Dominik Hašek
Encyclopedia
Dominik Hašek (ˈdomɪnɪk ˈɦaʃɛk, ; born January 29, 1965) is a Czech
ice hockey
goaltender
who is currently with HC Spartak Moscow
of the KHL
.
In his 16-season National Hockey League
(NHL) career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks
, Buffalo Sabres
, Detroit Red Wings
, and the Ottawa Senators
. During his years in Buffalo, he became one of the league's finest goaltenders, earning him the nickname "The Dominator". His strong play has been credited with establishing European goaltenders in a league widely dominated by North Americans.
Hašek was one of the league's most successful goaltenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. From 1993 to 2001, he won six Vezina Trophies
. In 1998 he won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy
, becoming the first goaltender to win the award multiple times.
During the 1998 Winter Olympics
in Nagano, Japan, he led the Czech national ice hockey team
to its first and only Olympic gold medal. The feat made him a popular figure in his home country and prompted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky
to call him "the best player in the game".
While with the Red Wings in 2002, Hašek became the first European starting goaltender to win the Stanley Cup
.
In the process, he set a record for shutouts in a postseason year.
Hašek is considered an unorthodox goaltender, with a distinct style that has labeled him a "flopper". He is best known for his concentration, foot speed, flexibility, and unconventional saves, such as covering the puck with his blocker rather than his trapper
.
Hašek holds the highest career saving percentage of all time (92.23%) and the second-highest single-season saving percentage (93.66% in 1998–99).
Hašek is regarded as a future Hall of Famer
by those in the hockey world. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest active goalie in the NHL at 43, and the second oldest active player in the league after Red Wings teammate Chris Chelios
, who was 46. Hašek announced his retirement on June 9, 2008,
but on April 21, 2009 he announced a comeback to professional hockey and signed a contract with HC Pardubice
of the Czech Extraliga. On June 7, 2010 he signed with Spartak Moscow of the KHL.
. As he explains:
In 1980, the 16 year old Hašek joined the top hockey league in the country, becoming the youngest hockey player in history to play at the professional level, playing for his home team HC Pardubice
of the Czechoslovak Extraliga
, winning two league titles in 1987 and 1989. The next year, he was drafted by the Czech army to play for Dukla Jihlava. After making his mark and eventually playing for the Czechoslovakian National team, Hašek entered the NHL draft and was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983
. At the time, NHL teams were wary of drafting players from behind the Iron Curtain
who were often unwilling to play in the NHL or barred from doing so by their countries. Consequently, Hašek was picked in the 10th round (199th overall) and was the seventeenth goalie selected. Hašek did not even know he had been drafted until several months later.
Until 1990, Hašek played in his native Czechoslovakia for HC Pardubice
and HC Jihlava
. He was named the top ice hockey player of the Czechoslovak Extraliga in 1987, 1989, and 1990, and Goaltender of the Year from 1986 through 1990. With the end of communist rule
in 1989, the borders of the Soviet Bloc countries opened, allowing Hašek to emigrate to the United States with aspirations of playing in the NHL. His American career began with the Indianapolis Ice
of the IHL, where he played parts of two seasons. His NHL debut with the Blackhawks finally came in the 1990–91 season, eight years after the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.
, and played only 25 games over two seasons with the Blackhawks, splitting time between the Blackhawks and the Indianapolis Ice
of the IHL. On November 6, 1990, wearing the number 34 (31 was worn by Ed Belfour in his rookie year), Hašek made his first NHL start in a 1–1 tie against the Hartford Whalers
.
His first victory came on March 8, 1991, in a 5–3 performance over the Buffalo Sabres, and on January 9, 1992, he recorded his first shutout in a 2–0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs
. During this time with the Blackhawks, his goaltending coach was Vladislav Tretiak
, who was drafted in the same draft as Hašek but never was able to play in the NHL for the same reasons that delayed Hašek's arrival until age 25. His finest performance with the Blackhawks came in game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals when he replaced Ed Belfour and played very well in a losing effort.
and the Pittsburgh Penguins
, Chicago decided to stay with Belfour and Jimmy Waite
. Hašek was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for goalie Stephane Beauregard
and future considerations, which later materialized into a draft pick used to obtain Éric Dazé
. In Buffalo, wearing number 39, he was initially 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 soon developed into a top tier goaltender. In 1994, he won his first Vezina Trophy
, was runner-up for the Hart Trophy and shared the William M. Jennings Trophy
with Fuhr. Hašek played 58 games with a league-best 1.95 goals against average
(GAA), seven shutouts, and a .930 save percentage
. He followed this feat by again winning the Vezina Trophy and again placing as a Hart finalist in 1995.
Hašek's continued success in the 1996–97 season was overshadowed by a conflict with then-head coach Ted Nolan
. The conflict created a tense, clique-like atmosphere in the Sabres' clubhouse.
In game three of the first round series against the Ottawa Senators
, Hašek removed himself in the second period and was replaced by Steve Shields
. Hašek suffered a mild sprain of his right MCL
, and the team doctor pronounced him day-to-day. However, the media and some teammates speculated that Hašek was using his injury to bail out on the team. One such individual was Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley
, who wrote a column which detailed Hašek's injury and his conflict with Nolan, and questioned the goaltender's mental toughness. When Kelley approached Hašek for an interview after a loss in game five of the best-of-seven series, Hašek attacked the journalist and received a three-game suspension and a $10,000 (US) fine as a result of the incident. With Steve Shields in goal, the Sabres fought back against the Senators and took the series in seven games. However, Hašek claimed his knee was still injured and did not play in the five-game loss in the following series against the Philadelphia Flyers
.
Though General Manager John Muckler
was named "Executive of the Year", he was fired for his constant feuding with Nolan. Hašek, who sided with Muckler, stated in an interview during the 1997 NHL Awards Ceremony that it would be better if Nolan was not rehired.
Despite winning the Jack Adams Award
as top coach and being popular with the Sabres fanbase, Nolan was only offered a one-year contract extension by replacement GM Darcy Regier
. He rejected this under the grounds that it was too short, and decided to part ways with the franchise. This upset many fans, who blamed Nolan's departure on Hašek's alleged attempt to rid him.
For the first six weeks of the next season he was booed so vigorously that arena workers would play tapes of a crowd cheering to help balance it out.
As the season progressed, Hašek played well and won back many fans. He won the Vezina Trophy again, as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award
and the Hart Trophy for league MVP. He became one the few goaltenders in NHL history to win the Hart, alongside Al Rollins
and José Théodore
, and Hall of Famers Jacques Plante
, Chuck Rayner
and Roy Worters
.
Hašek played a career high 72 games in the 1997–98 season, and set a team record with 13 shutouts. Six of these shutouts came in December, which tied the all-time NHL record for most in one month. He again won the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Hart Trophy, and the Vezina Trophy, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win the Hart twice. He donated the $10,000 prize money after winning the Pearson Award in 1998 to the Variety Club of Buffalo. In the off-season he signed a $26 million deal, the highest goaltender salary contract at that time. In 1999, Hašek averaged a career best 1.87 GAA and .937 save percentage, capturing him his third consecutive Vezina, and fifth overall. He was also a finalist for the Hart and Pearson trophies. Though the Sabres did not have a stellar regular season and finished with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference
, they defeated the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins
, and Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs en route to a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final against the Presidents' Trophy
-winning Dallas Stars
. The Sabres eventually lost the series four games to two, with the decisive sixth game being one of the longest Stanley Cup playoff games in NHL history. Hašek and Ed Belfour made 50 and 53 saves, respectively, in a sudden-death triple-overtime
duel that only ended when Brett Hull
scored a controversial Cup-winning goal with his foot in the goal crease. The goal was not reviewed immediately, so officials did not notice Hull's foot in the crease until minutes later. After video reviews showed Hull's position, the goal was still upheld, leaving the Sabres infuriated. Hašek commented, "Maybe [the video goal judge] was in the bathroom. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he doesn't know the rule." The following season, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman
announced that video replays would no longer be used to judge if players are in the crease or not, and that it would be a judgment call by the officiating crew. After the season ended, Hašek contemplated retirement because of a combination of injuries and a desire to become more involved in his family life. The announcement stunned many of his teammates, particularly Mike Peca and Jason Woolley
.
In the 1999–2000 season, Hašek was hampered by a nagging groin injury. He missed forty games and failed to win a major NHL award for the first time in several years. Though he healed in time for the playoffs, the Sabres were eliminated in the first round in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers
. In 2000–01—his final season with Buffalo—Hašek set a modern era record by collecting his sixth Vezina Trophy. He also won his second William M. Jennings Trophy
. The Sabres played Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs again, where Hašek outplayed his 1998 Olympic back-up Roman Čechmánek
. In the clinching sixth game, Hašek recorded a shutout against the Flyers. In the second round, the Sabres played a seven-game series against Mario Lemieux
's Pittsburgh Penguins
, which culminated with the Penguins winning the final game in overtime.
, a first round selection in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft
and future considerations, which eventually became the draft pick of Jim Slater. During his first season with Detroit
, Hašek posted a career high 41 wins with just 15 losses, helping the Red Wings earn the President's Trophy with the league's best record. In the playoffs, he led the Wings past the Vancouver Canucks
, the St. Louis Blues, the Colorado Avalanche
and eventually the Carolina Hurricanes
in the finals to win the Stanley Cup
. During the conference finals against Colorado, he became the first goalie to be awarded an assist on an overtime game-winning goal in the post-season after passing the puck to Wings captain Steve Yzerman
, who then assisted Fredrik Olausson
in scoring the final goal of the third game of that series. He also set a record for most shutouts in a post-season with six, broken the year after by Martin Brodeur
with seven.
That summer, Hašek officially announced his retirement so that he could spend time with his family and other hobbies.
However, after Detroit's first round loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
in the following season, he expressed his desire to play again. This created a difficult situation for the Red Wings, who had two years left on Curtis Joseph
's three-year $24 million contract, which had a no-trade clause. Detroit was also under pressure knowing that the rival Colorado Avalanche would be looking for a goalie to replace Patrick Roy
after his retirement. With Manny Legacé
also on the Wings' roster, Detroit now had three potential starting goalies.
