The dominator

Sporting News, The, Nov 6, 1995 by Larry Wigge

Hasek, a 10th-round pick by Chicago in 1983, got so desperate that he lied to then-coach Mike Keenan.

"I called Mike Keenan and told him I wasn't good enough to play in the NHL," Hasek says, his hazel eyes twinkling in jest. "I lied to him. I told him: `I'm bad. I'm old. Let me go back to Europe to play.' But he wouldn't let me go."

This was the summer of 1992. Hasek knew he was good enough to play in the NHL, but he couldn't beat out Belfour. That's when he decided to lie.

"He wasn't fooling me," says Keenan, who now coaches the Blues. "I had scouted him in Europe and knew how good he was.

A mouthful: It's no long shot to say Hasek, a two-time Vezina winner, is the NHL's top goalie. I didn't know he was going to be this good, but I knew he was good.

"It was about that time that we were looking for a center and Buffalo was offering Christian Ruuttu. The deal looks one-sided now, but we knew another expansion (to Tampa Bay and Ottawa) was coming up and we wouldn't be able to protect both Belfour and Hasek, so we made the trade. I know one thing, I'd like to have him back now."

So, Hasek was off to Buffalo; another team, and more skeptics followed, however.

Hasek and Daren Puppa shared the goaltending the first half of 1992-93. At that point, Muckler traded high-scoring left wing Dave Andreychuk, a first-round pick and Puppa to Toronto for Grant Fuhr and a fifth-round pick.

"I was about to give up," Hasek says. "(Fuhr) had been on five Stanley Cup champions. I had been on none. I didn't think I'd ever be a No. 1 goalie in the NHL."

One season later, however, Fuhr was bothered by knee injuries, and Hasek wasn't about to squander what he perceived as perhaps his last chance. Fuhr never got his job back.

"It wasn't fun sitting on the bench but it was fun watching Dominik stone every opponent he faced," says Fuhr, who ironically now plays for Keenan in St. Louis after being written off by several teams. "Most people will say that Ron Hextall is the most fiery competitor they've ever seen in goal, but I would disagree. I think it's Dominik Hasek."

At 30, Hasek might not be every team's first choice in goal. Some might take New Jersey's Martin Brodeur. Some might still take Montreal's Patrick Roy. But those who have doubted Hasek are praising him now.

Flyers General Manager Bobby Clarke admits he erred when he was the G.M. of the Panthers in 1993 and the Sabres protected Fuhr and Tom Draper and left Hasek available in the expansion draft. Florida passed. "Yes, yes, we were dumb for not taking him," he says. "But the Sabres were dumber for making him available."

There were rumors earlier this year that the Sabres, still trying to cut another $3 million from their hefty payroll, might be looking to trade Hasek if they started slowly. Since our interview in early October, the Sabres have offered Hasek a contract extension if he will take a reduced salary now and defer it to when the franchise might be on stronger footing. "We're looking at every way possible to keep him," Muckler says. "We don't want to let the best goaltender in the game get away."