Dominik Hašek

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Date of birth	January 29, 1965
Place of birth	Pardubice, Czechoslovakia
Date of death
Position	Goaltender
College
Pro Bowls

Awards Honors Retired #s Records Statistics hockeyDB.com Statistics ESPN Statistics Sports Illustrated NHL Teams 1990-1992
1992-2001
2001-2004
2005-2006Chicago Blackhawks
Buffalo Sabres
Detroit Red Wings
Ottawa Senators Olympic Team(s) 1998
2002
2006Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Czech Republic Hockey Hall of Fame, }

Dominik Hašek (born January 29, 1965 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), also known by his nicknames The Dominator, Dom, and sometimes "rubber" and "The elastic" is a professional NHL goaltender on free agency. He has played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and the Ottawa Senators. His highly unorthodox style creats doubts about his potential, but his acrobatic play and extraordinary reflexes eventually led Wayne Gretzky himself to pronounce him the greatest living player. No other goaltender, maybe even player from Europe has rivaled his success in the NHL. He is the oldest goalie in the NHL at 41, (42 in late January '07 and is the 2nd oldest player in the league, after Chris Chelios, who is born in 1962.) Many underestimate him because of his age, but he still had impressive statistics this year.

Pronunciation

The correct pronunciation of his name is (in IPA) 'hæʃək, or dom-in-ick Ha-shek/Ha-s-ek. Errors are dom-eneck Ha-s-ek and domi-n-eek.

Playing career

The Early Years

Hasek was born in Czechoslovakia, a communist country, so he was not immediately allowed to play in North America until 1990, when it split up to Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

In the late 1980's, Hasek played several seasons in his native Czechoslovakia, for elite league teams Pardubice and Jihlava HC. He was named the top player in the country in 1987, 1989, and 1990.

Hašek was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983 as their 10th round choice, but didn't debut with them until the 1990-91 season. Hašek spent time as the backup to Ed Belfour, and only played 25 games over two seasons with the Blackhawks.

On August 7, 1992, Hašek was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for G Stephane Beauregard and future considerations, those future considerations turning into the draft pick that became Eric Daze. In Buffalo, he initially started as the back-up goaltender, first to Tom Draper and then to Grant Fuhr. When Fuhr got injured partway through the season, Hašek was elevated to starter, where he blossomed into one of the NHL's top goaltenders.

In '94, he won his first Vezina trophy, playing 58 games with a league best 1.95 GAA and a .930 save percentage. In 94-95, again he won the Vezina with a lower GAA of 2.11 playing 41 games. However, he did have the same save percentage as last year and also won the William M. Jennings trophy. In 95-96, he did not win the Vezina due to his poor numbers (920 SV%,2.83 GAA, 22 wins and 30 losses. He lost the Vezina to Jim Carey.

The Famous Years

Hašek, like all great players, held great influence throughout his career. During the 1996-97 playoffs, midway through the Buffalo Sabres' first round series against Ottawa, Hašek suffered a sprained knee, and pulled himself from Game 3 of that series. Being the key to the Sabres Cup run, the media speculated that Hašek wasn't doing his utmost to return from the injury, because he was at odds with the eventual Jack Adams Award winner, second year coach Ted Nolan. This could've been a myth. Hašek was skewered by the media, especially Buffalo area writer Jim Kelley. When the injured Hasek confronted Kelley in the arena hallway about some comments printed by Kelley questioning Hasek's heart, there was an altercation, in which Dominik allegedly choked Kelley, and ripped his shirt. Hasek was suspended for the incident, preventing him from playing (if he would have been physically able) in the early second round games against Philadelphia. The Sabres lost in a short series, and Ted Nolan did not return the next year, upsetting several Buffalo players that had liked him. Hasek's comments about 'being better (for him) if Nolan didn't return' set off a chain reaction that led to the axing of both Nolan and Hasek's friend, general manager John Muckler.

Despite that, he immediately blossomed back into a star and won the Vezina, Leaster B. Pearson award, and surprisingly the Hart trophy as the MVP. He was the second goalie to win it behind Jacques Plante of the Canadiens then [[Jose Theodore won it in 2002. He had a tie for 2nd in his career in wins (1st at that point.) He had a 2.27 GAA and .930 SV% for the third time.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hašek led the Czech team to the gold medal, including a shutout of the Russian Federation team during the gold medal game and won against team Canada in a shootout, stopping Mario Lemieux and 4 other Canadian shooters. His GAA was a stellar 0.98.