In the 2003–04 season
Hašek injured his groin after playing just 14 games. On January 9, he and the team agreed he should rest his injury for two to four weeks. Hašek privately told general manager Ken Holland
that he would not accept any pay while he was injured. On February 10, he announced that he was not going to continue to play that season, surprising the Red Wings management. He eventually revealed that he refused about $3 million of his $6 million salary. In April 2004, he underwent groin surgery in Prague
, and returned to his hometown of Pardubice to recuperate.
to the St. Louis Blues, the Senators signed Hašek to a one-year deal.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Hašek toured with the Primus Worldstars. Similar to the tour
Wayne Gretzky and IMG
formed during the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the Primus Worldstars Tour ran December 7–23, playing in seven different countries (Riga, Latvia; Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia; Bratislava, Slovakia; Bern, Switzerland; Karlstad, Jonkoping and Linkoping, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Katowice, Poland) in ten scheduled games. The tour competed against all-star teams or club teams of each country.
Hašek played increasingly well for the Senators up until the 2006 Winter Olympics
in Turin
. During the season, he reached 300 career wins, and his GAA and save percentage were the second-best in the league. Upon departure to Turin, Hašek's equipment was accidentally left behind in Ottawa
. This caused Hašek to miss a number of practices with the Czech National team. At the Winter Olympics, he injured his right adductor muscle
while making a save in the first qualifying match against Germany, forcing him to leave the game after only 9 minutes and 25 seconds.
Hašek's injury caused him to miss the rest of the regular season and post-season, despite several rumours that he would return in
time for the playoffs
. He said that if he were to be re-signed, he would play for a base salary of
$500,000 with bonuses.
After the Senators were eliminated in the second round, they opted not to re-sign Hašek, despite Hašek's willingness to take a pay cut.
contract, with added bonuses if the team succeeded in the playoffs. He posted 38 wins and a 2.05 GAA while leading the Red Wings to
the number one seed in the Western Conference
. He also broke his own personal record by going 181 minutes and 17 seconds without allowing a goal.
Midway through the regular season, the team announced that to avoid injury and preserve Hašek for the playoffs, he would not play on consecutive nights. He played his first consecutive nights of the season on April 21 and 22 against the Calgary Flames
in games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Hašek won both games, clinching the series for Detroit. In the next round against the San Jose Sharks
, the Red Wings were on the road and down two games to one, but Hašek held the Sharks to three goals in the next three games. His 28-save shutout in game six tied him for sixth place on the all-time NHL playoff shutouts list and sent the Red Wings to the Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks
. However, Hašek and the Red Wings lost in six games to the Ducks, who eventually defeated the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup.
Hašek contemplated retirement in the 2007 offseason, but on July 5, 2007, he signed a one-year contract with Detroit worth $2 million with up to $2 million in bonuses,
reportedly turning down $5 million for salary cap room for the rest of the Red Wings' roster.
During the 2007–08 season, he was replaced by backup Chris Osgood
. When Hašek recovered and got back into his stride, Detroit chose to alternate goaltenders in tandem instead of designating either as the backup. Detroit coach Mike Babcock
announced Hašek to start in the 2008 playoffs
. Through the first two games against the Nashville Predators
, the Red Wings were victorious, but after a lackluster performance in the next two, Osgood was declared as the number one goaltender for the playoffs. Despite expressing disappointment at losing his starting position, Hašek maintained his professionalism in practice and continued to support his teammates, with Darren McCarty
citing close relationship between Hašek and Osgood. Eventually the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins
in six games for the Stanley Cup.
On June 9, 2008, Hašek announced his retirement from the NHL, only five days after winning his second Stanley Cup
with the Detroit Red Wings
, saying he lacked the motivation for another year in the NHL. With Osgood, the two were awarded the William Jennings Trophy for least goals against on a team in the season. Hašek is expected to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
in his first year of eligibility.
.
Hašek's most memorable international performance came in the 1998 Winter Olympics
, where he led the Czech national team to the gold medal. He allowed six goals in total, with only two of them coming in the medal round. Against Team Canada in the semifinals, Hašek stopped Theoren Fleury
, Ray Bourque
, Joe Nieuwendyk
, Eric Lindros
and Brendan Shanahan
in a dramatic shootout win. He then shut out the Russian team 1–0 in the final game, stopping 20 shots. He was later announced as the best goaltender in the Olympics. After he won the gold, he was quoted as saying:
His play made him one of the most popular figures in the Czech Republic, so much so that residents chanted "Hašek to the castle!" in the streets. In response to this, Hašek called the country's president Václav Havel
and jokingly told him that his job was not in jeopardy.
He also helped to inspire an opera (titled Nagano) about the Czech team's gold medal victory,
and in 2003, Petr Pravec
and Lenka Šarounová
named an asteroid
(8217 Dominikhašek
) in his honour.
In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
, Italy, Hašek played for just nine minutes and twenty-five seconds, until he injured his right adductor muscle
.
Despite his absence, the Czechs managed to earn the bronze medal with backup goaltender Tomáš Vokoun
, which Hašek received as well.
He is extraordinarily flexible and was jokingly described in a MasterCard
commercial as having "a Slinky
for a spine".
In order to cover the bottom of the net, where most goals are scored, Hašek drops down on almost every shot
. His "flopping" style is derived from him flailing in the crease, using every part of his body, including his head, to stop the puck. Hašek occasionally drops his stick and covers the puck with his stick hand, whereas most goaltenders would use the glove hand instead.
In response to the speculation he receives from his style, Hašek explained:
Hašek's unique style has attracted fans to games.
Because of his flexibility, Hašek can make difficult saves that other goalies cannot—an opposing coach once referred to them as "miracle saves". These types of saves include toe-stops, snagging pucks from behind his back, and a desperation maneuver known as the "Hašek roll". Hašek is also known for his strict regimen of conditioning
. During the off-season between May and September 2006, he lost a considerable amount of weight to increase his flexibility. Hašek was one of the last goaltenders to wear a helmet-and-cage combo rather than a contemporary hybrid goalie mask
.
and inline hockey
, where he plays defense. When he was younger, Hašek played competitive football as a midfielder, and was a junior tennis
champion in Eastern Bohemia
.
His brother Martin
is also a competitive athlete and played for the Czech Republic football team AC Sparta Prague before retiring and eventually deciding to coach. Cousin Ivan Hašek
also played professional football. Hobby-wise, Hašek claims that he has been a fan of professional wrestling since his Buffalo days, and says that he mostly follows his favorite wrestlers, Stone Cold Steve Austin
and Don "The Rock" Muraco
. He and his son were seen many times throughout the night at WrestleMania 23
in the front row at Ford Field
.
Because of his formal education, Hašek stands out among Czech sportsmen. He earned a university degree
after studying history and the Czech language
in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové
, which qualified him to be a teacher, and led him to teach high school classes. Hašek also has a brand of sportswear named Dominator Clothing, which was launched shortly after the Nagano Olympics in 1998 and is popular among Dominik's fans in the Czech Republic. It also had two locations in Michigan
for a short time. In May 2001, Hašek founded the Dominik Hašek Youth Hockey League/Hašek's Heroes, and donated over $1 million to help underprivileged children in Buffalo play hockey.
In 1998, he also organized a charity hockey game in Prague, and donated the profits to hospitals in the Czech Republic.
Hašek is known to appreciate humor to keep team spirits up, and often jokes about his resemblance to Cosmo Kramer
of Seinfeld
. In the late 1990s, he was featured in a Mastercard
commercial that praised his flexibility. On November 26, 2006, Mark Parisi
's comic panel off the mark
featured a comic about Hašek's childhood.
Throughout his long career, Hašek has been represented by agent Ritch Winter
.
born goaltender (694)
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
ice hockey
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
goaltender
Goaltender
In ice hockey, the goaltender is the player who defends his team's goal net by stopping shots of the puck from entering his team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring...
who is currently with HC Spartak Moscow
HC Spartak Moscow
HC Spartak is a professional ice hockey team based in Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League .-History:One of the sections of the Spartak Moscow sports club, HC Spartak Moscow was established in 1946...
of the KHL
Kontinental Hockey League
The Kontinental Hockey League is an international professional ice hockey league in Eurasia founded in 2008. As of 2009, it is ranked as the strongest hockey league in Europe....
.
In his 16-season National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, Buffalo Sabres
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:...
, Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, and the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. During his years in Buffalo, he became one of the league's finest goaltenders, earning him the nickname "The Dominator". His strong play has been credited with establishing European goaltenders in a league widely dominated by North Americans.
Hašek was one of the league's most successful goaltenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. From 1993 to 2001, he won six Vezina Trophies
Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team...
. In 1998 he won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy
Hart Memorial Trophy
The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different...
, becoming the first goaltender to win the award multiple times.
During the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics was played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena in Nagano, Japan.-Men's tournament:The 1998 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament was the first in which professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate, allowing national teams to...
in Nagano, Japan, he led the Czech national ice hockey team
Czech national ice hockey team
The Czech men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world, currently ranked fifth by the IIHF, behind Finland. It is controlled by the Czech Ice Hockey Association...
to its first and only Olympic gold medal. The feat made him a popular figure in his home country and prompted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Gretzky
Wayne Douglas Gretzky, CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. Nicknamed "The Great One", he is generally regarded as the best player in the history of the National Hockey League , and has been called "the greatest hockey player ever" by many sportswriters,...
to call him "the best player in the game".
While with the Red Wings in 2002, Hašek became the first European starting goaltender to win the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
.
In the process, he set a record for shutouts in a postseason year.
Hašek is considered an unorthodox goaltender, with a distinct style that has labeled him a "flopper". He is best known for his concentration, foot speed, flexibility, and unconventional saves, such as covering the puck with his blocker rather than his trapper
Glove (hockey)
There are three styles of gloves worn by ice hockey players. Skaters wear similar gloves on each hand, while goaltenders wear gloves of different types on each hand.-Skaters' gloves:...
