Dominik Hašek (Czech: [ˈdomɪnɪk ˈɦaʃɛk], ; born 29 January 1965) is a Czech former professional ice hockey player who was a goaltender for 16 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL), mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Widely considered to be among the greatest goaltenders in history, Hašek also played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and Ottawa Senators in his NHL career before finishing his career in Europe. While in Buffalo, he became one of the league's finest goaltenders, earning him the nickname "the Dominator". His strong play has been credited with establishing European goaltenders in a league previously dominated by North Americans. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, both with the Red Wings, winning his first as the starting goaltender in his first season with the team in 2002, and his second in 2008 as the team's backup in his last NHL season.
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, the most under the award's current system of voting for the best individual goaltender. In 1998 he won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy, the only goaltender to win that award more than once. 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 and prompted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to call him "the best player in the game". While with the Red Wings in 2002, Hašek became the first European-trained starting goaltender to win the Stanley Cup. In the process, he set a record for shutouts in a postseason year.
Hašek was considered an unorthodox goaltender, with a distinct style that led to his being labeled as a "flopper". He was best known for his concentration, foot speed, flexibility, and unconventional saves, such as covering the puck with his blocker rather than his trapper. Hašek holds the record for highest NHL career save percentage (0.9223) and is seventh (first in the modern era) in goals against average (2.202). He also has the third-highest NHL single-season save percentage (0.9366 in 1998–99), behind Tim Thomas in 2010–11 and Brian Elliott's 0.940 in 2011–12. Hašek is the only goalie to face the most shots per 60 minutes and have the highest save percentage in the same season, which he achieved twice (1996 and 1998) playing for the Sabres.
At the time of his retirement, he was the oldest active goaltender in the NHL at 43, and the second-oldest active player in the league after Red Wings teammate Chris Chelios, who was 46. Hašek announced his retirement on 9 June 2008, but on 21 April 2009, he announced a comeback to professional ice hockey and signed a contract with HC Pardubice of the Czech Extraliga. On 7 June 2010, he signed with Spartak Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and played the last season of his career with this team. Hašek announced his second retirement on 9 October 2012. Hašek was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on 17 November 2014. He is also a member of the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame and the IIHF Hall of Fame. His number was retired by the Buffalo Sabres (2015) and HC Pardubice (2013). In 2017, he was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history.
Hašek was born Dominik Kaštánek to Alois and Marie. When he was two his parents divorced, and Marie later married Jan Hašek, who adopted Hašek. Hašek started playing hockey at the age of six in his native Czechoslovakia. As he explains:
They held a tryout for 5-year-old boys and my father took me there. I didn't even have real skates. I had those blades that you screwed onto the soles of your shoes, but I was tall, and the 9-year-olds didn't have a goalie, so they put me in with them and that's where I fell in love with the game of hockey.
In 1980, Hašek joined the top hockey league in the country, the Czechoslovak First Ice Hockey League, with his hometown team, HC Pardubice. He became the youngest hockey player in history to play at the professional level at age 16. He helped to win two league titles in 1987 and 1989. The next year, he was conscripted in the Czechoslovak Army and played for an army team Dukla Jihlava. After making his mark and eventually playing for the Czechoslovak national team, Hašek entered the NHL draft and was drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in 1983. At the time, NHL teams were wary of drafting players from behind the Iron Curtain who were often barred from playing in NHL by their countries. Consequently, Hašek was picked in the 10th round (199th overall) and was the 17th goaltender selected. Hašek did not even know he had been drafted until several months later.
Hašek played on the Czechoslovakia team in the 1988 Winter Olympics, featuring in games against Finland and Canada as the team finished sixth overall.
Until 1990, Hašek played in his native Czechoslovakia for HC Pardubice and Dukla Jihlava. He won the Golden Hockey Stick, given to the most valuable player in the Czechoslovak top league, in 1987, 1989 and 1990. He was named the league's Goaltender of the Year for five consecutive years from 1986 through 1990. His American career began with the Indianapolis Ice of the International Hockey League (IHL), where he played parts of two seasons. His NHL debut with the Blackhawks finally came in the 1990–91 season, seven years after the 1983 NHL entry draft.
Chicago Blackhawks (1990–1992)
In Chicago, Hašek spent time as the backup to Ed Belfour. Belfour was a 25-year-old rookie but he would shine immediately, winning the Vezina Trophy, Jennings Trophy, and Calder Trophy after the conclusion of the 1990–91 season, Hašek played only 25 games over two seasons with the Blackhawks, splitting time between the Blackhawks and the Indianapolis Ice of the IHL. On 6 November 1990, wearing the number 34 (31 was worn by backup goaltender Jacques Cloutier that year), Hašek made his first NHL start in a 1–1 tie against the Hartford Whalers.
His first victory came on 8 March 1991, by a score of 5–3 over the Buffalo Sabres, and on 9 January 1992, he recorded his first shutout in a 2–0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
During his time in Chicago, the Blackhawks goaltending coach was Vladislav Tretiak, who was selected in the 1983 entry draft but was barred from playing in the NHL by the Soviet government.
Hašek made his first NHL playoff appearance, which was in game four of the 1992 Stanley Cup Final against Mario Lemieux's Pittsburgh Penguins, after Belfour allowed two goals on four shots in the opening 6:33. Hašek played well with 21 saves despite the loss. Although the Penguins won and clinched the Stanley Cup, Hašek's performance attracted the attention of the Sabres, who had considered trading for him earlier that season.
After the Stanley Cup Final appearance, Chicago decided to stay with Belfour and Jimmy Waite, and traded Hašek to the Buffalo Sabres on August 7, 1992, for goaltender Stéphane Beauregard and future considerations, which later materialized into a draft pick used to obtain Éric Dazé. In Buffalo, wearing number 39, he was initially the backup goaltender, playing behind Grant Fuhr. When Fuhr was injured partway through the 1993–94 season, Hašek was elevated to starter and soon developed into a top-tier goaltender. In 1994, he won his first Vezina Trophy, was runner-up for the Hart Memorial Trophy and shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with Fuhr. Hašek played 58 games with a league-best 1.95 goals against average (GAA), seven shutouts, and a .930 save percentage. He followed this feat by again winning the Vezina Trophy and again placing as a Hart finalist in 1994–95.
Hašek's success in the 1996–97 season was overshadowed by a conflict with then-head coach Ted Nolan. The conflict created a tense, clique-like atmosphere in the Sabres' clubhouse.
In game three of the Sabres' best-of-seven first-round playoff series against the Ottawa Senators, Hašek removed himself in the second period and was replaced by Steve Shields. Hašek suffered a mild sprain of his right MCL, and the team doctor pronounced him day-to-day. However, the media and some teammates speculated Hašek was using his injury to bail out on the team. One such individual was Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley, who wrote a column detailing Hašek's injury and his conflict with Nolan, and questioning the goaltender's mental toughness. When Kelley approached Hašek for an interview after a loss in game five, Hašek physically attacked the journalist and received a three-game suspension and a $10,000 (US) fine as a result of the incident. With Shields in goal, the Sabres fought back against the Senators and took the series in seven games. However, Hašek did not play in the following series against the Philadelphia Flyers, which Buffalo lost in five games.