Dominik Hašek
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Dominik Hašek (born January 29, 1965 in Pardubice, Czech Republic), also known by his nickname The Dominator, is a professional ice hockey goalie; as of 2005, he plays for the NHL Ottawa Senators. He is by far the most successful European goaltender of all time (some would also argue that he could have broken more records than Patrick Roy if he had started his NHL career earlier), and is arguably the top athlete to ever play the position.
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. During the summer of 1993, Hašek was traded to the Buffalo Sabres, where he blossomed into one of the NHL's top goaltenders. During his career, Hašek has won the Vezina Trophy for most outstanding goalie six times (1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001), and has won the Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's most valuable player and Lester B. Pearson Award for the most valuable player in the NHL as selected by the NHLPA twice each (both in 1997 and 1998). He led the NHL in save percentage six times, and has been named to the first team at the all star game five times.
At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hašek led the Czech team to a gold medal, including a shutout of the Russian Federation team during the gold medal game. In 2001 Hašek, having won almost everything but a Stanley Cup, moved to the Detroit Red Wings, the odds-on favourites to win. Hašek's dreams were fulfilled and Detroit won both the Presidents' Trophy and the Stanley Cup.
That summer Hašek retired, but after sitting out a year he returned to Detroit. In the meantime, Detroit had signed Curtis Joseph and thus found itself with two expensive goaltenders, and no other team was willing to accept Joseph's large salary, leading to tension among the Red Wings. The 2003-04 season was problematic for Hašek, as he suffered a number of groin injuries. On January 9, 2004, he and the team agreed he should rest his injured groin 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.
Hašek, despite being one of the greatest goaltenders of his generation, is also known as a problem player. In the middle of the 1996 playoffs he announced he would not play another game with the Buffalo Sabres if coach Ted Nolan was not fired. Hašek carried out his threat and sat in the stands and saw the Sabres lose in the next round. Nolan did not return the next year, upsetting many other Buffalo players that liked him. After the 2001 playoffs he demanded a trade or else he threatened to retire. He got his wish and was moved to the Red Wings.
In April 2004, he underwent groin surgery in Prague, and returned to his hometown of Pardubice to recuperate. On June 17, he told a Czech sports daily that he would not play for the Red Wings in the 2004-05 season (which, as it turned out, was cancelled after the league locked out the players). In the interview, 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 later 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.