.
Hašek holds the highest career saving percentage of all time (92.23%) and the second-highest single-season saving percentage (93.66% in 1998–99).
Hašek is regarded as a future Hall of Famer
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
by those in the hockey world. At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest active goalie in the NHL at 43, and the second oldest active player in the league after Red Wings teammate Chris Chelios
Chris Chelios
Christos Kostas Tselios is a retired American professional ice hockey defenseman. He is currently the Executive Advisor to Ken Holland, the general manager of the Detroit Red Wings, a role that Steve Yzerman held before leaving to become general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.Chelios played...
, who was 46. Hašek announced his retirement on June 9, 2008,
but on April 21, 2009 he announced a comeback to professional hockey and signed a contract with HC Pardubice
HC Pardubice
HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is...
of the Czech Extraliga. On June 7, 2010 he signed with Spartak Moscow of the KHL.
Early life
Hašek started playing hockey at the age of six in his native CzechoslovakiaCzechoslovak Socialist Republic
The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 until end of 1989 , a Soviet satellite state of the Eastern Bloc....
. As he explains:
In 1980, the 16 year old Hašek joined the top hockey league in the country, becoming the youngest hockey player in history to play at the professional level, playing for his home team HC Pardubice
HC Pardubice
HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is...
of the Czechoslovak Extraliga
Czechoslovak Extraliga
The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1930 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split.-See also:...
, winning two league titles in 1987 and 1989. The next year, he was drafted by the Czech army to play for Dukla Jihlava. After making his mark and eventually playing for the Czechoslovakian National team, Hašek entered the NHL draft and was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983
1983 NHL Entry Draft
The 1983 NHL Entry Draft was held at the Montreal Forum in Montreal, Quebec, on June 8, 1983. The NHL Entry Draft is the primary means by which players arrive in the National Hockey League. The St. Louis Blues did not participate in this draft, shortly after the league blocked the franchise's...
. At the time, NHL teams were wary of drafting players from behind the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
who were often unwilling to play in the NHL or barred from doing so by their countries. Consequently, Hašek was picked in the 10th round (199th overall) and was the seventeenth goalie selected. Hašek did not even know he had been drafted until several months later.
Until 1990, Hašek played in his native Czechoslovakia for HC Pardubice
HC Pardubice
HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is...
and HC Jihlava
HC Jihlava
HC Dukla Jihlava, founded in 1956, is an ice hockey team in the Czech Republic. It won the Czechoslovak Extraliga title 12 times: six consecutive championships beginning in 1967, then in 1974, four consecutive championships beginning in 1982, and again in 1991. As of 2006, HC Jihlava plays in...
. He was named the top ice hockey player of the Czechoslovak Extraliga in 1987, 1989, and 1990, and Goaltender of the Year from 1986 through 1990. With the end of communist rule
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
in 1989, the borders of the Soviet Bloc countries opened, allowing Hašek to emigrate to the United States with aspirations of playing in the NHL. His American career began with the Indianapolis Ice
Indianapolis Ice
The Indianapolis Ice is the name of a former hockey team in Indianapolis, Indiana, that played in the International Hockey League from 1988–99 and in the Central Hockey League from 1999–2004. Their original home arena was the Indiana State Fairgrounds Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds...
of the IHL, where he played parts of two seasons. His NHL debut with the Blackhawks finally came in the 1990–91 season, eight years after the 1983 NHL Entry Draft.
Chicago Blackhawks (1990-1992)
In Chicago, Hašek spent time as the backup to Ed BelfourEd Belfour
Edward John Belfour is a former Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender.Belfour was born in Carman, Manitoba and grew up playing hockey. He played junior hockey for the Winkler Flyers before going to the University of North Dakota where he helped the school win the NCAA championship in the...
, and played only 25 games over two seasons with the Blackhawks, splitting time between the Blackhawks and the Indianapolis Ice
Indianapolis Ice
The Indianapolis Ice is the name of a former hockey team in Indianapolis, Indiana, that played in the International Hockey League from 1988–99 and in the Central Hockey League from 1999–2004. Their original home arena was the Indiana State Fairgrounds Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds...
of the IHL. On November 6, 1990, wearing the number 34 (31 was worn by Ed Belfour in his rookie year), Hašek made his first NHL start in a 1–1 tie against the Hartford Whalers
Hartford Whalers
The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.A.. The club played in the World Hockey Association from 1972–79 and in the National Hockey League from 1979–97...
.
His first victory came on March 8, 1991, in a 5–3 performance over the Buffalo Sabres, and on January 9, 1992, he recorded his first shutout in a 2–0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. During this time with the Blackhawks, his goaltending coach was Vladislav Tretiak
Vladislav Tretiak
Vladislav Aleksandrovich Tretiak, MSM is a former goaltender for the Soviet Union's national ice hockey team. Considered to be one of the greatest goaltenders in the history of the sport, he was voted one of six players to the International Ice Hockey Federation's Centennial All-Star Team in a...
, who was drafted in the same draft as Hašek but never was able to play in the NHL for the same reasons that delayed Hašek's arrival until age 25. His finest performance with the Blackhawks came in game 4 of the 1992 Stanley Cup Finals when he replaced Ed Belfour and played very well in a losing effort.
Buffalo Sabres (1992–2001)
After the Stanley Cup finals loss to Mario LemieuxMario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...
and the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
, Chicago decided to stay with Belfour and Jimmy Waite
Jimmy Waite
James Dean Waite is a retired goaltender.-Career:Waite was one of the highest-rated goalies in the late 1980s and many scouts believed he had the potential to become a star...
. Hašek was traded to the Buffalo Sabres for goalie Stephane Beauregard
Stephane Beauregard
Stephane Beauregard is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender.-Playing career:Winnipeg Jets 3rd choice, 52nd overall, in 1988 Entry Draft. Traded to Buffalo Sabres for Christian Ruuttu and future considerations, June 15, 1992...
and future considerations, which later materialized into a draft pick used to obtain Éric Dazé
Eric Daze
Éric Dazé is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League for eleven seasons.- Playing career :...
. In Buffalo, wearing number 39, he was initially the backup goaltender, first playing behind Tom Draper
Tom Draper
Thomas Edward Draper is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He was chosen in the eighth round, 165th overall,and the 8th pick by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. On February 28, 1991 the Jets traded Tom to the St. Louis Blues for future considerations...
and then Grant Fuhr
Grant Fuhr
Grant Scott Fuhr is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender in the National Hockey League and currently the goaltending coach for the Phoenix Coyotes. In 2003, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame...
. When Fuhr was injured partway through the season, Hašek was elevated to starter, where he soon developed into a top tier goaltender. In 1994, he won his first Vezina Trophy
Vezina Trophy
The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team...
, was runner-up for the Hart Trophy and shared the William M. Jennings Trophy
William M. Jennings Trophy
The William M. Jennings Trophy is an annual National Hockey League award given to "the goalkeeper having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. Winners are selected based on regular-season play." From 1946 until 1981, the Vezina Trophy had been awarded...
with Fuhr. Hašek played 58 games with a league-best 1.95 goals against average
Goals against average
Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender....
(GAA), seven shutouts, and a .930 save percentage
Save percentage
Save percentage is an ice hockey and lacrosse statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal a goaltender stops...
. He followed this feat by again winning the Vezina Trophy and again placing as a Hart finalist in 1995.
Hašek's continued success in the 1996–97 season was overshadowed by a conflict with then-head coach Ted Nolan
Ted Nolan
Theodore John Nolan is currently the Head Coach of Latvia men's national ice hockey team...
. The conflict created a tense, clique-like atmosphere in the Sabres' clubhouse.
In game three of the first round series against the Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, Hašek removed himself in the second period and was replaced by Steve Shields
Steve Shields (hockey player)
Steven Charles Shields is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender.-Playing career:Shields grew up in North Bay, Ontario playing minor hockey until Bantam with the local Athletics AA program of the NOHA. At age 16, Shields moved to southern Ontario to play for the St. Marys Lincolns...
. Hašek suffered a mild sprain of his right MCL
Medial collateral ligament
The medial collateral ligament of the knee is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial side of the knee joint in humans and other primates. It is also known as the tibial collateral ligament, or abbreviated as the MCL.- Structure :It is a broad, flat, membranous band,...
, and the team doctor pronounced him day-to-day. However, the media and some teammates speculated that Hašek was using his injury to bail out on the team. One such individual was Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley
Jim Kelley
James Thomas "Jim" Kelley, Jr. was a professional sports news columnist whose 30-year career focused primarily on the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League, and the greater Buffalo area...
, who wrote a column which detailed Hašek's injury and his conflict with Nolan, and questioned the goaltender's mental toughness. When Kelley approached Hašek for an interview after a loss in game five of the best-of-seven series, Hašek attacked the journalist and received a three-game suspension and a $10,000 (US) fine as a result of the incident. With Steve Shields in goal, the Sabres fought back against the Senators and took the series in seven games. However, Hašek claimed his knee was still injured and did not play in the five-game loss in the following series against the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
Though General Manager John Muckler
John Muckler
John Muckler is a professional hockey coach and executive, most recently serving as the general manager of the Ottawa Senators of the NHL. Muckler has over 50 years of professional hockey experience as a part owner, general manager, director of player personnel, director of hockey operations, head...
was named "Executive of the Year", he was fired for his constant feuding with Nolan. Hašek, who sided with Muckler, stated in an interview during the 1997 NHL Awards Ceremony that it would be better if Nolan was not rehired.
Despite winning the Jack Adams Award
Jack Adams Award
The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success." It has been awarded 37 times to 32 different coaches. The winner is selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association at the end of the...
as top coach and being popular with the Sabres fanbase, Nolan was only offered a one-year contract extension by replacement GM Darcy Regier
Darcy Regier
Darcy John Regier is the current general manager of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. He also played 26 games in the NHL for the Cleveland Barons and New York Islanders as a defenceman...
