just saw on tsn




Sources tell TSN that Detroit Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek will announce his retirement on Monday.

The Red Wings have called a news conference at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for 11am et/8am pt.

Hasek leaves the NHL as one of the most important goaltenders the game has ever seen. From 1993 to 2001, The Dominator won six Vezina Trophies and became the first goalie to win consecutive Hart Trophies.

He followed up his domination in the late 1990's by becoming the first European starting goaltender to win a Stanley Cup in 2002, setting a record with six shutouts in the playoffs.

This season, Hasek won 27 games with a goals-against-average of 2.14 this season, appearing in 41 games while he shared duties with Chris Osgood. In the playoffs, he appeared in just four games against the Nashville Predators in the first round.

Hasek began his NHL career with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1990-91, appearing in five games. In 1992-93, the Czech Republic native moved on to Buffalo where he enjoyed his greatest individual success.

But it wasn't until he joined the Red Wings for the 2001-02 season that he won the ultimate team prize, the Stanley Cup.

After the work stoppage in 2004-05, Hasek signed with the Ottawa Senators for the 2005-06 campaign, winning 28 games and losing just 10. But last year, he returned to the Red Wings for what would turn out to be his final stop on a 16-year journey.

His unconventional and unorthodox style of flopping around his crease and sprawling on his back to make a save changed the way goalies play their position and earned him a spot among hockey's all time greats

He was awesome. I remember growing up watching him dominate. GG Hasek

Not that the decision is wholly based on this, but I bet that being benched in the playoffs and watch his team perform without him was pretty upsetting.
Getting another cup might just abolish that though.

Hasek is one of the all-time most selfish players in hockey history..... I would love to publicly tell the tale of his pulling the chute on the Buffalo Sabres in the playoffs, but that would be breaking a confidence..... suffice to say he got beat up in his own locker room....

I'd love for you to toe the line of what you can say on this matter as much as possible. Pulling the chute...how? How badly beat up?

This is almost as good as winning the Cup. GG Hasek, and good riddance.

He was pretty whiny in post game cup winning interviews.

Glad to see him go and hopefully he will leave the area as well since every run in with him was unpleasant. The guy is a plain ass.

I really dont get the animosity towards Hasek..Especially from Wings fan...The man was one of the best goalies to play in the NHL..Top 10 IMO..And a surefire HOF..

2 Hart trophies
6 Vezinas
and 2 Stanley Cups

Yeah, that was a long time ago.

I am not going to have this argument again though so I will leave it at that.

not arguing with you...I am assuming the man off the ice is a prick..but so are a lot of other superstars...And maybe he overstayed his welcome..

On the ice though he is a first ballot HOFer..

Interesting thoughts on Hasek:

I can agree that in his prime and for a little while after he was a top goalie, no doubt. My problem with him comes more from how he is as a teammate. Lame as this may sound, one of the main reasons I love the Wings is not because of their success but the way they act as a team. This team is tight, they are all friends and on and off season spend a lot of time with each other. There are ego's for sure, you have to have a large ego to play professional sports, but they seem to all keep them in check and play a team game. Most players that come here that don't fit that model never seem to stay very long, ones that do almost never end up leaving. Hasek was never a team player. I think that shows his whole career. I think the management made some poor decisions in the past about Dominic and let him sort of go against their mission at times. I just don't think he was worth it in the long run and this past season though his numbers were good during the regular season, he was not even close to being on par with how he used to be. I also really believe his style does not fit well here. I think that showed in the playoffs. He likes to see a ton of action and we all know since people put down Ozzie for it all the time, as a Wings goalie you could spend period upon period seeing very few shots. Yet Hasek even admitted in an interview this past season on Red Wings Weekly that he gets bored and loses focus when he faces little shots and any Wings fan that watches them night in an night out will attest to the fact that he had many games this season where he clearly lost focus due to facing to adversity.

Yes he was a good, great goalie, but I guess I am a little dorkier because I like to see players on my team who know they are on a team. And again, I used to have to deal with him on a weekly basis and he was an outstanding MVP prick for no reason other than he thought his shit didn't stink. And at this time I also dealt with Hull, Schneider, Yzerman, and others from other local teams and they were all just normal people. I wasn't one of the many at the 02 parade chanting "One More Year" when he came up to speak.

