So what about Dom?

[Kristian]

Title says it all really.

 

Anyone think His Royal Bailness will return next season?

[Corp000085]

no. he only came back to play in the olympics... he'll come up with some story on how he reinjured himself doing the coach a favor by putting up a smokescreen practicing at the HSBC. he's done, but we still get to see him go out with a bang...

[Kristian]

Scary thing is that I can easily see the HSBC injury secenario.

 

God almighty, whatever happened to this great player? A circus-act is what he is these days.

[inkman]

Scary thing is that I can easily see the HSBC injury secenario.

 

God almighty, whatever happened to this great player? A circus-act is what he is these days.

 

Always a circus, just now his spine is no longer a slinky.

[Corp000085]

 

Always a circus, just now his spine is no longer a slinky.

 

 

i agree... we tend to forget, since he was the only reason the sabres didn't suck for 10 years, but this is the guy who beat up a sportswriter, got DWIs, punched out his coach (allegedly), bailed on his team in the playoffs (against ottawa, if that's ironic enough), and almost killed someone in a fit of rage last year, getting off only because he's a national hero. Best goalie of all time, one of my favorite sabres, and one of the top 2 sabres of all time (you can argue hasek 1 perrault 2 or perrault 1 hasek 2 on any day of the week), but dominik hasek was also one of the biggest headcases and circus acts of all time.

[FGD59]

Hasek is Gone. He bailed on HIS NATIONAL team at the Olympics, right? Well if I'm a GM that tells me everything. Its one thing to play footsie with a club team, but to bail on your country, WOW!!

 

The problem with being a complex prima donna is that you tend to have used up any good will you had, so folks are sick of you. I really respect what Dom did for the Sabres and Buffalo, but he just could not play hurt.

[Orange Seats]

I don't think he bailed on the Czech Republic in the Torino Olympics, he really went down with this injury that put him out the rest of the season (even though everyone is now speculating that any other superstar player would have stepped up and tried to help his team during game 3 of the last series).

 

Its kinda sad really, that I probably won't remember Hasek for all of the thrilling saves that I got to watch him make in a Sabres jersey. Now I think of him screwing Detroit, his antics in rollerhockey, and his prima dona moves at crucial moments in Sabres, Red Wings, and Senators history. Corp's post above does, however, bring back all of the crazy and destructive things that he did while he was here. Not to mention the "I will always be a Red Wing" comment that pretty much lost most Buffalonians on him.

 

Would he have retired (for good) after 99 if we won the cup? Would that have been good enough for him to call it quits and save himself from the Detroit and Ottawa meltdowns? Or would he have been tempted to organize the same kind of stunts even with the 99 cup and 98 gold medal?

 

I don't think any NHL team will have him as a player after this. Its pretty clear that he doesn't have the will to be a part of the team when its not easy.

[apuszczalowski]

I don't think any NHL team will have him as a player after this. Its pretty clear that he doesn't have the will to be a part of the team when its not easy.

You're joking right? I mean, if they can find a happy suitor for Terrell Owens in the NHL, they can find a team interested in taking Dom in as their goalie.

 

I had heard that Dom was cleared to play a month back, but said he did not feel ready to play. Not sure exactly how true that is, but with his past you never know.

[Rabbit151]

Do they still retire his jersey in Buffalo? Or is he more hated than loved in Buffalo?

 

 

 

 

Maybe Ted Nolan could say a word or two at the induction ceremony.

[apuszczalowski]

I still say his number gets retired in buffalo cause he is one of the best players to ever suit up for the Sabres. Sure some fans may not respect some of his antics or comments/stuff he's pulled off the ice (or in the case of his groin, stuff he's pulled on the ice, LOL) But he is still one of the best players we have ever had. He will be a lock for the Hall of Fame and should definitly have #39 up in the rafters one day.

[Orange Seats]

You're joking right? I mean, if they can find a happy suitor for Terrell Owens in the NHL, they can find a team interested in taking Dom in as their goalie.