. He rejected this under the grounds that it was too short, and decided to part ways with the franchise. This upset many fans, who blamed Nolan's departure on Hašek's alleged attempt to rid him.
For the first six weeks of the next season he was booed so vigorously that arena workers would play tapes of a crowd cheering to help balance it out.
As the season progressed, Hašek played well and won back many fans. He won the Vezina Trophy again, as well as the Lester B. Pearson Award
Lester B. Pearson Award
The Ted Lindsay Award, formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the NHL Players Association. It has been awarded 40 times to 23 different players since its beginnings...
and the Hart Trophy for league MVP. He became one the few goaltenders in NHL history to win the Hart, alongside Al Rollins
Al Rollins
Elwin Ira Rollins was a professional Canadian ice hockey goaltender who played for the Chicago Black Hawks, New York Rangers and the Toronto Maple Leafs.-Playing career:...
and José Théodore
José Théodore
José Théodore is a French Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League...
, and Hall of Famers Jacques Plante
Jacques Plante
Joseph Jacques Omer Plante was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. During a career lasting from 1947–1975, he was considered to be one of the most important innovators in hockey...
, Chuck Rayner
Chuck Rayner
Claude Earl "Charlie, Chuck" Rayner was a Canadian professional hockey goaltender who played 9 seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Americans and New York Rangers...
and Roy Worters
Roy Worters
Roy "Shrimp" Worters was a Canadian professional Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender who played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Canadiens and New York Americans, and was notable for recording 66 shutouts in his career and being, at 5'3" tall, the...
.
Hašek played a career high 72 games in the 1997–98 season, and set a team record with 13 shutouts. Six of these shutouts came in December, which tied the all-time NHL record for most in one month. He again won the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Hart Trophy, and the Vezina Trophy, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win the Hart twice. He donated the $10,000 prize money after winning the Pearson Award in 1998 to the Variety Club of Buffalo. In the off-season he signed a $26 million deal, the highest goaltender salary contract at that time. In 1999, Hašek averaged a career best 1.87 GAA and .937 save percentage, capturing him his third consecutive Vezina, and fifth overall. He was also a finalist for the Hart and Pearson trophies. Though the Sabres did not have a stellar regular season and finished with the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference
Eastern Conference (NHL)
The Eastern Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Western Conference....
, they defeated the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
, and Toronto Maple Leafs in the playoffs en route to a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final against the Presidents' Trophy
Presidents' Trophy
The Presidents' Trophy is an award presented by the National Hockey League to the team that finishes with the most points in the league during the regular season. If two teams tie for the most points, then the trophy goes to the team with the most wins. The winning team is also awarded C$350,000...
-winning Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The team was founded during the 1967 NHL expansion as the Minnesota North Stars, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The...
. The Sabres eventually lost the series four games to two, with the decisive sixth game being one of the longest Stanley Cup playoff games in NHL history. Hašek and Ed Belfour made 50 and 53 saves, respectively, in a sudden-death triple-overtime
Overtime (ice hockey)
Overtime is a method of determining the winner and loser of an ice hockey match when the scores are tied after regulation. The two main methods are the overtime period and the shootout.-Overtime periods:...
duel that only ended when Brett Hull
Brett Hull
Brett Andrew Hull is a former Canadian-American NHL player and the former Executive Vice President of the Dallas Stars. He is the son of Bobby Hull and nephew of Dennis Hull, both former NHL players. Hull is also known as "The Golden Brett," which is a play off of his father's nickname, "The...
scored a controversial Cup-winning goal with his foot in the goal crease. The goal was not reviewed immediately, so officials did not notice Hull's foot in the crease until minutes later. After video reviews showed Hull's position, the goal was still upheld, leaving the Sabres infuriated. Hašek commented, "Maybe [the video goal judge] was in the bathroom. Maybe he was sleeping. Maybe he doesn't know the rule." The following season, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman
Gary Bettman
Gary Bruce Bettman is the commissioner of the National Hockey League , a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice-president and general counsel to the National Basketball Association...
announced that video replays would no longer be used to judge if players are in the crease or not, and that it would be a judgment call by the officiating crew. After the season ended, Hašek contemplated retirement because of a combination of injuries and a desire to become more involved in his family life. The announcement stunned many of his teammates, particularly Mike Peca and Jason Woolley
Jason Woolley
Jason Woolley is a retired Canadian ice hockey defenceman.- Playing career :Woolley attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI before the Washington Capitals selected him 61st overall in the 1989 NHL Draft. Woolley's most productive NHL season was his 1998–99 campaign with the Buffalo...
.
In the 1999–2000 season, Hašek was hampered by a nagging groin injury. He missed forty games and failed to win a major NHL award for the first time in several years. Though he healed in time for the playoffs, the Sabres were eliminated in the first round in five games by the Philadelphia Flyers
Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
. In 2000–01—his final season with Buffalo—Hašek set a modern era record by collecting his sixth Vezina Trophy. He also won his second William M. Jennings Trophy
William M. Jennings Trophy
The William M. Jennings Trophy is an annual National Hockey League award given to "the goalkeeper having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. Winners are selected based on regular-season play." From 1946 until 1981, the Vezina Trophy had been awarded...
. The Sabres played Philadelphia in the first round of the playoffs again, where Hašek outplayed his 1998 Olympic back-up Roman Čechmánek
Roman Cechmanek
Roman Čechmánek is a former Czech professional ice hockey goaltender. He played professionally in the United States, Czech Republic, and Germany. He was born in Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia.-Playing career:...
. In the clinching sixth game, Hašek recorded a shutout against the Flyers. In the second round, the Sabres played a seven-game series against Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux
Mario Lemieux, OC, CQ is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. He is acknowledged to be one of the best players of all time. He played 17 seasons as a forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League between 1984 and 2006...
's Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
, which culminated with the Penguins winning the final game in overtime.
Detroit Red Wings (2001-2004)
Before the start of the next season, Hašek was traded to the Detroit Red Wings in an attempt to lower the Sabres' payroll and to send Hašek to a more competitive team. He was dealt for Vyacheslav KozlovVyacheslav Kozlov
Vyacheslav Anatolevich 'Slava' Kozlov is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger who plays for Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion from his years playing with the Detroit Red Wings. He has also played for the Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers...
, a first round selection in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft
2002 NHL Entry Draft
The 2002 NHL Entry Draft was held June 22–23 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada. 291 players were drafted in total: 35 from the OHL; 23 from the QMJHL; 43 from the WHL; 41 from the NCAA; 6 from U.S high schools and 110 from outside North America....
and future considerations, which eventually became the draft pick of Jim Slater. During his first season with Detroit
2001–02 Detroit Red Wings season
The 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings season was the 76th National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. The Wings scored 116 points, winning the Central Division, their third Presidents' Trophy, and home ice throughout the playoffs...
, Hašek posted a career high 41 wins with just 15 losses, helping the Red Wings earn the President's Trophy with the league's best record. In the playoffs, he led the Wings past the Vancouver Canucks
Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver, :British Columbia, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Canucks play their home games at Rogers Arena, formerly known as General Motors Place,...
, the St. Louis Blues, the Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
and eventually the Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
in the finals to win the Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
. During the conference finals against Colorado, he became the first goalie to be awarded an assist on an overtime game-winning goal in the post-season after passing the puck to Wings captain Steve Yzerman
Steve Yzerman
Stephen Gregory "Steve" Yzerman is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player and current general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League...
, who then assisted Fredrik Olausson
Fredrik Olausson
Fredrik K. G. Olausson is a Swedish former ice hockey player from Nybro, currently assistant coach-player for HV71 in the Swedish elite league Elitserien.- Playing career :...
in scoring the final goal of the third game of that series. He also set a record for most shutouts in a post-season with six, broken the year after by Martin Brodeur
Martin Brodeur
Martin Pierre Brodeur is a French-Canadian ice hockey goaltender who has played his entire National Hockey League career with the New Jersey Devils. In his 19-year tenure with the Devils, he has won three Stanley Cup championships and has been in the playoffs every year but two...
with seven.
That summer, Hašek officially announced his retirement so that he could spend time with his family and other hobbies.
However, after Detroit's first round loss to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
in the following season, he expressed his desire to play again. This created a difficult situation for the Red Wings, who had two years left on Curtis Joseph
Curtis Joseph
Curtis Shayne Joseph is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He last played for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League....
's three-year $24 million contract, which had a no-trade clause. Detroit was also under pressure knowing that the rival Colorado Avalanche would be looking for a goalie to replace Patrick Roy
Patrick Roy
Patrick Edward Armand Roy is a former Canadian ice hockey goaltender. Nicknamed "Saint Patrick," Roy split his professional career between the Montreal Canadiens, whom he played with for 10 years, and the Colorado Avalanche, whom he played with for 8 years, both of the National Hockey League...
after his retirement. With Manny Legacé
Manny Legacé
Emmanuel Legace, is a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League. He most recently played in the National Hockey League for the Carolina Hurricanes. He has also played in the National Hockey League for the Los...
also on the Wings' roster, Detroit now had three potential starting goalies.
In the 2003–04 season
2003–04 Detroit Red Wings season
The 2003–04 Detroit Red Wings season was the 78th National Hockey League season in Detroit, Michigan. Despite multiple injuries to key players, the Wings found themselves once again winning the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular season record in the NHL, scoring 109 points...
Hašek injured his groin after playing just 14 games. On January 9, he and the team agreed he should rest his injury for two to four weeks. Hašek privately told general manager Ken Holland
Ken Holland
Kenneth Mark Holland is a retired Canadian professional goaltender and current General Manager and executive Vice President of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Holland was drafted in the 12th round, 188th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1975 NHL Entry Draft...
that he would not accept any pay while he was injured. On February 10, he announced that he was not going to continue to play that season, surprising the Red Wings management. He eventually revealed that he refused about $3 million of his $6 million salary. In April 2004, he underwent groin surgery in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, and returned to his hometown of Pardubice to recuperate.
