Dominik Hašek

Dominik Hašek
File:Dominikhasek.jpg
Born	January 29, 1965 Pardubice, CS
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Catches	Left
NHL team Former teams	Detroit Red Wings Chicago Blackhawks Buffalo Sabres Detroit Red Wings Ottawa Senators
NHL draft	199th overall, 1983 Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career	1990(NHL)–present

Dominik Hašek (born January 29, 1965 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic)), also known by his nicknames The Dominator and Dom, is a professional NHL goaltender currently signed by the Detroit Red Wings. He has also played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, and the Ottawa Senators. His highly unorthodox style creates doubts about his potential, but his acrobatic play and extraordinary reflexes have even led Wayne Gretzky said that Hasek is the greatest living player, and backstopped him to a successful career. He is the oldest goalie in the NHL at 41, and is the second oldest player in the league, after Chris Chelios.

Pronunciation

The correct pronunciation of his name is (in IPA) ['dαmənək 'hæʃək], or dah-mə-nək hah-shək (or, replacing the schwa with an approximate pronunciation of "uh", "dah-muh-nuhk hah-shuhk").or D-om-in-ick Ha-shek/Ha-s-ek.

Playing career

Early years

Hašek was born in Czechoslovakia, which was a republic of the USSR, and was not allowed to play in North America. When the Soviet Union dissolved, resulting in the formation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1990, Hašek became eligible to play in the NHL.

Hašek was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983 as their 10th round choice, but did not debut with them until the 1990-91 season.

In the late 1980s, Hašek 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.

NHL beginnings

In Chicago, Hašek spent time as the backup to Ed Belfour, and only played 25 games over two seasons with the Blackhawks. He made his NHL debut on November 6, 1990, in a game against the Hartford Whalers. He recorded his first shutout against the Toronto Maple Leafs that year.

On August 7, 1992, Hašek was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for goalie Stephane Beauregard and future considerations, which later materialized into a draft pick used to obtain Eric Daze. In Buffalo, he initially started as the backup goaltender, first playing behind Tom Draper and then Grant Fuhr. When Fuhr was injured partway through the season, Hašek was elevated to starter, where he started his career and developed into a top goaltender.

Rise to fame

In 1994, Hašek won his first Vezina Trophy, playing 58 games with a league best 1.95 GAA, seven shutouts, and a .930 save percentage. He repeated the feat the next season with a GAA of 2.11 and five shutouts. He also won the William M. Jennings Trophy.

During the 1997 playoffs, midway through the Buffalo Sabres' first round series against the Ottawa Senators, 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 was not doing his utmost to return from the injury because he was at odds with the the Sabres' head coach, Ted Nolan. Hašek was criticized by the media, especially Buffalo area writer Jim Kelley. When Hašek confronted Kelley in the arena hallway about comments he had printed, an altercation resulted in which Hašek allegedly choked Kelley and ripped his shirt. Hašek was suspended for the incident, stopping any chance of him playing in the early second round games against the Philadelphia Flyers. The Sabres lost in a short series, and Ted Nolan did not return the next year, despite winning the Jack Adams Award as the top coach in the league. This upset several Buffalo players who had liked Nolan. Hašek again won the Vezina Trophy, and also won the Lester B. Pearson Award and the Hart Trophy, as the league MVP. At the time, he was only the second goalie to ever win the Hart, along with Jacques Plante.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hašek led the Czech team to the gold medal, including a shootout win over Team Canada and a 1-0 shutout of the Russian team for the gold. He finished the tournament with a GAA of 0.98.

Back in Buffalo, he posted a team-record for shutouts (13). He played a career high 72 games, and posted the second most shutouts in a month, with six in December 1997. Again he won the Lester B. Pearson Award, Hart Trophy, and Vezina Trophy. He is the first and only goalie to win the Hart twice. In the 1998-99 NHL season he posted a career best 1.87 GAA. He again won the Vezina that year, with a career high .937 SV%. In 2000, Hašek captured his fifth Vezina Trophy.

In the 2000-01 season, Hašek played his final year in Buffalo. For the sixth time, he won the Vezina. He also won his second William M. Jennings Trophy.

Recent career

Before the 2001-02 NHL season, Hašek was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Vyacheslav Kozlov, a 1st round selection in 2002 (eventually becoming Jim Slater), and future considerations.

During the 2001-02 season, Hašek posted a career high with 41 wins. In June 2002, Hašek's won the Stanley Cup with Detroit. Hašek was also the first goalie to get an assist on a overtime game-winning goal in the post-season, in which Steve Yzerman passed it to Fredrik Olausson who then scored. He also temporarily had the most shutouts in the post-season with 6, until Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils recorded 6 as well in 2003.

Hašek participated in the 2002 Olympic games, but the team lost to Russia in the Bronze Medal game.

That summer Hašek retired. After watching Detroit's first round loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2003 playoffs, he announced his intent to play again. The Red Wings already had Curtis Joseph signed to a lucrative contract, and Joseph's underachievement the previous season made him virtually impossible to trade to make room for Hašek and his salary. However, knowing that the rival Colorado Avalanche would be looking for a goalie since Patrick Roy retired, Detroit was forced to sign Hašek. The Wings also had Manny Legacé, causing issues because all three goalies had the potential to be starters.

The 2003-04 season was problematic for Hašek, and he injured his groin after playing just 14 games. 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 that 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. In April 2004, he underwent groin surgery in Prague, and returned to his hometown of Pardubice to recuperate.