 

 

 

TO and Hasek are very different, as are the NHL and NFL. Although WR and Goal are both high profile positions, they can't be equivocated.

 

First of all, TO is 33 years old, Hasek is 41. At 41, Dom's skills and knowledge are now producing diminished returns because of his age. When you watch TO screw over a team, you can still maybe want him on your team as a quick fix celebrity because he has a few years of top playing left in him. Dom? At 41, I really don't think so. If Dom's prima dona sensibility were checked by his awareness of his age and limitations, you could maybe see taking him on, but no one wants a former star stutting around the locker room pretening that he can still do what he did 4 or 5 seasons ago. I think game three would have been his last time to show that there was any Hasek magic left in the tank that would make him worth keeping around.

 

Second, I think the NFL rewards cockiness and showmanship off the field in ways that the NHL doesn't reward the same off-ice. The NHL is trying to open up the game so that show-off passing and shooting and individual heroism are spotlighted (See Shootouts). But Hasek's off ice pageantry is really only desirable in a tabloid culture or fanbase, the kind that the NFL has, but not the NHL. I think everyone in the NHL wants to tell Hasek to cut the sh*t, but doesn't only out of respect of his skills in the 90s and early 00's. Will folks in the league continue to have deference for him as he gets further away from those great years and demonstrates how he can be a cancer on teams who gamble on him (Detroit and Ottawa).

 

Retiring #39:

 

I think they will, but it will take a long time. You won't see it until a generation of fans has turned over. It won't happen until people forget about his attitude and off ice problems and the name Hasek is again associated with amazing sprawling saves. If the NHL gets on its horse and starts making NFL Films type productions this might happen sooner than I expect just because highlight reels tend to immortalize players for things like that and help you forget about what sucked about them.

 

I think his jersey gets retired in the 2025 season. (Of course by then we'll already have memorialized "The Nobody's," the group of rooks and no-names whose 2005-06 Stanley Cup win that astonished the hockey world by taking it all.)

[apuszczalowski]

Hasek may be 42 but he was still one of the top goalies in the league before hurting his groin again. If it wasn't for possibility of him injuring it again, I'm sure alot of teams would still be interested in his services, especially if they were a team that only needed a goaltender to make a serious run at the cup.

 

T.O. is a team cancer who is also a me first player. Hasek has had way less problems and is still marketable. If an owner of any sports team is willing to sign T.O. after his past problems, I don't see how a team looking at a cup run would be willing to pass up on Hasek cause some fans speculate that he gives up on his teams. (no one is 100% sure what went on in the locker rooms and how badly hurt he really could be)

 

I also don't think it will take that long to get #39 retired in Buffalo, probably no longer then it took Lafontaine to get his retired. I think the only thing that would hold it up would be his relationship with the current managment team and himself. But I'm sure if they said they were going to do it, he would not have a problem. He was one of those players that don't come around often, and is very deserving of a jersey retirement.

[DWarner]

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/photo?slug=f59...ottj103&prov=ap

[fushetti]

Hasek may be 42 but he was still one of the top goalies in the league before hurting his groin again. If it wasn't for possibility of him injuring it again, I'm sure alot of teams would still be interested in his services, especially if they were a team that only needed a goaltender to make a serious run at the cup.

 

T.O. is a team cancer who is also a me first player. Hasek has had way less problems and is still marketable. If an owner of any sports team is willing to sign T.O. after his past problems, I don't see how a team looking at a cup run would be willing to pass up on Hasek cause some fans speculate that he gives up on his teams. (no one is 100% sure what went on in the locker rooms and how badly hurt he really could be)

 

I also don't think it will take that long to get #39 retired in Buffalo, probably no longer then it took Lafontaine to get his retired. I think the only thing that would hold it up would be his relationship with the current managment team and himself. But I'm sure if they said they were going to do it, he would not have a problem. He was one of those players that don't come around often, and is very deserving of a jersey retirement.