Ottawa Senators (2005-2006)
After his contract with the Wings expired, Hašek announced his intention to play for a Stanley Cup contender, and specifically named the Ottawa Senators as a possibility. On July 6, 2004, after trading Patrick LalimePatrick Lalime
Patrick Lalime is a Canadian professional ice hockey broadcaster and former player. Lalime played twelve seasons in the National Hockey League with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ottawa Senators, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks and Buffalo Sabres...
to the St. Louis Blues, the Senators signed Hašek to a one-year deal.
During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Hašek toured with the Primus Worldstars. Similar to the tour
Ninety Nine All Stars Tour
The Ninety Nine All Stars Tour was a tour of ice hockey exhibition games where the team Ninety Nine All Stars was touring five countries during the 1994–95 NHL lockout. It was formed by Wayne Gretzky and some of his personal friends. The purposes were to stay in shape during the lockout, raise...
Wayne Gretzky and IMG
IMG (business)
IMG, originally known as the International Management Group is a global sports and media business headquartered in New York City.-History:...
formed during the 1994–95 NHL lockout, the Primus Worldstars Tour ran December 7–23, playing in seven different countries (Riga, Latvia; Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia; Bratislava, Slovakia; Bern, Switzerland; Karlstad, Jonkoping and Linkoping, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Katowice, Poland) in ten scheduled games. The tour competed against all-star teams or club teams of each country.
Hašek played increasingly well for the Senators up until the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
. During the season, he reached 300 career wins, and his GAA and save percentage were the second-best in the league. Upon departure to Turin, Hašek's equipment was accidentally left behind in Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
. This caused Hašek to miss a number of practices with the Czech National team. At the Winter Olympics, he injured his right adductor muscle
Adductor muscles of the hip
In human anatomy, the adductor muscles of the hip is a group of muscles of the thigh.-Muscles:The adductor group is made up of:*Adductor brevis*Adductor longus*Adductor magnus*Adductor minimus This is often considered to be a part of adductor magnus....
while making a save in the first qualifying match against Germany, forcing him to leave the game after only 9 minutes and 25 seconds.
Hašek's injury caused him to miss the rest of the regular season and post-season, despite several rumours that he would return in
time for the playoffs
2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League championship began on April 21, 2006, following the 2005–06 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, seeded one through eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series with re-seeding after the conference quarterfinals...
. He said that if he were to be re-signed, he would play for a base salary of
$500,000 with bonuses.
After the Senators were eliminated in the second round, they opted not to re-sign Hašek, despite Hašek's willingness to take a pay cut.
Detroit Red Wings (2006-2008)
On July 31, 2006, at the age of 41, Hašek joined the Red Wings for the second time. He signed a one-year $750,000 UScontract, with added bonuses if the team succeeded in the playoffs. He posted 38 wins and a 2.05 GAA while leading the Red Wings to
the number one seed in the Western Conference
Western Conference (NHL)
The Western Conference is one of two conferences in the National Hockey League used to divide teams. Its counterpart is the Eastern Conference....
. He also broke his own personal record by going 181 minutes and 17 seconds without allowing a goal.
Midway through the regular season, the team announced that to avoid injury and preserve Hašek for the playoffs, he would not play on consecutive nights. He played his first consecutive nights of the season on April 21 and 22 against the Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
in games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Hašek won both games, clinching the series for Detroit. In the next round against the San Jose Sharks
San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
, the Red Wings were on the road and down two games to one, but Hašek held the Sharks to three goals in the next three games. His 28-save shutout in game six tied him for sixth place on the all-time NHL playoff shutouts list and sent the Red Wings to the Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California, USA. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
. However, Hašek and the Red Wings lost in six games to the Ducks, who eventually defeated the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup.
Hašek contemplated retirement in the 2007 offseason, but on July 5, 2007, he signed a one-year contract with Detroit worth $2 million with up to $2 million in bonuses,
reportedly turning down $5 million for salary cap room for the rest of the Red Wings' roster.
During the 2007–08 season, he was replaced by backup Chris Osgood
Chris Osgood
Christopher John Osgood is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender. He's currently ranked tenth in wins in NHL regular season history with 401 career wins. He spent the first part of his 17-year NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings, then the New York Islanders and the St. Louis...
. When Hašek recovered and got back into his stride, Detroit chose to alternate goaltenders in tandem instead of designating either as the backup. Detroit coach Mike Babcock
Mike Babcock
Michael "Mike" Babcock, Jr. is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach of the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League and former player. He serves as head coach of the Red Wings. He also served as the head coach of Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver...
announced Hašek to start in the 2008 playoffs
2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs
The 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 9, 2008, after the 2007–08 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions...
. Through the first two games against the Nashville Predators
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League...
, the Red Wings were victorious, but after a lackluster performance in the next two, Osgood was declared as the number one goaltender for the playoffs. Despite expressing disappointment at losing his starting position, Hašek maintained his professionalism in practice and continued to support his teammates, with Darren McCarty
Darren McCarty
Darren McCarty is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey forward, best known for his years playing with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League...
citing close relationship between Hašek and Osgood. Eventually the Red Wings beat the Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original...
in six games for the Stanley Cup.
On June 9, 2008, Hašek announced his retirement from the NHL, only five days after winning his second Stanley Cup
Stanley Cup
The Stanley Cup is an ice hockey club trophy, awarded annually to the National Hockey League playoffs champion after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. It has been referred to as The Cup, Lord Stanley's Cup, The Holy Grail, or facetiously as Lord Stanley's Mug...
with the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, saying he lacked the motivation for another year in the NHL. With Osgood, the two were awarded the William Jennings Trophy for least goals against on a team in the season. Hašek is expected to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame
Hockey Hall of Fame
The Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it is both a museum and a hall of fame. It holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League records, memorabilia and NHL trophies, including the Stanley Cup...
in his first year of eligibility.
Out of retirement in Europe
In April 2009, Hašek once again came out of retirement and signed a one-year contract with HC Moeller Pardubice, the club where he started his long career. In the 2009–10 season he led his team to win Czech league title. Hašek had three shutouts in the playoffs, one in the finals, while his Pardubice lost just one game in the playoffs before claiming 12 consecutive wins. For the 2010-2011 hockey season, Hasek signed a one-year contract with HC Spartak MoscowHC Spartak Moscow
HC Spartak is a professional ice hockey team based in Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League .-History:One of the sections of the Spartak Moscow sports club, HC Spartak Moscow was established in 1946...
.
International play
Hašek's most memorable international performance came in the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics was played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena in Nagano, Japan.-Men's tournament:The 1998 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament was the first in which professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate, allowing national teams to...
, where he led the Czech national team to the gold medal. He allowed six goals in total, with only two of them coming in the medal round. Against Team Canada in the semifinals, Hašek stopped Theoren Fleury
Theoren Fleury
Theoren Wallace "Theo" Fleury is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League , Tappara of Finland's SM-liiga, and the Belfast Giants of the UK's Elite Ice Hockey League...
, Ray Bourque
Ray Bourque
Raymond Jean "Ray" Bourque is a former Canadian professional ice hockey player. He currently holds records for most goals, assists and points by a defenceman in the National Hockey League . Bourque has become near-synonymous with the Boston Bruins franchise, for which he played 21 seasons and...
, Joe Nieuwendyk
Joe Nieuwendyk
Joseph Nieuwendyk is the general manager of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League and a retired Canadian ice hockey player...
, Eric Lindros
Eric Lindros
Eric Bryan Lindros is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques...
and Brendan Shanahan
Brendan Shanahan
Brendan Frederick "Shanny" Shanahan is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger who currently serves as the National Hockey League's Vice President of Hockey and Business Development and head disciplinarian. Originally drafted by the New Jersey Devils second overall in the 1987 NHL Entry...
in a dramatic shootout win. He then shut out the Russian team 1–0 in the final game, stopping 20 shots. He was later announced as the best goaltender in the Olympics. After he won the gold, he was quoted as saying:
His play made him one of the most popular figures in the Czech Republic, so much so that residents chanted "Hašek to the castle!" in the streets. In response to this, Hašek called the country's president Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
and jokingly told him that his job was not in jeopardy.
He also helped to inspire an opera (titled Nagano) about the Czech team's gold medal victory,
and in 2003, Petr Pravec
Petr Pravec
Petr Pravec is a Czech astronomer, born in Třinec, a prolific discoverer of binary asteroids using lightcurve photometric studies. He is leading the effort of a large consortium of stations called BinAst to look for multiplicity in the NEA and inner main-belt populations...
and Lenka Šarounová
Lenka Šarounová
Lenka Kotková is a Czech astronomer.She is a prolific discoverer of asteroids. She works at Observatoř Ondřejov , located near Prague...
named an asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
(8217 Dominikhašek
8217 Dominikhašek
8217 Dominikhašek is a main-belt asteroid named by its discoverers, Petr Pravec and Lenka Šarounová of the Observatoř Ondřejov , in 2003. It is the namesake of NHL goaltender, Dominik Hašek, and it was named in his honour for helping win the gold medal for the Czech Republic in the 1998 Winter...
) in his honour.
In the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, Italy, Hašek played for just nine minutes and twenty-five seconds, until he injured his right adductor muscle
Adductor muscles of the hip
In human anatomy, the adductor muscles of the hip is a group of muscles of the thigh.-Muscles:The adductor group is made up of:*Adductor brevis*Adductor longus*Adductor magnus*Adductor minimus This is often considered to be a part of adductor magnus....
.
Despite his absence, the Czechs managed to earn the bronze medal with backup goaltender Tomáš Vokoun
Tomas Vokoun
Tomáš Vokoun is a Czech professional ice hockey goaltender who is currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League .-Playing career:...
, which Hašek received as well.
Style of play
Hašek has an unorthodox goaltending style.He is extraordinarily flexible and was jokingly described in a MasterCard
MasterCard
Mastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...
commercial as having "a Slinky
Slinky
Slinky or "Lazy Spring" is a toy consisting of a helical spring that stretches and can bounce up and down. It can perform a number of tricks, including traveling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum.-History:The toy was...
for a spine".
