Dominik Hasek (original) (raw)

Dominik Hasek (born January 29, 1965), often called The Dominator, is a professional ice hockey goalie; as of 2004, he plays for the NHL Detroit Red Wings. He is by far the most successful European goal tender of all time, and is one of the top athletes to ever play the position.

Hasek spent most of his career with the Buffalo Sabres. During his carrer, Hasek has won the Vezina Trophy for most outstanding goalie five times, and has won the Hart Trophy and Lester Pearson Award twice each. He led the NHL in save percentage six times, and has been named to the first team at the all star game five times.

At the 1998 Winter Olympics, Hasek led the Czech Republic team to a gold medal, including a shutout of the Russian Federation team during the gold medal game. In 2001 Hasek, having won almost everything but a Stanley Cup moved to the Detroit Red Wings, the odds on favourites to win. Hasek's dreams were fufilled and Detroit won both the President's and the Stanley Cup.

That summer Hasek retired, but after sitting out a year he returned to Detroit. In the intrim Detroit had hired Curtis Joseph and thus found itself with two expensive goal tenders, and no other team was willing to accept Joseph's large salary leading to tension among the Red Wings. The 2003-2004 season has been problematic for Hasek as he has suffered a number of groin injuries.