Sabres to induct Hasek into the Sabres Hall of Fame on March 29th

[IKnowPhysics]

Lafontaine and Molgilny should be as well

 

Sometimes I doubt this, and I understand when others do too. And then I recall the story of Mogilny's defection, when he risked his life with the help of Don Luce to live free and be a Buffalo Sabre...

 

In any other situation, picking up someone at the mall wouldn't seem terribly difficult. But picking up a world-famous hockey player on the run from the Soviet national team was another story entirely. In an attempt to be as inconspicuous as possible, Meehan and Luce parked their car by a side entrance. By the time Mogilny and Formachev emerged, it was clear that they weren't alone. "They didn't walk out, they ran out. And some people came out behind them. I was the wheel man so we tailed it out of there," says Luce. "It was a side door and not well lit. We had the timing down so at exactly that time they would come out. They came out and jumped in the car and people came out after them. I saw them in the mirror as we were driving away." ,,,

 

..."Supposedly the KGB was after him. It was quite the experience to say the least," says Luce. "He was very upbeat, very determined, not down. A little bit worried, but not as much as you or I would have been in the situation. He was 20 years old. It was amazing how much determination and how much calmness was there."

 

The 25th anniversary of his defection, the first Soviet to defect to the NHL, is coming up in May.

Edited March 28, 2014 by IKnowPhysics

[dudacek]

Hasek can't be praised enough.

Not the greatest Sabre ever given his forced trade and other idiosyncrasies, but easily the greatest Sabre player ever.

Best Euro ever, best goalie ever and probably one of the 10 best players of all time.

 

Edit: Perreault is the only Sabre who deserves to have his jersey retired.

Edited March 29, 2014 by dudacek

[bunomatic]

Its good to see Dom back and looking healthy and happy. Its nice to see Ted Nolan and Dom getting along just fine despite what the media would prolly rather spin. It was a long time ago but you just know they'd prefer discord to harmony.

[nfreeman]

Hasek can't be praised enough.

Not the greatest Sabre ever given his forced trade and other idiosyncrasies, but easily the greatest Sabre player ever.

Best Euro ever, best goalie ever and probably one of the 10 best players of all time.

 

Edit: Perreault is the only Sabre who deserves to have his jersey retired.

 

Best Euro ever? That's a toughie. Not sure I'd take Dom before Forsberg or Lidstrom if I were starting a team. Or maybe Peter Stastny. There's also Selanne and, if Russians are included, Bure. And Malkin and Ovechkin will put themselves in this discussion by the time they're done.

 

And I think I would also take Perreault before Dom if I were starting a team.

[calti]

Best Euro ever? That's a toughie. Not sure I'd take Dom before Forsberg or Lidstrom if I were starting a team. Or maybe Peter Stastny. There's also Selanne and, if Russians are included, Bure. And Malkin and Ovechkin will put themselves in this discussion by the time they're done.

 

And I think I would also take Perreault before Dom if I were starting a team.

you always take the superstar goalie first. you do realize that dom carried an average team to the finals once and deep into the playoffs a few times.add malkin or ovechkin or any of them to an average team and you get a slightly above average team.

[wjag]

Glad they are retiring his number.

 

I would not mind seeing a few more.

[Trettioåtta]

Best Euro ever? That's a toughie. Not sure I'd take Dom before Forsberg or Lidstrom if I were starting a team. Or maybe Peter Stastny. There's also Selanne and, if Russians are included, Bure. And Malkin and Ovechkin will put themselves in this discussion by the time they're done.

 

And I think I would also take Perreault before Dom if I were starting a team.

 

Agreed. Lidstrom hands down is the best Euro player and best player to come from Europe (in a more complete sense of the word). His nickname was the Perfect Human. Hasek was damn good though.

[LastPommerFan]

 

 

Best Euro ever? That's a toughie. Not sure I'd take Dom before Forsberg or Lidstrom if I were starting a team. Or maybe Peter Stastny. There's also Selanne and, if Russians are included, Bure. And Malkin and Ovechkin will put themselves in this discussion by the time they're done.

