Thrashers' Hossa a superstar minus the All-Star name

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."