Edit: lol, my wife emailed me asking if I saw the news of his retirement. I told her yes and this was her response back...


Phew. He was just such a baby about the cup. it was like he tried to be a good sport but just couldn't go through with it completely. Loser.

I agree he had an amazing career, is guaranteed a spot in the HOF, etc. etc. However, after his '02 victory with the Wings, I feel began his downward spiral. He's always been selfish, and it seems apparent he obviously doesn't listen to the coaching staff (cuz only a retard would encourage him to play the puck). He should have hung 'em up in '02 and gone out with a bang. Instead he made a pathetic comeback. Yes he had good numbers, but partially due to the fact he played with the Wings and Senators. I doubt he would have done as well on some weaker teams. Yes he managed to win one more Cup, but I can't help to think he played a role in many losses over the last couple years (i.e. games we are outshooting the opposition 25-8 but losing 4-0). Not to mention the situation that arose with Cujo. Cujo handled that pretty well, at least it appeared so publicly. I mean he basically got tossed out due to Hasek's triumphant return only to try and save our asses after not playing until Dom goes down with an injury. I agree with SBrian that he was definitely a negative influence on the team's positive chemistry at times. Hearing what Gruven has to say about him only solidifies my opinion. I just hope to God he doesn't try and make another comeback.

P.S. Go Ozzie!

Absolutely a Hall of Famer and 100% in the top three goalies of the past 20 years with Brodeur and Roy. However, he's one of those guys that, if people knew the truth, they would set fire to bags of shit on his porch

If you leave a guy like this, the damage to his testicles can be permanent. What kind of reputation are you trying to build, here?

Pardon?

he would really like you to elaborate on the truth about Hasek, I think. dutch has a funny way of saying things.

For sure he's in the top 5 or 6 all-time in some order of:

Plante
Sawchuk
Hall
Brodeur
Roy
Hasek

The roller hockey incident in the Czech Republic really really bothered me and I never liked him.

Easily best European goalie. Russians might argue Tretiak but he never played NHL so I don't know.

Whether he was an a-hole human being or not you can't deny he was an amazing goalie in his prime.

Russians might also argue that they aren't really part of Europe

LMAO

HAHA, thanks, I needed that.

West of the Urals is Europe, east Asia.

RUSSIA is playing Spain right now in EURO 2008...EUROPEAN SOCCER

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continents

Eurasia

"The seven-continent model is usually taught in Western Europe, Northern Europe, Central Europe, Southeastern Europe, China and most English-speaking countries. The six-continent combined-Eurasia model is preferred by the geographic community, Russia, Eastern Europe, and Japan."

Exactly...either way most Russian's wouldn't say they are Europeans.

Too bad they disagree with pretty much all of the 1st world countries.

Jim Kelley in 2004:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/stor...&id=1732829

"Flash back to the 1996 playoffs between the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators. Hasek was feuding with then-coach Ted Nolan, and several in the Nolan camp were told to expect the unexpected.

In the middle of a crucial game in Ottawa, Hasek, seemingly untouched, fell over backwards, kicked his right leg out from underneath him and stayed down for just a second. He then got up, skated to the bench and walked directly to the training room -- never looking at his coach, his coach never looking at him.

In the interest of full disclosure, we must tell you that shortly after that game Hasek attempted to assault a reporter whom he claimed questioned the severity of that injury.

That reporter was yours truly.

Word around Sabres was that Hasek told friends he would never play another game for Nolan -- and, indeed, that was the case."

James Mirtle - Globe and Mail:
"There are so many different ways to answer that. Jim Kelley's piece from 2004 is a good start.

And that was before the Ottawa shenanigans.

His entire career, Hasek loved to do what I consider cheating. He'd dive, he'd knock the net off on purpose when the opposing team had a scoring chance. He was disruptive with every franchise he played with in the NHL, and his exit from Buffalo was ugly.

Early in his career, he also always struck me as quite conceited and unlikeable in interviews.

Still, as I said, he's one of the best of all-time, and I'll give him his due."

