BUFFALO, N. Don Buse Jersey .Y. -- Dominik Hasek is not a goaltender anymore. He hasnt taken his customary place between the posts since his last game on Feb. 27, 2011 for Spartak Moscow of the KHL. He has thought and talked about playing since, but never followed through. "My equipment is still in the same bag," he said. Even when the 49-year-old plays with friends once or twice a week, Hasek plays as a defenceman. Forty years as a goalie was enough. And its unlikely the man nicknamed "The Dominator" can capture the kind of performances that made him one of the best goaltenders in his era, alongside Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. Hasek played his final NHL game five years ago, and then officially retired in 2012. Its taken time since he left the league for his true place in NHL history to come into focus. Six Vezina Trophies as the leagues best goaltender, two Hart Trophies as MVP, one Olympic gold medal, six first-team all-star selections and two Stanley Cups -- one as a starter -- dont even tell the whole story. Few goalies during the 1990s and 2000s could do what Hasek did to opponents. "He mentally and physically intimidated you," said St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who beat Hasek in the 1999 Cup final with the Stars. "I think there were games that you knew you were never going to score on him, and I think it was very discouraging at times. I think thats a great quality. Id never seen the guy quit on a puck, Id never seen the guy give up on anything. And thats hard to play against." Haseks .922 save percentage is the best of any goalie since the league started keeping track in 1982-83. His 2.02 goals-against average is the best in the modern era, slightly lower than Ken Dryden and Brodeur. Brodeur has many more shutouts, but when Hasek was on his game, he had the ability to almost will teams to win. "He makes a team believe," ex-Sabres and current Stars coach Lindy Ruff said in a phone interview. "You just start believing that with him in goal you can win any given night." Ruff recalled times when Hasek was so locked in that "we really only had to score one. And if we got two, it was almost guaranteed-win night." Hasek, who is being inducted into the Sabres hall of fame Saturday night and will be the first NHL player to have the number 39 retired next season, wanted victories more than trophies or honours. "I want to be remembered as a competitor who gave the teams always (the chance) to win the game," Hasek said Friday at First Niagara Center. "As a great goalie, as the person or goalie who gave the team (a chance) to always win the game. Thats what was hockey for me. I enjoyed my time, I enjoyed when I played here and any time I step on the ice my goal is to win the game and try to help my teammates win the game." Hasek will forever trail Brodeur (three Cups with the New Jersey Devils) and Roy (four, two each with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche), and one of his two in Detroit came as Chris Osgoods backup. But Hasek could potentially have won another title in 1999, had it not been for Brett Hulls controversial skate-in-the-crease overtime series winner in Game 6. A Cup there would have burnished Haseks legacy even more, but its not something that he laments 15 years later. "Its part of the life," he said. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you come close and you dont win it the whole way. It was an unfortunate night for us, it was something disappointing, but for me it wasnt end of my life." Far from it. In fact, Hasek teamed up with Hull to win the Cup in 2002 with the Red Wings, posting six shutouts along the way. "Winning a Stanley Cup anywhere, its hard," said Sabres coach Ted Nolan, who spoke with Hasek Friday for the first time since Nolan was fired in Buffalo in 1997. "Its hard and all the stars have to line up. They didnt quite line up here but he went and lined it up in Detroit pretty well." In 1999, Hasek had two shutouts and a playoff-best .939 save percentage in almost getting the Sabres their first championship in franchise history. Stars centre Joe Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy, but it easily couldve gone to Hasek even in a losing effort. "We were a huge underdog, obviously, going through the playoffs," Ruff said. "I thought that our team really fed off of Doms performance for the most part. He wouldve been able to take a team that wasnt supposed to get there and win it." Haseks dominant prime lasted six seasons, from 1993-94 through 1998-99, when he led the league in save percentage every single time and came away with five of his six career Vezinas. Asked about those years, Hasek smiled and brushed off the notion that it mightve been the best stretch any goalie has ever played. "I dont think about this that way," Hasek said. "I got a chance to prove, to become starting goalie and after that I had, I dont know, six, seven years, which we had great teams, we made it every year to the playoffs except one of nine