Hasek, a retrospective
With the expected announcement today of Dominik Hasek's retirement, I thought I'd post a few video clips of the Dominator, so we remember him as one of his generation's greatest goaltenders and not as the guy who had to be replaced after four games in this year's playoffs.
You've got to start with his heyday in the Buffalo net and this 'greatest saves' package shows him at his Gumby best. You see him make a great save on Mario Lemieux and using his head to block a shot from Carolina's Ron Francis.
In this game against Anaheim, it's Classic Hasek: Flopping around, throwing limbs in the direction of the shooter. It was an unorthodox style that former Chicago coach Mike Keenan couldn't handle, prompting his trade from the Blackhawks to the Sabres.
As a Red Wing, Hasek won the Cup in 2002 and tried to reprise a vaunted role in Wings lore: Patrick Roy's dance partner. Oops. That ice is slippery, Dom.
He also was known to take chances, often dropping his stick to grab pucks, racing out to challenge shooters. Marian Gaborik was the victim of the latter. Hasek, not surprisingly, got a penalty but judges gave Gaborik high marks for his sommersault.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a clip of the first 20 shots Hasek made in the third period of the 1997 All-Star game. It might have been the greatest display of goaltending I've ever seen. In a game in which the defensemen don't hit anything and the goalies are sacrificial lambs, Hasek made unbelievable save after unbelievable save before Owen Nolan, who had many of those shots as he sought a hat trick, barrelled down the left wing (unchecked, of course), pointed at Hasek and then roofed a shot for his third goal.
Already, the praise for Hasek's body of work is already pouring in. Former NHLer and now broadcaster Bill Clement talks about what made the Dominator great.
While in Detroit, his work spread off the ice and he opened his own clothing store, which offers clothes as well as exercise opportunities and the occasional inspirational nugget. A taste: 'Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.' -- Henry Van Dyke
