The 42-year-old former NHL forward will go into the Hall of Fame with Class of 2020 inductees Jarome Iginla, Kevin Lowe, Doug Wilson, Ken Holland and Kim St-Pierre on Monday. He last played a competitive game for the Chicago Blackhawks on April 20, 2017, a 4-1 loss to the Nashville Predators in Game 4 of the Western Conference First Round and had to leave the NHL because of a progressive skin disorder that would accelerate when he wore his gear.
Hossa will play for the World Legends with his brother, Marcel Hossa, against the Canada Legends.
"I haven't for four years been on the ice until the past two weeks, when I went on the ice two times with my brother," Marian Hossa said. "We decided this is going to be fun, it's going to be a great experience, it's going to be a great memory for our kids, so let's play."
RELATED: [Hossa's journey to Hall defined by consistency | Olczyk testimonial for Hossa]
Hossa said he still enjoys being a fan of the game but the discomfort from wearing equipment that ended his 20-year NHL career stripped him of the desire to play, even at the recreational level.
"I didn't miss it," he said. "I was surprised. My wife asked me that same question. She said, 'You don't miss it at all. You haven't been, like, four years on the ice.' I said, 'I know.'
"I love the game. I love to watch it. I watch (NHL) highlights every morning. But I didn't need to put on equipment. I felt relaxed when I didn't have to put something on. But now, like the last two weeks when I said I went on the ice, I grabbed the feel of a stick and shot the puck. I was like 'I missed that.'"
Shooting was a big part of Hossa's repertoire when he scored 1,134 points (525 goals, 609 assists) in 1,309 games for the Ottawa Senators, Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings and Blackhawks. He won the Stanley Cup with Chicago in 2010, 2013 and 2015 and reached the Stanley Cup Final with the Penguins in 2008 and Red Wings in 2009. He's the only player to appear in the Cup Final in three straight seasons with three different teams.
He said he would have considered playing longer if the skin disorder hadn't plagued him.
"After the season the skin would get better when I didn't have equipment on," Hossa said. "Every summer we would have about three to four weeks where the skin would relax because I didn't have equipment on and after that the rest of the summer was fine.
"Again, if I would come back for the season and you'd start having practices and back-to-back games, that's where it would get irritated."
Hossa said it was flattering to be elected to Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility and is humbled to be entering where so many of his idols already are enshrined.
"My heroes growing up, I had four players," he said. "Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Peter Forsberg. Four guys I really looked up to.
"I have signed jerseys from Wayne and Mario at home, and mine in the middle of them. Now I'm in the Hall of Fame with them. I can't believe it."