years." Hasek proved much more than that, something that will more than likely be validated with induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. "For me its a no-brainer," Ruff said. "I think he definitely stands as one of the best. He was on the cutting edge of the way a lot of goaltenders play. Always looking for a way to be better. He could take a team a long ways with the way he played." Hasek isnt carrying teams anymore, instead living back home in the Czech Republic and working "a little bit" in hockey and also in business. As much as hed appreciate it, making the Hall of Fame was never his goal, and thats not his focus even now. "There are new goals in life and always something new to prove. The hockey career is something what is behind me," Hasek said. "What great years, what fantastic things to do something what you enjoy, what you love to do, and be very well paid and be around the people who you love and spend great time with them. However its part of the life that every professional player has to retire some day, and you wake up and you enjoy your life different ways." Jermaine ONeal Jersey . In the opening game of his fourth-round match at the U.S. Open, the owner of 17 major titles got passed at the net twice, sailed a backhand long, then missed two forehands to get broken. George McGinnis Jersey . The top-ranked Williams carried her winning momentum from 2013 into the new season, beating No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to defend her title at the Brisbane International and set the tone for the Australian Open. https://www.cheappacers.com/383k-darnell-hillman-jersey-pacers.html . Not that he was complaining. Davis had 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight blocks, and the New Orleans Pelicans emphatically snapped a three-game skid with a 135-98 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers became the second team this week to beat the San Antonio Spurs in triple-overtime. Damian Lillard had a career-high 43 points, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 32 and the Blazers pulled away in the third overtime to top the Spurs 129-119 on Friday night. Lillard hit game-tying 3-pointers in regulation and the first overtime and scored nine of Portlands 17 points in the third overtime as the Blazers wrapped up their fourth consecutive win. Cory Joseph hit a tying shot in the second OT for San Antonio, which became the first NBA team in 63 years to play in consecutive three-overtime games. At least the 1951-52 Baltimore Bullets split theirs. The Spurs fell to Memphis 117-116 in Wednesdays triple-OT thriller, two days after the Blazers beat them in Portland. The three-game losing streak for the reigning NBA champions is their longest since a three-game slide Jan. 26-29. Tim Duncan had a season-high 32 points and Danny Green added 27 for the Spurs, who lost despite starting the first two overtimes on 6-0 runs. In the initial overtime, they scored just one more point over the next 2 1/2 minutes. Lillards tying 3-pointer came after Wesley Matthews missed a 3 and Aldridge got the offensive rebound, kicking it back to Lillard at the point. Manu Ginobili missed an off-balance shot for the Spurs before the buzzer. Earlier, Danny Green had a 3-pointer waived off after a replay review showed he was still touching the ball when the shot clock expired. In the second overtime, Duncan also had a basket ttaken off the board for the same reason. Jonathan Bender Jersey. After scoring the first six points again, the Spurs got two more in the next two minutes of the second overtime. Lillard sparked an 8-0 run with a dunk after splitting the defense, which was followed by 3s from Dorell Wright and Steve Blake for a 112-110 lead. But the Spurs tied it when Joseph rattled in a baseline leaner at the other end. Matthews missed a 3 off the back of the rim at the buzzer with a chance to win it, but the Blazers scored 11 straight points to start the third overtime to pull away. It was the largest lead by either team since the Spurs 11-point advantage in the second quarter. Earlier, after Lillard missed a dunk off the back of the rim with Duncan in his face, the Spurs took a 97-95 lead with 5.7 seconds left in regulation on Greens 3 from in front of the Portland bench. But Lillard tied the score at the other end by dribbling past Green off an inbounds pass and getting a layup to drop with Duncan there again. The Spurs, with 1.4 seconds to work with, were unable to win in regulation after Greens 3 at the buzzer was blocked by Lillard on the high right side. Game Notes Aldridge had 16 rebounds while Duncan and Green both pulled down 10 ... Matthews scored 16 points ... Joseph had 10 points and seven assists ... The Spurs are in Dallas on Saturday to take on the division-rival Mavericks, who expect to have new point guard Rajon Rondo in uniform ... The Blazers opened a four-game road trip that continues Saturday in New Orleans. ' ' '  |
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