Dominik Hašek

Dominik Hašek
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2014
Hašek with the Red Wings in 2008
Born	(1965-01-29) January 29, 1965 (age 59) Pardubice, Czechoslovakia
Height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight	166 lb (75 kg; 11 st 12 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	ELH HC Pardubice HC Dukla Jihlava NHL Chicago Blackhawks Buffalo Sabres Detroit Red Wings Ottawa Senators KHL HC Spartak Moscow
National team	Czechoslovakia and  Czech Republic
NHL Draft	199th overall, 1983 Chicago Black Hawks
Playing career	1980–2011

Dominik Hašek, (born January 29, 1965) is a Czech former professional ice hockey goaltender that played a total of 16 seasons in the National Hockey League.

During his playing career he played for the Detroit Red Wings, Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, and the Ottawa Senators. When he was in Buffalo, he became one of the league's best goaltenders. He was nicknamed "The Dominator." His strong play has been said to have establish European goaltenders in a league dominated by North Americans.^[1]

Hašek was one of the league's most successful goaltenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. From 1993 to 2001, he won six Vezina Trophies, and in 1998 he became the first goaltender to win consecutive Hart Trophies.^[2] During the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, he led the Czech national ice hockey team to its first and only Olympic gold medal. The feat made him a popular figure in his home country^[3] and prompted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to call him "the best player in the game."^[4] While with the Red Wings in 2002, Hašek became the first European starting goaltender to win the Stanley Cup.^[5] Doing that, he set a record for shutouts in a postseason year. He came in second in votes for the Conn Smythe Trophy for the playoff's Most Valuable Player.

Hašek was considered an unorthodox goaltender, with a special style that has labelled him a "flopper."^[6] He is best known for his concentration, foot speed, flexibility, and unconventional saves, such as covering the puck with his blocker rather than his trapper.^[6]

On June 23, 2014, Hašek was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.^[7]

References

1. Samuelson, Karl (November 1, 2003). "The return of the dominator: after taking a year off to charge his batteries, Dominik Hašek is back in goal for Detroit and ready to win another Cup". Hockey Digest. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
2. "A to Z Encyclopedia of Ice Hockey". The Ice Hockey Annual. Archived from the original on February 2, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
3. "Q&A: Czech hockey goalie Dominik Hasek". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. February 3, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
4. Wigge, Larry (March 23, 1998). "Passionate or passionless? It's a harbinger of spring - whether certain key players are playing with the passion and intensity needed for success in the Stanley Cup playoffs - NHL Insider - Column". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
5. "Lidstrom becomes first European to win Conn Smythe Trophy". IIHF. June 14, 2002. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
6. "Dominik Hasek (1990–present)". hockeygoalies.org. 2007. Retrieved April 24, 2007.
7. "Hasek, Modano in Hall's Class of 2014". Detroit Red Wings. Retrieved October 19, 2014.

Other websites

• Dominik Hašek career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Dominik Hašek player profile at NHL.com