Hasek: A Man With Unfinished Business

[WingedWheels 0]

Scouting Report: Dominik Hasek

Posted by Ansar Khan July 23, 2007 06:00AM

Categories: Scouting Reports

With so much to prove last season, Dominik Hasek showed that he still has the drive to be the best, that he's still hungry for a championship and that he could avoid groin troubles that dogged him the previous two seasons.

He'll head into what is likely his final season with the same questions. Will he still be motivated? And, can he make it through two straight seasons relatively healthy?

Hasek was bitterly disappointed after the Wings loss to Anaheim in the Western Conference finals, feeling his club was better and should have won. He spoke like a man with unfinished business and believes this team will have just as good a chance to win the Stanley Cup next season. So there is little doubt he wants to win badly.

But, what are the odds that a guy who turns 43 in January can once again make it through the season healthy? It wouldn't be such a bad thing if he missed some time in the regular season as long as he's healthy in the playoffs. Once again, the Wings will do what they can to minimize the risk by not overworking him and not playing him on consecutive nights.

His legendary work ethic hasn't declined a bit and he's still as intense as ever. He's not as quick or as acrobatic as he was a few years ago, but on this team, with its puck control and strong defense, he's not going to face a lot of shots.

Hasek is still one of the best goalies in the league and the Wings were fortunate he came back. Beyond his abilities, he brings a level of confidence that is contagious. His teammates know they have a goalie who won't fold under pressure in the playoffs, and that's huge.

[Collin Lane 0]

His teammates know they have a goalie who won't fold under pressure in the playoffs, and that's huge.

Ouch... my sympathies to Chris Osgood, Manny Legace and Curtis Joseph.

[brubs42 0]

Ouch... my sympathies to Chris Osgood, Manny Legace and Curtis Joseph.

Osgood did win a cup for us and Legace got a bad rap... I can't defend Cujo though

[gcom007 1,465]

Legace was the only one who folded in the playoffs. Osgood and Joseph had fine playoffs. Ozzie's won a Cup and always kept us in it and Joseph is the only reason we went anywhere a few years back. Our best player. But hey, it's the media, I'm not shocked.

[Motown 0]

Osgood did win a cup for us and Legace got a bad rap... I can't defend Cujo though

O god Cujo.........the only memorie i have of him was i belive in the playoffs when the puck was dumped in right at him and he went to handle it and it went right passed him and in the net and he was way out of his crease!........god if any one could find that video that would be great

[Kreator13 0]

come playoff time, i've felt more comfortable about hasek than anyone else the wings have had in the past, lets see, 8 years?

[WINGS TILL DEATH 9]

Scouting Report: Dominik Hasek

Posted by Ansar Khan July 23, 2007 06:00AM

Categories: Scouting Reports

Hasek was bitterly disappointed after the Wings loss to Anaheim in the Western Conference finals, feeling his club was better and should have won.

WE SHOULD HAVE!!! That series was 100% an up hill battle for us!!! We earn our goals, and the ducks got theirs on silver platters!!! Scotty off Nic's stick still huants my dreams!!!

[Kp-Wings 3]

Osgood did win a cup for us and Legace got a bad rap... I can't defend Cujo though

You have it exactly the wrong way.

Cujo played great in that Calgary series... we never lost because of him. Think about it. We had two consectutive 1-0 losses. How exactly is that the goalie's fault? Sounds more like scoring problems to me...

Legace, on the other hand, folds like a tent come playoff time. He did it in the Nashville series in 2004, and the Edmonton series in 2006. That's twice in a row he bombed out. He's not getting a bad wrap at all. Any criticism he gets is all true, as he was just plain awful for the Wings during the playoffs.

If the Wings had a decent goalie during the 2006 playoffs, I really think we could have, at least, beat Edmonton. Maybe not win the Cup, because we also lacked grit, but we should have gotten past the first round. Legace is the reason why we lost to Edmonton that year, hands down.