In Buffalo, he was the best goalie the NHL has seen in a year for quite a while. He posted a team record and NHL era record for 13 shutouts and had the 2nd most shutouts in a month with 6 in December. (Tony Esposito Had 7 shutouts in a month.)He had a career high 72 games that year, winning 33 games and had a 2.09 GAA and a .932 SV%. Again he won the Lester B. Pearson, Hart, and the Vezina. He is the first goalie to win the Hart twice. In '98 he narrowly missed on having his best year. He had a record for GAA since 1974 with a career high 1.87 GAA. His lost the Hart trophy to Jaromir Jagr.This time he only won the Vezina that year, with a career high .937 SV%. In 2000, he totaled 11 shutouts, captured his 5th Vezina.

The Recent Years

In 01-02 he was traded to the Red Wings. Hašek, having won almost everything but a Stanley Cup, they had the odds-on favourites to win. Hašek's dreams were fulfilled and Detroit won both the Presidents' Trophy and the Stanley Cup. He also won his last William Jennings and Vezina trophy. Hasek is tied with Bill Durnan in having the second most Vezina trophies, too with 6. He had a 2.17 GAA, and a 915 SV%, with a career high 41 wins, with a small 15 losses. Hasek was also the first goalie to get an assist on a overtime game-winning goal in the post-season (Steve Yzerman scored it.) He also had the most shutouts in the post-season, with 6, until Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils tied the record in 02-03, when the Devils won the cup.

When he won it, he announced his retirement and said, "since I won the cup and achieved and almost everything I could get (awards) as a goalie, I thought I wouldn't play with the confidence I had. Without confidence, you'll start to be a less-achieving goalie, and I wouldn't want to disappoint Detroit and my fans, because they have high expectations in Detroit with prestige players like Yzerman, Lidstrom, Shanahan, Brett Hull, and Luc Robitaille to name a few. I'd like to spent more time with my family and businesses in the country and other sports. I made the decision because I didn't feel like I could play at the highest level. After I won the cup, I had the feeling that I achieved everything in hockey and didn't have enough motivation to continue. It was certainly difficult. When you hear a million or so people shouting 'One more year' for 45 minutes, it's not easy. During the celebrations my team-mates would bring up the topic but I didn't want to talk about it. They would come to me and say 'See you next year', but after it all settled down, my wife and I sat down and decided to return home. We had agreed before we would do that if I won the Stanley Cup. The decision was tough because a lot of people wanted me to stay and try to win the Stanley Cup again but we as a family decided it was time to leave and return back to the Czech Republic."

That summer Hašek retired, but after a year of watching Detroit's first round collapse to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, he announced his intent to play again. He admitted he wanted to play due to the fact his team lost in the first round, with the odds-on favourites again, like almost every year. The Red Wings held his option for that season, but could have passed on it, making Hasek an unrestricted free agent.

In 2003, he announced he'll be playing again in 03-04. "I feel like I can play again. Now that I came back from a year in the Czech Republic and spent time with my family I'm ready to see some rubber again." In April 2004, he underwent groin surgery in Prague, and returned to his hometown of Pardubice to recuperate.

Knowing Patrick Roy had retired in the off season, and that arch-nemesis Colorado would be looking for a goaltender, the Wings were forced to sign Hasek, rather than lose him to the Avalanche. Having signed Curtis Joseph for the two seasons following Hasek's retirement, the Wings were saddled with two high-priced goaltenders, and no team would take Joseph off the Wings' hands, but Colorado had their chance to get Cujo.

The 2003-04 season was problematic for Hašek, who had apparently not given himself enough time to prepare himself for the rigors of an NHL season. He suffered a groin injury, and on January 9, 2004, he and the team agreed he should rest his injury for two to four weeks. At that time, he told general manager Ken Holland that he would not accept any pay while he was out injured. However, he did not make his refusal of pay public at that time. On February 10, he announced that he was not going to continue to play this season, a decision that surprised Red Wings management. Then, on March 12, after Holland discussed Hašek's refusal of pay with reporters, Hašek made the issue public. He eventually refused $3 million (US) of his $6 million salary.

After Hasek's contract with the Wings had expired, he pondered his new team. Hašek said that he wanted to be on a club that could contend for the Stanley Cup, and specifically named the Ottawa Senators as a possible destination. The Senators signed Hašek to a multiyear deal, but he stated that if an agreement had not been made on the 2005-06 NHL season by the summer of 2005, he would retire from professional hockey. A deal was reached on July 13, 2005, and later ratified by the players and owners. Hašek returned to play for the Senators at the age of 40 and 41. Hasek had a good chance of being a Vezina nominee, (of 2.09 GAA, 9.25 SV% for 2nd best in the NHL, with 5 shutouts and 28 wins before the Olympics,) but he got injured.

Dominik Hašek was supposed to be one of the biggest hockey stars of 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, but he injured his right upper thigh when he had made a butterfly-like save in the first match against Germany, playing only 9 minutes 25 seconds, with a "shutout", he had to leave the tournament disappointed. Then Czech Republic put Nashville's Tomas Vokoun in net, making a 4-1 victory. Despite that, after his team finished on the 3rd place, he was awarded the bronze medal too.