In order to cover the bottom of the net, where most goals are scored, Hašek drops down on almost every shot
Shot (ice hockey)
A shot in ice hockey is an attempt by a player to score a goal by striking the puck with their stick in the direction of the net.-Shovel:The shovel shot is the simplest most basic shot in a shooter's arsenal. Its execution is simply a shoveling motion to push the puck in the desired direction...
. His "flopping" style is derived from him flailing in the crease, using every part of his body, including his head, to stop the puck. Hašek occasionally drops his stick and covers the puck with his stick hand, whereas most goaltenders would use the glove hand instead.
In response to the speculation he receives from his style, Hašek explained:
Hašek's unique style has attracted fans to games.
Because of his flexibility, Hašek can make difficult saves that other goalies cannot—an opposing coach once referred to them as "miracle saves". These types of saves include toe-stops, snagging pucks from behind his back, and a desperation maneuver known as the "Hašek roll". Hašek is also known for his strict regimen of conditioning
Physical exercise
Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of...
. During the off-season between May and September 2006, he lost a considerable amount of weight to increase his flexibility. Hašek was one of the last goaltenders to wear a helmet-and-cage combo rather than a contemporary hybrid goalie mask
Goalie mask
A goaltender mask, commonly referred to as a goalie mask or a hockey mask, is a mask worn by ice hockey, inline hockey, and field hockey goaltenders to protect the head from injury. Jacques Plante was the first goaltender to create and use a practical mask in 1959. Plante's mask was a piece of...
.
Personal life
Hašek and his wife Alena have a son named Michael (born 1990) and a daughter named Dominika (born 1994). He divides much of his free time playing squashSquash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
and inline hockey
Inline hockey
Inline hockey, often referred to as roller hockey in the United States, is a sport similar to ice hockey but played with inline skates. Like its parent sport, skaters on two teams use hockey sticks to direct a disk-shaped puck into the opponent's goal; however, various details of the game, such as...
, where he plays defense. When he was younger, Hašek played competitive football as a midfielder, and was a junior tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
champion in Eastern Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
.
His brother Martin
Martin Hašek
Martin Hašek is a former Czech football midfielder, and a current coach.-Football career:During his extensive playing career, Hašek played professionally for SKP Union Cheb, FC Slovan Liberec, Sparta Prague, FK Austria Wien, SK Sturm Graz, FC Dynamo Moscow, 1. FK Příbram and FC Přední Kopanina,...
is also a competitive athlete and played for the Czech Republic football team AC Sparta Prague before retiring and eventually deciding to coach. Cousin Ivan Hašek
Ivan Hašek
Ivan Hašek is a retired Czech footballer who played as a central midfielder.He spent 11 years of his career with Sparta Prague, appearing in more than 300 official games with the club, and later acting as its manager....
also played professional football. Hobby-wise, Hašek claims that he has been a fan of professional wrestling since his Buffalo days, and says that he mostly follows his favorite wrestlers, Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
and Don "The Rock" Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
. He and his son were seen many times throughout the night at WrestleMania 23
WrestleMania 23
WrestleMania 23 was the twenty-third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on April 1, 2007 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan...
in the front row at Ford Field
Ford Field
Ford Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, that is the current home field of the NFL's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for...
.
Because of his formal education, Hašek stands out among Czech sportsmen. He earned a university degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
after studying history and the Czech language
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
in the Faculty of Education at the University of Hradec Králové
University of Hradec Králové
University of Hradec Králové was founded on June 21, 2000 by renaming the University College of Education , which itself traces its roots back to 1959...
, which qualified him to be a teacher, and led him to teach high school classes. Hašek also has a brand of sportswear named Dominator Clothing, which was launched shortly after the Nagano Olympics in 1998 and is popular among Dominik's fans in the Czech Republic. It also had two locations in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
for a short time. In May 2001, Hašek founded the Dominik Hašek Youth Hockey League/Hašek's Heroes, and donated over $1 million to help underprivileged children in Buffalo play hockey.
In 1998, he also organized a charity hockey game in Prague, and donated the profits to hospitals in the Czech Republic.
Hašek is known to appreciate humor to keep team spirits up, and often jokes about his resemblance to Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer
Cosmo Kramer, usually referred to as simply "Kramer", is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Michael Richards...
of Seinfeld
Seinfeld
Seinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
. In the late 1990s, he was featured in a Mastercard
MasterCard
Mastercard Incorporated or MasterCard Worldwide is an American multinational financial services corporation with its headquarters in the MasterCard International Global Headquarters, Purchase, Harrison, New York, United States...
commercial that praised his flexibility. On November 26, 2006, Mark Parisi
Mark Parisi
Mark Parisi is the creator of Off The Mark, a comic panel which began in 1987 and now appears in 100 newspapers, as well as on greeting cards, T-shirts, and more. Off The Mark is distributed daily by United Media. Parisi's work is influenced by Charles Schulz, MAD Magazine and Gary Larson...
's comic panel off the mark
Off The Mark
Off The Mark is a comic panel created by Mark Parisi which began in 1987 and now appears in 100 newspapers. It also appears on greeting cards, in magazines, on T-shirts and more. Off The Mark is distributed daily by United Media....
featured a comic about Hašek's childhood.
Throughout his long career, Hašek has been represented by agent Ritch Winter
Ritch Winter
Ritch Winter is an ice hockey sports agent. Founder and CEO of The Sports Corporation, based in Edmonton, Winter represents over 70 National Hockey League players, including Marian Hossa, and Dominik Hasek.- Biography :Winter received a law degree from the University of Calgary in 1983...
.
Inline hockey game incident
During an inline hockey game on May 18, 2003, Hašek was accused of assaulting another player. He was playing as a defender for Bonfire Střída when he crosschecked Martin Šíla. The prosecutor in the case, Lenka Strnadová, ruled two months later that there was no evidence that Hašek intended bodily harm and recommended the case be treated as a misdemeanor, punishable only by fine ($95 USD maximum), rather than a felony where jail time would have been possible. Hašek's lawyer Pavel Jelínek announced in a statement that media reports about the incident were exaggerated, with Šíla not having sustained any documented injuries. In October 2003, the country's top prosecutor overruled Strnadová, saying her ruling was unlawful because the case had not been properly investigated. The Pardubice prosecution then investigated the case again, and reached the same decision as Strnadová.Milestones
Hašek earned his 300th National Hockey League win on October 15, 2005, in a 5–1 home victory with the Ottawa Senators over the Boston Bruins. He stopped 34 of 35 shots and was holding a shutout until Bruins forward Pat Leahy jammed a loose puck under him three minutes into the third period. He became the twenty-second goaltender to reach the milestone. He is the oldest goaltender in NHL history to post a 30-win season, and in 1997, he became the first goaltender to win the Lester B. Pearson Award for most outstanding player in the league. He is also the only goaltender to win the Hart Trophy twice for most valuable player, and was only one Vezina Trophy away from tying Jacques Plante's record of seven. Hašek's personal best shutout streak is 181 minutes, 17 seconds.Records
In nine seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, Hašek acquired over 25 franchise records, including most all-time games played, wins, shutouts and lowest goals against average. He also holds the Sabres' record for most shutouts in a single season with 13 in 1997–98, and lowest goals against average in a single season with a total of 1.87 in 1998–99. During the Detroit Red Wings' championship run in 2002, Hašek set franchise records for most games played, minutes played, wins and shutouts in a playoff year. He holds several notable NHL records:born goaltender (694)
- 6th place – Most shutouts (81)
- 8th place – Lowest goals against average (2.20)
- 11th place – Most wins (389)
Possibly the most impressive single-game performance by any player in NHL history came on April 27, 1994. Dominik Hasek made 70 saves in a 4OT shutout. The opposing goalie was Martin Brodeur, then a rookie, who made 49 saves before being beaten by Dave Hannan and the Sabres beat New Jersey 1-0. Hasek's 70 saves set a record, which still stands, for the most saves without allowing a goal.