As Hasek skated off the ice, the players asked him what was wrong.... Hasek said 'Knee. 4-6 weeks'. Interesting that, in the time from falling down to skating off, he managed to diagnose the injury as well as the recovery time.

I remember reading the article in 2004. that was when hasek unseated cujo, then declared himself unfit to play for detroit for the rest of the season due to groin problems.

For such a prick, I'm surprised he returned some of his salary to the Wings organization on his own accord. That was probably the only classy thing he did in his career, but classy nonetheless.

Yes, he voluntarily returned the money after threats of legal action by the wings...

I think a player's on ice accomplishments are a separate entity from their off ice personality...

OJ Simpson was one of the best running backs of all time....but also a murderer
Micheal Vick great QB...but likes to kill dogs
Lot more examples of this..

Especially among NHL goalies...Roy(prick), Brodeur(personal affairs)

big deal..

The man is a great goalie

There were much better RB's than OJ.
Vick was a "good" QB, not great.

Noone has questioned his skill as a goalie, just his skill as a human being.

Aren't you the same guy who takes such delight whenever discussing the senators in calling Dany Heatley a murderer?

Well he is(IMO) but thats irrevelant....I also think he is overrated on the ice.

We certainly wondered where he was during the 1st round.

Yeah, back-to-back 50 goal seasons and a probable third if not for injuries....meh. He's no Nik Antropov.

How did he do when the games really counted???I didnt compare him to Nik Antropov..Just that he is overrated...He couldnt even lead Canada to a Gold Medal in a week tourney..

Disgrace to the whole country, may he rot in Ottawa..

I like saying stuff like that..

Too bad Heatley, Getlzaf, Nash was by far the best line for Team Canada...

True but they still lost...Heatley actually played a lot better than he did for the Sens in the playoffs.

Paddock killed 'em.. Heatley admitted have those 2? weeks off before the start of tournament was huge.

Hopefully Hartsburg won't feel the need to win the cup in October as well .

I agree with you...see we can agree.

I agree with this completely. I've always found it strange the way people confuse the art with the artist, not just in sports, but in all kinds of entertainment. I often find it really strange the way people glorify sports stars, and look to thiem not only for their on ice performances, but also to be their heros, their idols. People want them to be the type of guy they could have a beer with, a great guy, a guy's guy. I've always found this strange, because we, as fans, most of us at least, have absolutely no relationship with players. We don't hang out with them, we don't have beers with them, we don't invite them over for barb-e-ques.

Me personally, I don't care in the slightest what a player is like off field/court/ice. I've heard Michael Jordan is a horror show of a human being to be around, pathologically competitive, always putting people down, and a terrible tipper. And it makes zero difference to me if he was a great, fun guy and an awesome team mate and friend, or a complete and utter prick and sociopath. Because I loved him where it matters, on the court. That's where me and MJ's relationship starts and ends. He gets paid to entertain me, period, and entertain me he did.


As to Hasek specifically, one of the few times I ever really got into a hockey competition, and the only time I ever got into Olympic hockey was the 98 olympics. I'm sure this is a sore memory for many of you canadian hockey fans, and may be the source of a bit of the Hasek Hate in the forum. I was completely captivated by his style and dominance. He absolutely hauled that Czech team on his back and to the gold medal. I doubt there is another example in any team sport of any sone player that had more to do with his teams championship than Hasek was responsible for in that run. I know I'm a hockey newbie, but he captivated me in that year, in that competition, and that should say something about his skill, that he would draw in a complete non-hockey fan.

I have no doubt that as a hockey insider Gruven is right about Hasek, he is probably a crappy person and a crappy teammate. But as long as he's stopping goal after goal, and winning Vezina trophies, how good of a team mate does he really have to be? Would you rather have a mediocre goal tender and a great teammate infront of the net, or a poor teammate and a hall of fame tender? I don't think who Hasek was as a person off the ice in anyway diminishes what he accomplished on the ice.

Great post Mcgee....Your knowledge of so many different topics boggles my mind sometime..You live in an area nowhere close to hockey but your views on the sport are dead on...Just curious what you do for a living??

Very knowledgeable guy and I enjoy a lot of your posts...

Manage my family's agricultural LLC. Which means, basically nothing for the most part.