Blackhawks fan answers ‘Hossa’ on 3rd-grade math test, baffles teacher (Photo)

Maggie Ciara is a third grade student at Columbus Manor Elementary School in Oak Lawn, Ill. She’s also a Chicago Blackhawks fan, as her teacher discovered in a recent math exam.

The question was “what is 9 times 9?”

The answer? Marian Hossa, a.k.a. No. 81 for the Blackhawks.

As you can see, her teacher was baffled.

We know what you’re thinking: Did she get credit for what was, in a roundabout way, a correct answer?

Justin Breen of DNAinfo Chicago had this whimsical hockey story, and spoke with Maggie’s teacher:

Her teacher, Christine Mech, circled the answer and wrote "What is this?" in red pen. When Maggie explained her response, Mech gave her credit, and she received an A+.

"Maggie is a very clever little girl," said Mech, who's a Hawks fan and knew what Maggie was up to. "I love the way Maggie has a sense of humor. She did get her 100 percent on the quiz, and we had a little bit of a laugh afterward."

Maggie's mother, Diane, posted a photo of the exam Wednesday afternoon, and it already has more than 1,300 "Likes" on Facebook. It even has appeared on the Blackhawks official Facebook page.

Hopefully this ushers in a new era in Chicago area schools when it comes to math. After all: Duncan Keith times Duncan Keith equals Niklas Hjalmarsson, and Niklas Hjalmarsson times Niklas Hjalmarsson equals Marcus Kruger, and …

Further proof that no matter what the question is, hockey is the answer.

s/t Deadspin