 

And I think I would also take Perreault before Dom if I were starting a team.

 

Today's game, I might take a forward. The game of the 80s and 90s? I'm taking Dom every time.

[Weave]

Hasek is arguably the best ever at his position. I'm not sure you can make that claim of Lids. Top 5? OK. Top 3? I might be swayed. Best ever? I can't get there. I'd have to think that if you can make a claim of being the best ever at a position, you can make a stronger claim for being best from a region of origin too.

 

Now, choosing a goalie over a skater to start building a team is based more on your philosophy on how to build a team, not on whether a player is best ever.

 

Given what I saw Dom do here, I'd start my team with Dom every time. And I don't even like that guy very much as a person.

[SwampD]

Hasek is arguably the best ever at his position. I'm not sure you can make that claim of Lids. Top 5? OK. Top 3? I might be swayed. Best ever? I can't get there. I'd have to think that if you can make a claim of being the best ever at a position, you can make a stronger claim for being best from a region of origin too.

 

Now, choosing a goalie over a skater to start building a team is based more on your philosophy on how to build a team, not on whether a player is best ever.

 

Given what I saw Dom do here, I'd start my team with Dom every time. And I don't even like that guy very much as a person.

Thanks. You saved me the trouble of writing something.

[Trettioåtta]

Thanks. You saved me the trouble of writing something.

 

Did he? :P

 

Hasek is arguably the best ever at his position. I'm not sure you can make that claim of Lids. Top 5? OK. Top 3? I might be swayed. Best ever? I can't get there. I'd have to think that if you can make a claim of being the best ever at a position, you can make a stronger claim for being best from a region of origin too.

 

Now, choosing a goalie over a skater to start building a team is based more on your philosophy on how to build a team, not on whether a player is best ever.

 

Given what I saw Dom do here, I'd start my team with Dom every time. And I don't even like that guy very much as a person.

 

Fair enough argument

[Weave]

I had to go dig up some Haseoke for the laughs this morning.

[PASabreFan]

It's called a chair. They aren't considered weird outside of northwestern Pennsyltucky. ;)

 

Oh, we always just used Pappy for a chair, even after he passed.

 

Seriously, dude can't stand up to take have his photo taken with Hasek?

[Taro T]

Oh, we always just used Pappy for a chair, even after he passed.

 

Seriously, dude can't stand up to take have his photo taken with Hasek?

Hopefully you put a cushion in his lap after the unfortunate. Otherwise that could be uncomfortable.

 

As to the bolded, apparently not.

[Eleven]

Hopefully you put a cushion in his lap after the unfortunate. Otherwise that could be uncomfortable.

 

As to the bolded, apparently not.

 

Maybe the lower body injuries are more serious than we originally thought?

 

@BuffaloSabres

 

 

‏@BuffaloSabres

MSG will carry the Hasek pregame ceremony in its entirety tonight. Please tune in early because it begins before 7pm. #Sabres

[PASabreFan]

Good thing that Sabres photographer apparently trained in FDR's White House.

[nfreeman]

Today's game, I might take a forward. The game of the 80s and 90s? I'm taking Dom every time.

 

Well, league scoring in Dom's heyday was actually a bit (not much) lower than it is today: http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/stats.html

 

Hasek is arguably the best ever at his position. I'm not sure you can make that claim of Lids. Top 5? OK. Top 3? I might be swayed. Best ever? I can't get there. I'd have to think that if you can make a claim of being the best ever at a position, you can make a stronger claim for being best from a region of origin too.

 

Now, choosing a goalie over a skater to start building a team is based more on your philosophy on how to build a team, not on whether a player is best ever.

 

Given what I saw Dom do here, I'd start my team with Dom every time. And I don't even like that guy very much as a person.

 

This is definitely what it comes down to. I guess I think that if I'm drafting a team from the group of best Euro (or non-North-American, if we're including Russians) players, I'll be able to get a really good goalie in the 2nd round (not as good as Dom, but still good enough) -- but the guys like Forsberg will be long gone.

