go around, at least there is here. And how do you win if you don't have quality players around you?"

Hossa took a look at the Wings lineup and what everybody was being paid, and took less to play with Nicklas Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and the other stars. He's fit in just fine, although he was a little apprehensive playing against the Penguins on Tuesday. The two teams also play each other Feb. 8 in Pittsburgh.

Babcock had a better feel for Hossa than anybody else in the organization.

"I've known him back to junior in the Western League when he was playing in Portland (Babcock was in Spokane)," said Babcock.

"Believe me, there's nothing he does that surprises me. I knew how big he was, how fast he was, how good he was defensively."

"Yet, you hear from our players, 'I never knew he was that strong,' and maybe they don't know because he played in that other league, you know, in the East."

jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com