 

 

Yes he's in his early 40's but the Ottawa steamroller needed decent goaltending a few times a game and he delivered that. He didn't need to be The Dominator for Ottawa.

 

Hasek's number will be retired within a few years of his retirement. If he hadn't come back from retirement, it may already be up there. If his number, for some reason, isn't retired, it'd be horrible. I saw that guy play live more than any other goaltender. My hat is off to him. He was simply amazing.

 

Hasek saw the writing on the wall. I had/have no qualms with the forced trade after the 2001 season. I blame Regier for letting it his trade value diminish. He's a headcase, take him for what he's worth. He was outstanding in his 8-9 years in Buffalo. Lets remember that.

[Kristian]

 

Hasek saw the writing on the wall. I had/have no qualms with the forced trade after the 2001 season. I blame Regier for letting it his trade value diminish. He's a headcase, take him for what he's worth. He was outstanding in his 8-9 years in Buffalo. Lets remember that.

 

I for one had no problem with him wanting a ring, who doesn't want a ring? He decided to go where he thought his chances were best, and that's all cool with me. Even if it means us getting diddly in return for him, I put that on Regier's shoulders.

 

I did however have massive issues with his "I'll forever be a Red Wing" crap. I mean what kind of BS is that to spew on people who've idolised you for years? Talk about a kick in the groin on someone who's already down.

 

That and all his ego stunts - He's an athlete for christ sakes, he stops rubber. It's not like he cured cancer or anything.

[PASabreFan]

OK, he wanted a ring. He got one in Detroit. Why did he come back? To get another ring? The return to the league this season shoots the "ring theory" straight to hell.

 

As for the retirement of his number, it takes two to tango. Will he agree to it? I wonder. Dom knows this fact, unfortunate or otherwise: on that night, he will be booed. As for letting enough time pass, I also wonder. It seems to me the positive memories of Hasek will fade with time, and we'll be left with the negative. If you don't think that's true, consider this: it's been five years since he left the Sabres, and he's MORE unpopular than ever. I believe only one thing can straighten out this mess. Dom has to come to Buffalo, have a press conference and apologize to the fans for the manner in which he left. That might be enough to smooth things over. I, for one, can forgive grabbing Jim Kelley's shirt collar -- I've wanted to do it more than once! And the Nolan affair. And some of the weird goals in the playoffs. But demanding to be traded, requesting that the Sabres not ask too much in return and saying he would retire as a Red Wing? Unforgivable.

[bottlecap]

Hasek is one of the greatest goalies who ever lived. Goalies are

odd ducks and he might be the oddest. His unfortunate remark

about being a Red Wing forever was in the heat of the Rigas

fiasco.

 

Too bad that after Hasek won the cup with Detroit, he came

back for a curtain call, and couldn't finish the season so he

gave them their money back. Then he went to Czech and

promptly got in trouble for going postal on a guy during

a roller hockey game.

 

Then he convinced (senile?) Old Man Muckler that he still had

another curtain call left. But how fitting it was that his last

save would come for the only team he's ever had in his

heart, the Czech Republic.

 

So Old Man Muckler is left holding the bag and there's rumors

he's going to get fired. Not only was Hasek unfit for one curtain

call, his flight from the Czech Republic, with the police hot on his

heels, led to a second (enforced) curtain call, one which everyone

except Muckler could see that it was impossible.

 

I see Hasek as a flawed superhero and I think his Hasek's Heroes

and maybe a Sabres Cup, (which he ironically helped Buffalo to win --

against his will) will make the management eventually and grudgingly

recognize his superhuman talent.

 

But a great person he is not.

[DWarner]

"I know John didn't want him to go to the Olympics," Murray said. "He had no choice because of the [collective agreement between the NHL and the players' association]. ... We thought there was no reason to pick up another goalie as a result because based on [Hasek's] experience, we thought we were going to get our No. 1 goalie back."

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2446684

 

 

Um, sure...