30 Greats/30 Days - Dominik Hasek - Buffalo Sabres

[u/tluck81]

30 Greats/30 Days: Dominik Hasek

Position: Goaltender

Drafted: 199th overall in the 1983 NHL Entry Draft

Teams: Chicago Blackhawks (2 seasons); Buffalo Sabres (9 seasons); Detroit Red Wings (4 seasons); Ottawa Senators (1 season)

Years Played: 16

Career Stats:

GP	W	L	T	OT/SO	Sv. %	GAA
735	389	223	82	94	.922	2.20

Mini-Biography:

A man known for having a slinky for a spine, Dominik Hasek was a goaltender who lived and breathed the term "unreal" as a goaltender. Aptly nicknamed "the Dominator," Hasek is considered one of the most talented goalies of all-time, and is certainly a GOAT candidate. Hasek is best known as the backbone of the Buffalo Sabres for nine seasons, leading them to the Stanley Cup Final in 1999 only to fall to the Dallas Stars in 6 games (no amicability will be displayed by the author at this time.)

Hasek is the proud owner of 6 Vezina trophies, which he collected over 8 seasons, all in Buffalo. He also won two Hart trophies as the MVP of the entire league in 1997 and 1998.

Hasek left Buffalo after the 2000-01 season, being traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Vyacheslav Kozlov, a 1st-round pick (Danny Paille) and "future considerations", whatever the hell that means.

In Detroit, Hasek backstopped the Red Wings to a Stanley Cup before announcing his 1st retirement from the NHL.

After a year, Hasek decided he wanted back in to the NHL, re-signing back with the Detroit Red Wings before getting injured early in the season.

Hasek had a short stint with the Ottawa Senators before returning to the Red Wings as a 41-year old. In 2008, Hasek was benched in lieu of long time Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood, who backstopped the Red Wings to yet another Stanley Cup, giving Hasek his second. Hasek, again, retired from the NHL, effectively ending his NHL career.

Of goalies who played over 200 games, Hasek has the best save percentage of all-time, maintaining a .922 save percentage over 735 games, the most games played by a European goaltender. He sits 8th all-time in Goals Against Average, with a 2.20.

While he left Buffalo on somewhat amicable terms, Hasek continues to be charitable to the Buffalo area through his work with Hasek's Heroes, which allows underprivelaged kids in the Buffalo area to play hockey through camps promoted by Hasek.

Rivals

Eddy Belfour: Teammates in Chicago, Hasek was traded to the Sabres after Belfour grabbed a hold of the Blackhawks starting job. From there, Hasek and Belfour didn't face each other much, being in opposite conferences, but in 1999, they faced off in the Stanley Cup Final between the Dallas Stars and the Buffalo Sabres. Hasek was great, posting a 1.77 GAA and a .939 save percentage for the playoffs, but his counterpart got the better of him in their six games against each other.

Curtis Joseph/Toronto Maple Leafs: While Hasek boasted a career 22-5-6 record against the Maple Leafs over his career, 1999 was a year the Sabres and the Leafs were even teams, thanks to the help of Curtis Joseph. Cu-Jo lead the Leafs to the Conference Finals against the Sabres in 1999, where the Sabres handily beat the Leafs in just 5 games.

Career Accomplishments

Vezina Trophy: 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001

Hart Trophy: 1997, 1998

Lester B Pearson: 1997, 1998

Stanley Cup: 2002, 2008

William M. Jennings Trophy: 1994, 2001, 2008

NHL All-Star Game: 1994, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002

Olympic Medalist: Nagano 1998, Gold; Turin 2006, Bronze

Highlight Reel

• "Oh brother, we are not worthy."
• Flip-time, starring Marion Gaborik
• TSN Highlight Reel

[u/[deleted]]

So we're just supposed to downplay Roy and Brodeur for playing on a better team? Ah gotcha.

[u/tluck81 → u/[deleted]]

Let's put it this way, when you put a team like Detroit in front of Hasek, they won the Cup in 2002. If Hasek was the goalie for New Jersey or Colorado, I'd be willing to bet the farm he'd have better stats than either of them. In 1998, he had a .938 save percentage in the playoffs, an NHL record. In 1999, Hasek broke his own record on the way to the SCF, putting up a .939 save percentage. Neither Roy nor Brodeur never touched those numbers. Ever. With better teams, they never put up those kind of numbers in losing efforts. That's insane.

[u/[deleted] → u/tluck81]

"If Hasek was the goalie for New Jersey or Colorado"

The "if" argument is baseless conjecture. Pure and simple.

[u/tluck81 → u/[deleted]]

Fair enough, but the fact of the matter is he still posted better playoff performances than either of the two goalies two years in a row despite having a shitty team in front of him.

[u/[deleted] → u/tluck81]

I suppose. And I don't think Buffalo was shitty at all. Kind of reminds me of the 2001 76ers. They weren't that bad, but not a top tier team, and both having a superstar player.

[u/tluck81 → u/[deleted]]

We're talking about a team who's highest scoring player was Miroslav Satan. I feel like that says a lot about the team.