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Dominik Hasek wants to play in the NHL; talked to Buffalo
Dominik Hasek wants to play in the NHL; talked to Buffalo
@DaveDavisHockey:
Dominik Hasek’s agent, Ritch Winter, told me today his client met face to face w/ Ruff & Regier to discuss his wish to play for the Sabres.
Oy. I hope they don't go there. First, it'd require them to move one of Miller or Enroth. Second, assuming they moved Enroth, the clamor for Hasek to displace Miller as the starter the first time Miller had consecutive poor starts would be out of control. It'd be a circus for an entire season.
I've been keeping an eye on Hasek news and I guess he's supposedly been staying in great shape, playing a bunch volleyball and other sports, and keeping his flexibility/reflexes where they used to be. Too old for a starter IMO. Might be an EXCELLENT backup for a team though. As mentioned above though, there'd be too much potential drama in Buffalo if they moved Enroth for Hasek.
But, it looks like it's not happening. Some translated European news sites I've seen have said he did not get any interest and his NHL career is done. KHL still probably an option though.
Maybe give him a pre-season appearance or two and let him "retire" a Sabre, kind of like what the Flames did with Theoren Fleury a few years ago?
Buffalo Fans would love that if that's as far as it went.
I would say about 50% of Sabres fans are on the fence with Miller these days though. If Hasek was ever on the roster during the regular season and Miller lost a game, ish would hit the fan in Buffalo and we'd have a goalie controversy by late October.
Buffalo Fans would love that if that's as far as it went.
I would say about 50% of Sabres fans are on the fence with Miller these days though. If Hasek was ever on the roster during the regular season and Miller lost a game, ish would hit the fan in Buffalo and we'd have a goalie controversy by late October.
I'll never forget A. Him getting hurt in the olympics and quite possibly being the one factor that could of pushed us to win the cup in 07 and B. Not re-signing him.
I was off the walls when Ottawa signed Hasek.. my favorite goalie of all time... Hell if he's still got something left in the tank he'd be a great backup and mentor on any team.
I would like to see him in a Sabres uniform once again just for the memories, I can't see him making that big of a difference in terms of skill at 47-48 years old...
I personally would love to watch him play for Buffalo again, but as others have mentioned, it would be a media circus here. Miller for Kane rumors would number in the thousands any time Millsy played 1 or 2 bad games. (I mean, there's already a number of fans that scream for Miller to be traded and Enroth to be the starter when Miller has an off night.) Would only make sense to sign him if they already had tentative plans to move Miller...Or if Enroth would be OK with playing a year as the starter in the AHL? Which would force both Knapp and Lieuwen down to the ECHL...
TL;DR: Love Dom, but signing him in Buffalo would create more problems than it would solve. But still, even just for sentimental reasons, it would be nice to see him in blue and gold again, make his final retirement from the game as a Sabre.
Maybe because even at ripe age of 47, there is still big probability, that Hasek is better than anything teams like Chicago or Toronto have between pipes.