[dudacek]

I guess I think that if I'm drafting a team from the group of best Euro (or non-North-American, if we're including Russians) players, I'll be able to get a really good goalie in the 2nd round (not as good as Dom, but still good enough) -- but the guys like Forsberg will be long gone.

 

Here's where I disagree.

Your argument works today because the gap between the Lundqvists and the Rasks to the next tier of goalies today is not huge.

The gap between Hasek and Rask or Lundqvist is far greater.

Hasek was special. He dominated. He made a bigger difference in more games than Lidstrom or Forsberg ever did.

During his heyday, he would have been picked first overall.

Edited March 29, 2014 by dudacek

[bunomatic]

Here's where I disagree.

Your argument works today because the gap between the Lundqvists and the Rasks to the next tier of goalies today is not huge.

The gap between Hasek and Rask or Lundqvist is far greater.

Hasek was special. He dominated. He made a bigger difference in more games than Lidstrom or Forsberg ever did.

During his heyday, he would have been picked first overall.

 

I agree with all of that. Rask and Lundqvist are good goaltenders but they don't put doubt into the minds of great goal scorers and entire teams. Nobody in the goaltending ranks does that like Dom did.

[LaLaLaFontaine]

 

 

Here's where I disagree.

Your argument works today because the gap between the Lundqvists and the Rasks to the next tier of goalies today is not huge.

The gap between Hasek and Rask or Lundqvist is far greater.

Hasek was special. He dominated. He made a bigger difference in more games than Lidstrom or Forsberg ever did.

During his heyday, he would have been picked first overall.

 

I agree,

Dominik Hasek is a one of a kind hockey player, he was able to carry your team like Lemieux or Gretzky did.

 

I would put him in their class. One of the top 5 hockey players all time.

 

 

[WildCard]

I agree,

Dominik Hasek is a one of a kind hockey player, he was able to carry your team like Lemieux or Gretzky did.

 

I would put him in their class. One of the top 5 hockey players all time.

Not in any order, but, Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux, Mariuce Richard, Lafleur....Just off the top of my head, I don't think Hasek is one of the top 5 players of all time. Top 10? 15? Probably, but top 5? ehhhhh :unsure:

 

I'd replace that with Howe and maybe Esposito or Yzerman

Edited March 29, 2014 by WildCard

[Marvelo]

IMO Hasek and Perreault are the only ones whose numbers are retired. They embodied excellence over a long time. As much as I loved Lafontaine/Mogliny, they didn't do it for long enough. Patty had one great year, two VG years and three years he didn't play much for various reasons. Mogilny, one great year, three vg years and a rookie year. I loved Martin but Perreault elevated him, he didn't play long enough (not his fault) and he's not a HOFer, didn't score 500. Rene Robert. Kidding, right? Gare was VG not great. Horton again spent too little time as a Sabre, his main thing was he was tough as nails, then he died. He was much more known as a Leaf and a donut man. How about Andreychuk and Hawerchuk are next? Or Rob Ray?

 

Don't believe in the statues either. Statues are for legendary Cup winners like Orr.

 

Retiring these guys numbers is like retiring numbers from the Cubs. Very few and far between because of the lack of ultimate success of the team. But with the 42 members of the Sabre HOF (is Paul Terbenche one of them?) there's no shortage of glad-handing cronyism with this organization.

Edited March 29, 2014 by 716

[26CornerBlitz]

Dominik Hasek tribute video (3/29/14) <2:09>

 

Dominik Hasek's career in Buffalo is celebrated in this video that aired in-arena on March 29.

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2014 by 26CornerBlitz

[26CornerBlitz]

@MSGNetworks

#ICYMI @BuffaloSabres honored legendary goaltender Dominik Hasek before tonight's game. Here's the entire ceremony: http://on.msg.com/P5mGhk

[drnkirishone]

Hasek is now a Sabres HoFer. the question is now what jersey is going in the rafters for his number retirement? I think it has to be the black and red.