Archives for July 2, 2001

Dominik Hasek bade his farewell to Buffalo and greeted Hockey Town the same day as his new crease stomping grounds. In his address to the Buffalo media, Hasek made it clear that while he may have some emotional attachments to the city of Buffalo and the Sabres, that he holds no regrets and now considers himself as a Red Wing. Hasek even went so far as to indicate what team colors he'd prefer wearing when he enters the Hockey Hall of fame.

'The Dallas Stars added some more offense on Monday, signing free agent right wing Donald Audette to play alongside one of their top centers.'

'"I don't know how many years that I am going to play," he said. "Maybe more than one. Maybe more than two."'

'Buffalo had to make the deal now, while it could get something worthwhile in return for Hasek.'

'"At the end of the day, Dom will be taking a little bit of a salary cut to go to Detroit, and the Sabres didn't get quite what they wanted for possibly their best player ever," Winter said. "There's no way that Darcy can say seriously that he's happy for what he got. He traded away one of the greatest players ever to play the game."'

'Dominik Hasek has reason to envy Vyacheslav Kozlov. While Hasek enjoys international superstardom, "future Hall-of-Famer" status and paychecks bulkier than Arturs Irbe's pads, Kozlov has the one thing that has eluded Hasek for 11 years: a Stanley Cup ring.'

'Hasek gave the Sabres a swagger and a belief that they could win any game with him between the pipes.'

'Dominik Hasek leaves Buffalo as one of the greatest goaltenders in NHL history.'

'Martin Biron went to bed Saturday night not knowing what the Buffalo Sabres had chosen to do with Dominik Hasek. He woke up yesterday morning as the Sabres starting goalie.'

'All due respect to center Gilbert Perreault, an excellent player for 15-plus seasons with Buffalo, but Hasek in nine mostly brilliant seasons proved he was the all-time greatest Sabre.'