Regular season
| Season Season (sports) In an organized sports league, a season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session. For example, in Major League Baseball, one season lasts approximately from April 1 through October 1; in Association football, it is generally from August until May In an... |
Team | League | GP | W | L | T† | MIN | GA | SA | SO | GAA Goals against average Goals Against Average is a statistic used in ice hockey, water polo, lacrosse, and soccer that is the mean of goals allowed per game by a goaltender.... |
SV% Save percentage Save percentage is an ice hockey and lacrosse statistic that represents the percentage of shots on goal a goaltender stops... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980–81 | HC Pardubice HC Pardubice HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is... |
CSEx Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1930 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split.-See also:... |
9 | — | — | — | 598 | 24 | — | — | 2.98 | — | |
| 1981–82 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 12 | — | — | — | 661 | 34 | — | — | 3.09 | — | |
| 1982–83 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 42 | — | — | — | 2,358 | 105 | — | — | 2.67 | — | |
| 1983–84 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 40 | — | — | — | 2,304 | 108 | — | — | 2.81 | — | |
| 1984–85 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 42 | — | — | — | 2,419 | 131 | — | — | 3.25 | — | |
| 1985–86 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 45 | — | — | — | 2,689 | 138 | — | — | 3.08 | — | |
| 1986–87 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 43 | — | — | — | 2,515 | 103 | — | — | 2.46 | — | |
| 1987–88 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 31 | — | — | — | 1,862 | 93 | — | — | 3.00 | — | |
| 1988–89 | HC Pardubice | CSEx | 42 | — | — | — | 2,507 | 114 | — | — | 2.73 | — | |
| 1989–90 | Dukla Jihlava | CSEx | 40 | — | — | — | 2,251 | 80 | — | — | 2.13 | — | |
| 1990–91 | Indianapolis Ice Indianapolis Ice The Indianapolis Ice is the name of a former hockey team in Indianapolis, Indiana, that played in the International Hockey League from 1988–99 and in the Central Hockey League from 1999–2004. Their original home arena was the Indiana State Fairgrounds Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds... |
IHL | 33 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 1,903 | 80 | — | 5 | 2.46 | — | |
| 1990–91 | Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10... |
NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 195 | 8 | 93 | 0 | 2.46 | .914 | |
| 1991–92 | Indianapolis Ice | IHL | 20 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 1,162 | 69 | — | 1 | 3.56 | — | |
| 1991–92 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 20 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1,014 | 44 | 413 | 1 | 2.60 | .893 | |
| 1992–93 | Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:... |
NHL | 28 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 1,429 | 75 | 720 | 0 | 3.15 | .896 | |
| 1993–94 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 58 | 30 | 20 | 6 | 3,358 | 109 | 1,552 | 7 | 1.95 | .930 | |
| 1994–95 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 41 | 19 | 14 | 7 | 2416 | 85 | 1,221 | 5 | 2.11 | .930 | |
| 1995–96 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 59 | 22 | 30 | 6 | 3,417 | 161 | 2,011 | 2 | 2.83 | .920 | |
| 1996–97 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 67 | 37 | 20 | 10 | 4,037 | 153 | 2,177 | 5 | 2.27 | .930 | |
| 1997–98 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 72 | 33 | 23 | 13 | 4,220 | 147 | 2,149 | 13 | 2.09 | .932 | |
| 1998–99 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 64 | 30 | 18 | 14 | 3,817 | 119 | 1,877 | 9 | 1.87 | .937 | |
| 1999–00 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 35 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 2,066 | 76 | 937 | 3 | 2.21 | .919 | |
| 2000–01 | Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 67 | 37 | 24 | 4 | 3,904 | 137 | 1,726 | 11 | 2.11 | .921 | |
| 2001–02 | Detroit Red Wings Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York... |
NHL | 65 | 41 | 15 | 8 | 3,872 | 140 | 1,654 | 5 | 2.17 | .915 | |
| 2002–03 | Did Not Play | ||||||||||||
| 2003–04 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 14 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 816 | 30 | 324 | 2 | 2.20 | .907 | |
| 2004–05 | See 2004–05 NHL lockout | ||||||||||||
| 2005–06 | Ottawa Senators Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... |
NHL | 43 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 2,583 | 90 | 1,202 | 5 | 2.09 | .925 | |
| 2006–07 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 56 | 38 | 11 | 6 | 3,341 | 114 | 1,309 | 8 | 2.05 | .913 | |
| 2007–08 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 41 | 27 | 10 | 3 | 2,350 | 84 | 855 | 5 | 2.14 | .902 | |
| 2008–09 | Did not play | ||||||||||||
| 2009–10 | HC Pardubice HC Pardubice HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is... |
CSEx | 36 | 24 | 12 | 0 | 2,066 | 77 | 905 | 3 | 2.24 | .9216 | |
| 2010–11 2010–11 KHL season The 2010–11 KHL season is the third season of the Kontinental Hockey League. It was held from 8 September 2010 and ended on 16 April 2011.The season started with the Opening Cup game between the last season's finalists, Ak Bars Kazan and the new team that was created by merging last season's... |
HC Spartak Moscow HC Spartak Moscow HC Spartak is a professional ice hockey team based in Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League .-History:One of the sections of the Spartak Moscow sports club, HC Spartak Moscow was established in 1946... |
KHL | 44 | 23 | 18 | 3 | 2,591 | 106 | 1,250 | 7 | 2.45 | .915 | |
| NHL totals | 735 | 389 | 223 | 82 | 42,826 | 1,572 | 20,220 | 81 | 2.20 | .922 | |||
| CSEx totals | 351 | — | — | — | 20,487 | 944 | — | — | 2.76 | — | |||
- † Note: As of the 2005–06 season, ties have been replaced by an overtime or shootout loss.
Playoffs
| Season | Team | League | GP | W | L | MIN | GA | SA | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–91 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs The 1991 Stanley Cup playoffs for the National Hockey League championship began on April 3, 1991, following the 1990–91 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, from the top four teams of the four divisions, played best-of-seven series with re-seeding after the division finals... |
Chicago Blackhawks Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10... |
NHL National Hockey League The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States... |
3 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 3 | 39 | 0 | 2.60 | .923 |
| 1990–91 | Indianapolis Ice Indianapolis Ice The Indianapolis Ice is the name of a former hockey team in Indianapolis, Indiana, that played in the International Hockey League from 1988–99 and in the Central Hockey League from 1999–2004. Their original home arena was the Indiana State Fairgrounds Pepsi Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds... |
IHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 3 | — | — | 3.00 | — |
| 1991–92 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs The 1992 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League began on April 18, after the conclusion of the 1991–92 NHL season... |
Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 3 | 0 | 2 | 158 | 8 | 70 | 0 | 3.03 | .886 |
| 1992–93 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs The 1993 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began at the conclusion of the 1992–93 NHL season on April 18, and ended with the Stanley Cup win on June 9.... |
Buffalo Sabres Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding and early success: 1970-71—1980-81:... |
NHL | 1 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 1 | 24 | 0 | 1.33 | .958 |
| 1993–94 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began after the conclusion of the 1993–94 NHL season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 7 | 3 | 4 | 384 | 13 | 261 | 2 | 1.61 | .950 |
| 1994–95 1995 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1995 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League was played between May 6 and June 24, 1995. In the Final, the New Jersey Devils swept the favored Detroit Red Wings in four games to win their first championship. The Quebec Nordiques played their last ever playoff series... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 5 | 1 | 4 | 309 | 18 | 131 | 0 | 3.49 | .863 |
| 1996–97 1997 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began in April, 1997, following the 1996–97 NHL season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-seven series for conference quarter-finals, semi-finals and championships, and then... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 3 | 1 | 1 | 153 | 5 | 68 | 0 | 1.96 | .926 |
| 1997–98 1998 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began in April, 1998 following the 1997–98 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 15 | 10 | 5 | 948 | 32 | 514 | 1 | 2.02 | .938 |
| 1998–99 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 1999 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began in April, 1999, following the 1998–99 NHL season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 19 | 13 | 6 | 1,217 | 36 | 587 | 2 | 1.77 | .939 |
| 1999–00 2000 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2000 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , began in April, and concluded in June. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions ... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 5 | 1 | 4 | 301 | 12 | 147 | 0 | 2.39 | .918 |
| 2000–01 2001 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2001 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championship of the National Hockey League , were played from April until June. The Colorado Avalanche defeated the New Jersey Devils to win its second Stanley Cup.... |
Buffalo Sabres | NHL | 13 | 7 | 6 | 833 | 29 | 347 | 1 | 2.08 | .916 |
| 2001–02 2002 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs, the championships of the National Hockey League, was played from April until June. The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes four games to one to clinch the 10th championship in their history. It was the Hurricanes first ever appearance in the... |
Detroit Red Wings Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York... |
NHL | 23 | 16 | 7 | 1,455 | 45 | 562 | 6 | 1.85 | .920 |
| 2006–07 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 11, 2007. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the... |
Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 18 | 10 | 8 | 1,139 | 34 | 444 | 2 | 1.79 | .923 |
| 2007–08 2008 Stanley Cup Playoffs The 2008 Stanley Cup playoffs of the National Hockey League began on April 9, 2008, after the 2007–08 regular season. The sixteen teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played best-of-7 series for conference quarterfinals, semifinals and championships, and then the conference champions... |
Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 4 | 2 | 2 | 202 | 10 | 89 | 0 | 2.91 | .888 |
| 2009–10 | HC Pardubice HC Pardubice HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice is a professional ice hockey club that plays in the Czech Extraliga. It is located in Pardubice, home venue is ČEZ Arena. The club previously was named HC Eaton Pardubice, but since the 2011–12 season the club is named HC ČSOB Pojišťovna Pardubice.-History:Ice hockey is... |
CSEx Czech Extraliga The Czech Extraliga is the highest-level ice hockey league in the Czech Republic. As of 2009, it is ranked by the IIHF as the third strongest league in Europe.... |
13 | 12 | 1 | 785 | 22 | 326 | 3 | 1.68 | .937 |
| 2010–11 | HC Spartak Moscow HC Spartak Moscow HC Spartak is a professional ice hockey team based in Moscow, Russia. They are members of the Bobrov Division of the Kontinental Hockey League .-History:One of the sections of the Spartak Moscow sports club, HC Spartak Moscow was established in 1946... |
KHL | 4 | 0 | 4 | 204 | 14 | 89 | 0 | 4,12 | .864 |
| NHL totals | 119 | 65 | 49 | 7,316 | 246 | 3,283 | 14 | 2.02 | .925 | ||
| CSEx totals | 13 | 12 | 1 | 785 | 22 | 326 | 3 | 1.68 | .937 | ||
International
Bolded numbers indicate tournament leader| Year | Team | Event | GP | W | L | T | MIN | GA | SV | SO | GAA | SV% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 7th edition of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and was held in Leningrad, Soviet Union between December 26, 1982 and January 4, 1983... |
Czechoslovakia | WJC World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The International Ice Hockey Federation World Under 20 Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world... |
6 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 3.33 | — |
| 1983 1983 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1983 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in West Germany from 16 April to 2 May. The games were played in Munich, Dortmund and Düsseldorf. Eight teams took part, with each playing each other once. The four best teams then play each other once more. This was the 49th World Championships,... |
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak national ice hockey team The Czechoslovak national men's ice hockey team was one of the world's premiere teams during the Soviet dominated international hockey era, often fighting Sweden for second place but sometimes beating the Soviets... |
