Thrashers' Hossa a superstar minus the All-Star name

The consensus around the Atlanta Thrashers is that Marian Hossa lacks an ego.

Good thing.

Hossa is arguably the NHL's best player and has been a scoring star since debuting as a teenager in 1998 with the Ottawa Senators, so he's certainly entitled to one. It just would be tough to stroke in an area that fawns first and foremost over Michael Vick and is only slowly warming to the improved product on the ice.

Blessed with size, speed and strength, Marian Hossa is a complete player. (Getty Images)

Besides, it's not only "back home" where the spotlight doesn't shine. A flashy wing whose production is often as electrifying as it is consistent, Hossa doesn't have particularly great name recognition around the league. In spite of being tied for the NHL lead in goals, Hossa finds himself only ninth in the fan voting among forwards for the All-Star Game.

And that's all well and good to him. Hossa got used to taking a back seat during his years in Ottawa, where his annual 30-goal seasons tended to be overshadowed by Alexei Yashin, Daniel Alfredsson and others, and now finds himself quite comfortable in that role with the Atlanta Thrashers.

"In Ottawa, he was a little younger so he was not the man there, but everyone who played them knew how explosive a player he was," said linemate Bobby Holik. "He didn't get the recognition some of the other guys did, but that's fine for him because he's a humble guy who doesn't invite attention."

At least off the ice. On it, no one has been more front and center for the upstart Thrashers this season than Hossa, who has 20 goals and 39 points in 28 games and is one of the main reasons Atlanta is riding a six-game winning streak and leading the Southeast Division.

"He reminds me a lot of Jags," said Thrashers center Steve Rucchin, who played with Jaromir Jagr on the New York Rangers last season. "They are two of the best players in the world, but it's one thing to be that player and another to go out and actually do it on a nightly basis.

"He's a guy who knows he's going to get the other team's best defensive guys each night and he still finds a way to get it done."

The way a go-to guy should. It's a role that Hossa says he relishes with Atlanta.

"Definitely," Hossa said. "On Ottawa we had lots of skill guys, even on defense, there were guys who could take charge.

"We have good talent here too, but right now I feel I'm one of those guys people look at and I try to be one of the leaders."

Versatility is helping him in that regard. Hossa, a shifty 6-foot-1, 210-pound package of breakaway speed and brute strength, has always been thought of primarily as an offensive player, but with the Thrashers, the big wing has proven able to play without the puck as well.

Hossa still skates on the first line with Holik and Vyacheslav Kozlov, and ignites the power play, but a big part of his role with the Thrashers includes penalty killing, back checking, and being on the ice when Atlanta is trying to protect a lead late in games.

"Marian is one of the most complete players in the league, if not the most complete," said Atlanta coach Bob Hartley. "You can play him in any situation, and when you can do that with a guy that has his skill, you have a franchise player."

Hossa, of course, is paid like Atlanta's franchise player, with his $6 million salary topping the team's payroll. It was an amount awarded by an arbitrator after the lockout, but it ended up pricing him out of Ottawa. Only hours after the award was announced, the Senators shipped him to Atlanta for Dany Heatley and Greg deVries, a move Hossa said caught him off guard and made for a difficult adjustment.

"Everything was new to me, so it took probably until Christmas to get comfortable again, especially with a new team and new system," he said. "I played with the same players in Ottawa for several years, and all of sudden you're with new guys and not on the same page."

It was hard to tell on the ice. Hossa scored 13 points in 11 games during the first month of last season and finished with 39 goals and 92 points. This season he's on pace for 58 goals and 114 points. With the Thrashers showing no signs of being an early season fluke, Hossa is starting to get mentioned as a potential MVP candidate.

Maybe then he'll get the attention he deserves.

"Whether people are talking about me or recognize what I do is not something I can control, so I try not to get caught in that," Hossa said. "It's been a good start for me, but there's still a long season.

"My goal is to go to the playoffs and do the best we can do. Anything else would be a bonus, but the most important thing to me is how the team does."