[revnic 0]

^ ^ agreed 1000000000000000%

[Cicada 4]

You have it exactly the wrong way.

Cujo played great in that Calgary series... we never lost because of him. Think about it. We had two consectutive 1-0 losses. How exactly is that the goalie's fault? Sounds more like scoring problems to me...

Legace, on the other hand, folds like a tent come playoff time. He did it in the Nashville series in 2004, and the Edmonton series in 2006. That's twice in a row he bombed out. He's not getting a bad wrap at all. Any criticism he gets is all true, as he was just plain awful for the Wings during the playoffs.

If the Wings had a decent goalie during the 2006 playoffs, I really think we could have, at least, beat Edmonton. Maybe not win the Cup, because we also lacked grit, but we should have gotten past the first round. Legace is the reason why we lost to Edmonton that year, hands down.

absolutely...

2006 team should have won the cup...they were better than anyone else by a country mile, and Legace cost us...

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Can't wait to see how this goalie war thread turns out...

Anyways, Hasek should adopt me as a nephew and give me lots of money as a reward for being a good relative, just for fun.

[martyrme19 73]

god i wish everyone would get their heads out of their ass when talking about legace and the edmonton series. People seem to forget, or wish to just turn their heads to the fact that we just got outplayed against edmonton. They out worked us, out played us. plain and simple. Nobody showed up to play that series. Need we forget that until this year, Datsyuk was pegged as a no show for playoffs? Now I never jumped on Datsyuk for that, but everyone else around here sure did. And I can safely assume that if Legace was given another year, chances are he would have done well, since he did consistently well in the regular season, and everyone here would shut their yaps about how legace is the worst thing the world has seen since pimento loaf.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

god i wish everyone would get their heads out of their ass when talking about legace and the edmonton series. People seem to forget, or wish to just turn their heads to the fact that we just got outplayed against edmonton. They out worked us, out played us. plain and simple. Nobody showed up to play that series. Need we forget that until this year, Datsyuk was pegged as a no show for playoffs? Now I never jumped on Datsyuk for that, but everyone else around here sure did. And I can safely assume that if Legace was given another year, chances are he would have done well, since he did consistently well in the regular season, and everyone here would shut their yaps about how legace is the worst thing the world has seen since pimento loaf.

Pimento loaf? Damn, I gotta try that!

Seriously though, while Legace certainly did his part in helping seal the Wings fate that series, I understand what you are saying. The only three people who showed up that series were Yzerman, Zetterberg, and that other guy who's initials are R.L. (I'm afraid to say the full name as the thread will turn into a ***** fest about "work ethic" instead of Hasek as it was intended for).

Edited July 24, 2007 by SouthernWingsFan

[detroitdan 0]

Cujo was definitely not the problem in 2004...he played well enough in that series, but didn't they only score 6 goals in that series and lose Yzerman to the eye injury? I don't really care that he's gone but the blame wasn't all his

[chrisdetroit 189]

You have it exactly the wrong way.

Cujo played great in that Calgary series... we never lost because of him. Think about it. We had two consectutive 1-0 losses. How exactly is that the goalie's fault? Sounds more like scoring problems to me...

Legace, on the other hand, folds like a tent come playoff time. He did it in the Nashville series in 2004, and the Edmonton series in 2006. That's twice in a row he bombed out. He's not getting a bad wrap at all. Any criticism he gets is all true, as he was just plain awful for the Wings during the playoffs.

If the Wings had a decent goalie during the 2006 playoffs, I really think we could have, at least, beat Edmonton. Maybe not win the Cup, because we also lacked grit, but we should have gotten past the first round. Legace is the reason why we lost to Edmonton that year, hands down.

I agree with all that except to say that Legace was the only reason we lost to Edmonton. I agree that he was the biggest reason, but none of the guys played well that series except Z and would you believe Robert Lang. We were clearly lacking the passion that we showed this year. I think that we were just outplayed by an Oil team that wanted it more.