After Hašek's contract with the Wings had expired, the Red Wings decided not to re-sign him. Hašek said that he wanted to join a club that could contend for the Stanley Cup, and specifically named the Ottawa Senators as a possible destination. On July 6, 2004, the Senators signed Hašek to a 1-year deal. Hašek returned to play for the Senators at the age of 40 and 41.

Hasek played very well until the Olympics, with his goals against average and save percentage were second best in the NHL, when he injured his right upper thigh making a save in the first match against Germany. Despite that, the Czech Republic finished in 3rd place, and Hašek was awarded the bronze medal, playing 9 minutes and 25 seconds with a shutout.

Hašek missed the rest of the Olympics and the NHL regular season despite several rumours that he would return in time for the playoffs, and the 2nd round v.s. the Buffalo Sabres. Hasek said that if he was signed, he'd be payed for less and would have a pay cut off last year's salary.

On July 31, 2006, at the age of 41, Hašek signed a one-year, $750,000 US contract with the Detroit Red Wings (with added bonuses if the team does well in the playoffs), joining them for the third time in his career.

Style of play

Hašek presents one of the most unorthodox styles of goaltending in hockey. 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. Hašek is also known to often drop his goaltending stick to cover the puck.

He has become a goaltending pioneer by introducing several new saves. One is known as the "Hasek Roll", where he drops into a 'C' shape, covering the bottom of the net. He is also one of the first goalies to lay flat on their stomach with their pads outstreched to the sides to make a save. He also makes saves named "The Snow Angel", where he shapes into a starfish like shape to either cover the puck, or to get the puck out of the front of the net, and the "3-foot wall," where he lays sideways on the ground, and stacking his pads on the top of the bottom one too make a save. If the puck is passed across the net, he'll roll around on his back so is pads will be stacked on the other side.

Hašek's style has been known to attract fans to games. At 180 lbs, he is extremely flexible. Among his strengths are excellent concentration and tremendous foot speed.

Personal life

Hašek has two children, a son named Michal (16) and a daughter named Dominika (11). He divides much of his free time playing squash and inline hockey, but as a defenseman . He plays soccer recreationally, and has brothers Martin Hašek and Ivan Hašek who both play for a Czech Republic soccer team AC Sparta Praha. He has a brand of sportswear named Dominator Clothing, which was launched shortly after the Nagano Olympics in 1998 and is very popular among Dominik's fans in the Czech Republic.

Awards

• Hart Memorial Trophy - 1997, 1998
• Lester B. Pearson Award - 1997, 1998
• NHL/Upper Deck All-Rookie Team - 1992
• NHL All-Star Game Roster - 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
• NHL First Team All-Star, Goaltender - 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
• Vezina Trophy - 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001
• William M. Jennings Trophy - 1994, 2001

Career NHL statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1990-91	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		5	3	0	1	195	8	0	2.46
1991-92	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		20	10	4	1	1014	44	1	2.60
1992-93	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		28	11	10	4	1429	75	0	3.15
1993-94	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		58	30	20	6	3358	109	7	1.95
1994-95	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		41	19	14	7	2416	85	5	2.11
1995-96	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		59	22	30	6	3417	161	2	2.83
1996-97	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		67	37	20	10	4037	153	5	2.27
1997-98	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		72	33	23	13	4220	147	13	2.09
1998-99	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		64	30	18	14	3817	119	9	1.87
1999-00	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		35	15	11	6	2066	76	3	2.21
2000-01	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		67	37	24	4	3904	137	11	2.11
2001-02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		65	41	15	8	3872	140	5	2.17
2003-04	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		14	8	3	2	816	30	2	2.20
2005-06	Ottawa Senators	NHL		43	28	10	0	2583	90	5	2.09
NHL Totals				638	324	202	82	37146	1374	68	2.22

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1990-91	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		3	0	0	-	69	3	0	2.60
1991-92	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		3	0	2	-	158	8	1	3.03
1992-93	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		1	1	0	-	45	1	0	1.33
1993-94	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		7	3	4	-	384	13	2	1.61
1994-95	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		5	1	4	-	309	18	0	3.49
1995-96	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996-97	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		3	1	1	-	153	5	0	1.96
1997-98	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		15	10	5	-	948	32	1	2.02
1998-99	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		19	13	6	-	1217	36	2	1.77
1999-00	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		5	1	4	-	301	12	0	2.39
2000-01	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		13	7	6	-	833	29	1	2.08
2001-02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		23	16	7	-	1455	45	6	1.85
2003-04	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		(Injured)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2005-06	Ottawa Senators	NHL		(Injured)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
NHL Totals				97	53	39	-	5972	202	12	2.02

Other NHL statistics

• Six time leader of the NHL in save percentage
• Named to the first All-star Team five times
• Ranks 12th all-time in shutouts, and 18th all-time in wins.
• Most shutouts in one month (six in 97-98)

Trivia

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice hockey
	1998 Nagano	Ice hockey
	2006 Turin	Ice hockey

• 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.

• He often jokes about his resemblance to Cosmo Kramer of Seinfeld.

• Hasek donated over $1 million dollars for children playing hockey in Buffalo, giving him a chance to win the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in the late 90's. However, he was not a nominee.

External links

• Hockey DB profile
• NHL player profile
• Great site for Dom

See also

• List of NHL players
• List of NHL seasons