Meanwhile, he also missed the rest of the regular season despite several rumours that he would have return in time for the playoffs and even during the Conference Semifinal series against Buffalo in which the Senators lost in five games with backup Ray Emery in net. Hasek could play, but he felt like he couldn't help the team and wasn't comfortable from getting up and down on his legs, (which is a big part of his style) as good as he normally does. As of July 16th, he is an unrestricted free agent, meaning any team can sign him.

Style of Play

Hasek presents one of the most unorthidox styles of goaltending the game of hockey has ever seen. He goes down on almost every shot, successfully covering the bottom of the net where most goals are scored. He flops around in his crease, sticking a leg out, an arm out or even using his head. Hasek is also known to often drop his goaltending stick to cover the puck, something unique to his style. His style has been copied by fellow goaltenders and has frustrated many shooters. Hasek has become a pioneer to the goaltending position by introducing several new saves. One is known as the "Hasek Roll," the "Snow Angel" and "the 3-foot wall." It consists of initiating a two-pad stack (where the goalie layes on his side and stacks his pads one on top of another) and then, instead of getting up quickly and diving when the puck gets passed across the net, he simply rolls over on his back to the other side and stacking the pads on the other side. Hasek also is one of the first goalies to lay flat on their stomach with their pads outstreched to the sides to make a save. Hasek is known as the best goalie in the world when the play is close to the net although he has been known to give up the occasional goal from farther distances due to his thinness. Hasek is crowd attracter from his moves in goal. Hasek has the ability to keep tight games tight. Hasek is so flexible at 180 pounds.

Off the Ice

Hasek has a family, with a son named Misa and a daughter named Dominika. He also likes playing in-line hockey as a defense man and squash. He "runs" a clothing company called "Dominator clothing" in the Czech Republic and/or all of Europe with 3 other businesses in the country and possibly tennis; and soccer. Coincidentally, because he has a brother named Martin Hasek and Ivan Hasek who both play for a Czech Republic soccer team named "AC Sparta Praha".

Trivia

Hašek is arguably one of the most popular figures in the Czech Republic, especially after Nagano 1998; his reputation is comparable to that of the the president Václav Havel.

-Was involved in an incident which took place in an inline hockey match on May 18, 2003, in which Hašek crosschecked Martin Sila while playing as a defender for Bonfire Strida. The prosecutor in the case, Lenka Strnadova, ruled two months later that there was no evidence Hasek caused bodily harm and recommended the case be treated as a misdemeanor, punishable only by fine ($100 USD maximum), rather than a felony where jail time would have been possible. Hasek's lawyer Pavel Jelinek announced in a statement that media reports about the incident were exaggerated, with Sila not having sustained any documented injuries. In October 2003, the country's top prosecutor overruled Strnadova, saying her ruling was unlawful because the case had not been properly investigated. The Pardubice prosecution then investigated the case again, reaching the same decision.

-Dominik's 2nd short form name is Domi, like Tie Domi's name, but is never used and is a coincidence.

-He bears an uncanny resemblance (and has often joked and spoofed this himself) to Cosmo Kramer of Seinfeld.

-Over the years, Hasek has used tons of types of equipment during his 14(+)span.. Here is a list of his equipment from the rookie year to present.

1.Brian's ('89-'91) 2.Heaton ('91-'93/) 3.Louisville ('94-'96/'97?/All-Star Game) 4.Bauer ('98-'01)/Louisville(All-Star Games) 5.TPS red ('01-'02) 6.TPS red #2 ('03-'04) 7.TPS Dark Gold ('05-'06) 8.TPS Maroon/dark red('06 Olympics.)

-Credited with "inventing" two moves in goal: dropping his hockey stick to pick up the puck with his blocker glove for a stoppage, as well as throwing the puck into the air, swinging his stick, and clearing the defensive zone baseball style. Many goaltenders (including Hasek protege Dwayne Roloson) have repeated these moves in NHL play. Hasek was the first goalie since George Hainsworth from Montreal of '28 for most shutouts in a month with 6 in 97-98. He had the most shutouts in a season with 13 in 97-98 since the 60's (Chicago's Tony Esposito).

-Hasek donated 1 million+ dollars for children playing hockey in Buffalo, making him have a chance to win the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in the late 90's.

-Hasek has 122 career penalty minutes and 21 career assists.

-His lowest GAA in the post-season was 1.33.

-He led the NHL in save percentage six times, and has been named to the first team at the all star game five times, and when he retires, it is very likely that he will eventually be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

-His best season was in 98-99, with a 1.87 GAA and 9.37 SV%, even though in 01-02 he won the cup, in 98 he won the Hart and Lester B. Pearson and in 99 he went to the finals.

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