[Heaton 1]

I agree with all that except to say that Legace was the only reason we lost to Edmonton. I agree that he was the biggest reason, but none of the guys played well that series except Z and would you believe Robert Lang. We were clearly lacking the passion that we showed this year. I think that we were just outplayed by an Oil team that wanted it more.

Which other Western Conference team scored more goals than the Wings against the Oilers that year? We were outplayed in some games, but not to the point that we should've lost. Legace wasn't the sole reason, but he let in goals he NEVER would've let in during the regular season.

[JayUp88 1]

Which other Western Conference team scored more goals than the Wings against the Oilers that year? We were outplayed in some games, but not to the point that we should've lost. Legace wasn't the sole reason, but he let in goals he NEVER would've let in during the regular season.

Very true, its wasn't just him, but he had a big part in it.

[Drake_Marcus 890]

You have it exactly the wrong way.

Cujo played great in that Calgary series... we never lost because of him. Think about it. We had two consectutive 1-0 losses. How exactly is that the goalie's fault? Sounds more like scoring problems to me...

Bah! Oz scores goals all the time.

[HuntsVegas Baby 0]

You have it exactly the wrong way.

Cujo played great in that Calgary series... we never lost because of him. Think about it. We had two consectutive 1-0 losses. How exactly is that the goalie's fault? Sounds more like scoring problems to me...

Legace, on the other hand, folds like a tent come playoff time. He did it in the Nashville series in 2004, and the Edmonton series in 2006. That's twice in a row he bombed out. He's not getting a bad wrap at all. Any criticism he gets is all true, as he was just plain awful for the Wings during the playoffs.

If the Wings had a decent goalie during the 2006 playoffs, I really think we could have, at least, beat Edmonton. Maybe not win the Cup, because we also lacked grit, but we should have gotten past the first round. Legace is the reason why we lost to Edmonton that year, hands down.

You hit is right on the head! I even remember Babcock saying after the fact that he would have replaced Legace with Osgood in the Edmonton series if he were 100%. I would have loved to see that!

[Drake_Marcus 890]

You hit is right on the head! I even remember Babcock saying after the fact that he would have replaced Legace with Osgood in the Edmonton series if he were 100%. I would have loved to see that!

People can knock Oz all they want but the fact remains that he's still clutch when we need him. I think the Preds games he won in the second half of the season prove that.

[T-Ruff 47]

Hasek is so awesome.....

The way last year ended is unfortunate, I like our chances in '08 though, if the team stays healthy for the most part, I believe it is better than last.....

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

His numbers in the playoffs were pretty good, but in the end he got outplayed by Giguere, which is why we lost. He also made too many mistakes at playing the puck, and I can't get that final game out of my mind with him doing snow angels 5 feet away from the net. With the current roster that we have, he'll have to play much better than last year in order for us to make any sort of playoff run.

[Guest Crymson]

Legace was the only one who folded in the playoffs. Osgood and Joseph had fine playoffs. Ozzie's won a Cup and always kept us in it and Joseph is the only reason we went anywhere a few years back. Our best player. But hey, it's the media, I'm not shocked.

Joseph played some hideous playoff hockey for us, for the most part.

[al48 1]

People can knock Oz all they want but the fact remains that he's still clutch when we need him. I think the Preds games he won in the second half of the season prove that.

Clutch? See 2001 playoffs (game 4 especially) vs LA

[eva unit zero 271]

Clutch? See 2001 playoffs (game 4 especially) vs LA

Osgood played stellar that entire series. The fact that the Wings were up 3-0 and STOPPED PLAYING was not Osgood's fault. That and the fact that in game 4, there was never a conclusive replay shot and Faucette could not possibly have seen the puck cross the line, combined with the Kings' second goal in Game five being scored on a missed offsides play. If you take those two plays away, and everything else happens as it did, the Wings are up 3-1 in the series going into OT in game 5.