IHWC Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation . First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual international tournament. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European... |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 120 | 5 | — | 1 | 2.50 | — |
| 1984 1984 Canada Cup The 1984 Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament played during the first three weeks of September 1984. The best-of-three final took place between Canada and Sweden, with Canada winning two games to nil... |
Czechoslovakia | CC Canada Cup (ice hockey) The Canada Cup was an invitational international ice hockey tournament held on five occasions between 1976 and 1991. The tournament was created to meet demand for a true world championship that allowed the best players from participating nations to compete regardless of their status as professional... |
4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 188 | 12 | — | 08 | 4.00 | — |
| 1984 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1984 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 8th edition of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. It was held from December 25, 1983 to January 3, 1984 in Norrköping and Nyköping, Sweden. The Soviet Union won its second consecutive gold medal and sixth overall... |
Czechoslovakia | WJC World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The International Ice Hockey Federation World Under 20 Championship is an annual event organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation for national under-20 ice hockey teams from around the world... |
7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 380 | 10 | — | 0 | 1.89 | — |
| 1986 1986 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1986 Ice Hockey World Championships took place in the Soviet Union from 12 April to 28 April. The games were played at the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, and eight teams took part. Each team played each other once, and then the four best teams played each other again.... |
Czechoslovakia | IHWC | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 538 | 19 | — | 0 | 2.12 | — |
| 1987 1987 World Ice Hockey Championships The 1987 Ice Hockey World Championships was the 52nd such event hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. It was also the 63rd ice hockey European Championships. Teams representing 28 countries participated in four levels of competition.... |
Czechoslovakia | IHWC | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 520 | 19 | — | 1 | 2.19 | — |
| 1987 1987 Canada Cup The 1987 Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament held from August 28 to September 15, 1987. The finals took place in Montreal on September 11 and Hamilton, Ontario, on September 13 and September 15, and were won by Team Canada.... |
Czechoslovakia | CC | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 360 | 20 | — | 0 | 3.33 | — |
| 1988 Ice hockey at the 1988 Winter Olympics At the 1988 Winter Olympics one ice hockey event was held, men's ice hockey. Games were played at the Olympic Saddledome, the Stampede Corral, and Father David Bauer Olympic Arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.Source:* Gold - * Silver -... |
Czechoslovakia | Oly 1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated in and around Calgary, Alberta, Canada from 13 to 28 February 1988. The host was selected in 1981 after having beat Falun, Sweden and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy... |
5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 217 | 18 | — | 0 | 4.98 | — |
| 1989 1989 World Ice Hockey Championships -Final Round:-Consolation Round:Poland was relegated to Group B.-World Championship Group B :Played in Oslo and Lillehammer March 30th to April 9th. The April 5th game between Norway and Austria was officially adjusted to 8-0 for Norway because of Siegfried Haberl's positive drug test... |
Czechoslovakia | IHWC | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 600 | 21 | — | 2 | 2.10 | — |
| 1990 1990 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships -Final Round:-Consolation Round:Norway needing to keep their final game within four goals, lost four to nothing to the Germans, and were relegated.... |
Czechoslovakia | IHWC | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 480 | 20 | — | 1 | 2.50 | — |
| 1991 1991 Canada Cup The 1991 Canada Cup was a professional international ice hockey tournament played in September 1991. The finals took place in Montreal on September 14 and Hamilton, Ontario on September 16, and were won by Canada. The Canadians defeated the USA in a two game sweep, to win the fifth and final Canada... |
Czechoslovakia | CC | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 300 | 18 | — | 0 | 3.60 | — |
| 1998 Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics was played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena in Nagano, Japan.-Men's tournament:The 1998 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament was the first in which professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate, allowing national teams to... |
Czech Republic Czech national ice hockey team The Czech men's national ice hockey team is the national ice hockey team of the Czech Republic. It is one of the most successful national ice hockey teams in the world, currently ranked fifth by the IIHF, behind Finland. It is controlled by the Czech Ice Hockey Association... |
Oly 1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially the XVIII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 7 to 22 February 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Seventy-two nations and 2,176 participans contested in seven sports and 72 events at 15 venues. The games saw the introduction of Women's ice... |
6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 369 | 6 | 155 | 2 | 0.97 | .961 |
| 2002 Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics were held at the E Center in West Valley City and Peaks Ice Arena in Provo, Utah. Both the men's and women's tournaments were won by Canada, defeating the host USA in both games.-Men:... |
Czech Republic | Oly 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout... |
4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 239 | 8 | 105 | 0 | 2.01 | .924 |
| 2006 Ice hockey at the 2006 Winter Olympics -Leading scorers:-Leading goaltenders:Goalkeepers with 40% or more of their team's total minutes.-Awards:Antero Niittymäki was named the most valuable player and received the Directorate Award for best goaltender of the tournament. Directorate Awards also went to Teemu Selänne for best forward, and... |
Czech Republic | Oly 2006 Winter Olympics The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter... |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 |
| Senior totals | 69 | 32 | 28 | 8 | 3940 | 166 | — | 7 | 2.40 | — | ||
| Olympic totals | 16 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 834.25 | 14 | 261 | 2 | 2.00 | .946 | ||
NHL
| Award | Year(s) awarded |
|---|---|
| Hart Memorial Trophy Hart Memorial Trophy The Hart Memorial Trophy, originally known as the Hart Trophy, the "oldest and most prestigious individual award in hockey", is awarded annually to the "player adjudged most valuable to his team" in the National Hockey League . The Hart Memorial Trophy has been awarded 86 times to 53 different... |
1997, 1998 |
| Lester B. Pearson Award Lester B. Pearson Award The Ted Lindsay Award, formerly known as the Lester B. Pearson Award, is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's most outstanding player in the regular season as judged by the members of the NHL Players Association. It has been awarded 40 times to 23 different players since its beginnings... |
1997, 1998 |
| Vezina Trophy Vezina Trophy The Vezina Trophy is awarded annually to the National Hockey League's goaltender who is "adjudged to be the best at this position". At the end of each season, the 30 General Managers of the teams in the National Hockey League vote to determine the goaltender who was the most valuable to his team... |
1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 |
| William M. Jennings Trophy William M. Jennings Trophy The William M. Jennings Trophy is an annual National Hockey League award given to "the goalkeeper having played a minimum of 25 games for the team with the fewest goals scored against it. Winners are selected based on regular-season play." From 1946 until 1981, the Vezina Trophy had been awarded... |
1994, 2001, 2008 |
| NHL First All-Star Team | 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 |
| NHL All-Rookie Team NHL All-Rookie Team The NHL All-Rookie Team is chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association from the best rookies in the National Hockey League at each position for the season just concluded based on their performance in that year... |
1992 |
| NHL All-Star Game | 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 (did not play due to injury Injury -By cause:*Traumatic injury, a body wound or shock produced by sudden physical injury, as from violence or accident*Other injuries from external physical causes, such as radiation injury, burn injury or frostbite*Injury from infection... ), 2002 |
Nominations
| Award | Year nominated | Award winner |
|---|---|---|
| Hart Trophy | 1994 | Sergei Fedorov Sergei Fedorov Sergei Viktorovich Fedorov is a Russian professional ice hockey forward and occasional defenceman... (Detroit Red Wings Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York... ) |
| Hart Trophy | 1995 | Eric Lindros Eric Lindros Eric Bryan Lindros is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey player. Lindros played junior hockey in the OHL for the Oshawa Generals prior to being selected first overall in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft by the Quebec Nordiques... (Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League... ) |
| Hart Trophy | 1999 | Jaromir Jagr Jaromir Jagr Jaromír Jágr is a Czech professional ice hockey right winger who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League . Jágr formerly played with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, and New York Rangers, serving as captain of the Penguins and the Rangers... (Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the league's original... ) |
| Lester B. Pearson Award | 1999 | Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) |
Czechoslovak and Czech awards
| Award | Year(s) awarded |
|---|---|
| Czech Hockey Player of the 20th century | 1998 |
| Czech Sportsperson of the Year | 1994, 1998 |
| Golden Hockey Stick Golden Hockey Stick The Golden Hockey Stick is an award given to the top Czech ice hockey player. It was originally awarded to the top player in the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League, beginning in the 1968–69 season. After the Czech Republic and Slovakia became separate countries in 1993, it was awarded to the top... |
1987, 1989, 1990, 1997, 1998 |
| Czechoslovak First League Czechoslovak Extraliga The Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League was the elite ice hockey league in Czechoslovakia from 1930 until 1993, when the country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Extraliga and Czech Extraliga formed from the split.-See also:... Best Goaltender |
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 |
International
| Award | Year(s) awarded |
|---|---|
| Olympic Games Best Goaltender | 1998 Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics Ice hockey at the 1998 Winter Olympics was played at The Big Hat and Aqua Wing Arena in Nagano, Japan.-Men's tournament:The 1998 Olympic men's ice hockey tournament was the first in which professional players from the National Hockey League were allowed to participate, allowing national teams to... |
| WC Ice Hockey World Championships The Ice Hockey World Championships are an annual ice hockey tournament organized by the International Ice Hockey Federation . First officially held at the 1920 Summer Olympics, it is the sport's highest profile annual international tournament. The IIHF was created in 1908 while the European... Best Goaltender |
1987, 1989, 1990 1990 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships -Final Round:-Consolation Round:Norway needing to keep their final game within four goals, lost four to nothing to the Germans, and were relegated.... |
| WJC Best Goaltender Award | 1983 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships The 1983 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships was the 7th edition of the World Junior Ice Hockey Championships and was held in Leningrad, Soviet Union between December 26, 1982 and January 4, 1983... |
Transactions
- June 8, 1983 – Drafted by Chicago in the 10th round, 199th overall
- August 7, 1992 – Traded to Buffalo for Stephane Beauregard and a fourth round pick (Éric DazéEric DazeÉric Dazé is a retired Canadian professional ice hockey winger for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League for eleven seasons.- Playing career :...
) - March 19, 1998 – Agreed with Buffalo on a three-year, twenty-six million dollar contract
- June 30, 2001 – Traded to Detroit for Vyacheslav Kozlov, a first round pick in 2002 (Daniel Paille) and future considerations
- June 25, 2002 – Announced retirement from professional hockey
- July 8, 2003 – Returned to Detroit as an active player
- July 6, 2004 – Signed as a free agent by Ottawa
- July 27, 2005 – Contract option exercised by Ottawa for 2005–06 season
- July 31, 2006 – Signed as a free agent by Detroit
- July 5, 2007 – Signed as a free agent by Detroit
- June 9, 2008 – Again announced retirement from professional hockey
- April 21, 2009 – Signed as a free agent by HC Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga
- June 7, 2010 – Signed as a free agent by Spartak Moscow of the KHL