What is my problem?

[Toddkaz]

Sorry if this is long and winded and doesn't make sense as it is what I see in Bufallo.

 

DOMINIK HASEK

 

It always bothered how DOMINIK HASEK was run out of this town. I watched him mature from a backup goalie to one of the greatest players ever to play. Seeing him for the first time in person against boston in the playoffs when FUHR went down. Deluca you were their, he let a goal in 1 minute in replacing him. He won us that game i think it was around 1994. After that game i thought he would of won us the cup and he would of but FUHR(a bum) went back in. We lost 4 straight to montreal 4-3, 4-3, 4-3, 4-3.

After that Hasek became our man, He was a nobody becoming a somebody and we all loved him. his first couple of seasons he was so amazing he was the best player by far in the nhl. Night after night he was on all of the sports replays he put Buffalo Sabres back on the map. But once he became a highly paid player i watched such media people as The coach on WGR 550 rip him apart. He was treated very poorly by Buffalo. People didn't like his personality so screw him. To the point were he was going to retire i believe that was about 5 years ago. What did we get for him in return anyways? Buffalo turned on him. I followed this team religously and I watched people do it. We allowed nobody's like Barnaby say he is going to run him. Run Roy?run Gretzky? Run Limeuix? Run Messier? Run Brodeur? You would never play in the nhl again!

I have listen do Wgr 550 since i was about 15 so give or take 15 years.

I watch us run the greteast goalie ever to play. The problem i have is we will never win becuase we will always be Buffalo and that is that.

 

Oh 5 years later we got Biron and where is Ottawa? Yeah the always lose in the playoffs but they got hasek now and nobody is "$@~# with them!

[Toddkaz]

Sorry if i spelled bad but european keyboards are different from north american. Especially in France.

 

Ted Nolan?

Where is he anyways?

 

He wins coach of the year. Makes this team awesome to watch. But he we ran him out of here too.

 

I guess Muckler really does have super powers(to keep Nolan out of the NHL)

[Stoner]

Dom earned the scorn of the fans -- drunk driving arrest, bailing out on a playoff series, attacking a reporter, making a power play that led to Ted Nolan's departure, several big-time chokes in the playoffs -- long before he REALLY earned the scorn of the fans by orchestrating his own trade, screwing the Sabres over in the process, and announcing he would go into the Hall of Fame as a Red Wing! Yes, poor poor Dom. He will never be loved or even respected in Buffalo, no matter how much money he gives to charity. I am convinced the fans will NEVER allow the franchise to retire his number. He is just behind the Juice as a Buffalo sports pariah.

[inkman]

He's ahead of the Juice in my book. :devil smiley needed:

[Stoner]

Yeah, OJ only stabbed two people. Dom knifed a couple hundred thousand fans in the back.

[Taro T]

Dom earned the scorn of the fans -- drunk driving arrest, bailing out on a playoff series, attacking a reporter, making a power play that led to Ted Nolan's departure, several big-time chokes in the playoffs -- long before he REALLY earned the scorn of the fans by orchestrating his own trade, screwing the Sabres over in the process, and announcing he would go into the Hall of Fame as a Red Wing! Yes, poor poor Dom. He will never be loved or even respected in Buffalo, no matter how much money he gives to charity. I am convinced the fans will NEVER allow the franchise to retire his number. He is just behind the Juice as a Buffalo sports pariah.

Yes, let's hate the guy forever because he screwed up and got one DWI (or was it a DWAI, I don't remember the exact details). The good Lord knows that is the worst thing a professional athlete has ever done.

 

Bailing out on a playoff series. The guy was INJURED. I do not want an injured goalie playing, especially one with a knee or groin injury, when we have a competant backup that is healthy. Do you remember the Boston and Montreal series in '93? Fuhr got injured in game 4 against Boston. Dom came in and won the game in OT for the 1st Sabres series win in 10 years. In the next round, Muckler was too stubborn to play a healthy Hasek instead of an injured Fuhr. Fuhr gave up at least 1 bad goal in each game because (IMHO) he could not move his injured leg the way he normally would have. The Sabres lost EACH game by a 4-3 score (3 losses were in OT). Had the team not given up a bad goal in EACH game, the series at a MINIMUM would have been tied 2-2 (assuming Montreal would have won game 1 in OT and assuming that even though Muller's shot in OT would have been stopped, the Canadiens would have scored the goal in OT). Had the Sabres won that series they would have gotten to play a very weak Islanders team and the Kings would have been the Finals opponent had they gotten by the Isles. Personally, I liked the Sabres chances that year, but they didn't get a chance to find out what they could do because their GOALIE was INJURED and the COACH was too stubborn to put in the backup.

 

Also, Dom "bailed" in the '99 playoffs with a groin injury. Roloson sucked it up while Dom couldn't play and Dom came back and won 3 against Toronto and won 2 against Dallas and we are still waiting to see if he can hold on to win Game 6 (that game is NOT over).

 

Dom absolutely was in the wrong for grabbing Kelley and tearing his shirt. Considering the way everyone was claiming he was faking his injuries plus whatever was going on between him and Nolan, it appears he was "pushed" to his breaking point. He should have been more composed, but wasn't. He was fined and suspended, admitted he was wrong, and to the best of my knowledge hasn't done anything like that since.

 

Nolan couldn't get along with Dom, Muckler, or Quinn. To this day, Ed Ronan believes HE was responsible for getting Nolan fired and not Dom, because Nolan insisted on playing Ronan in the playoffs and Muckler wanted some guy named Satan playing.

 

Please post the "big time chokes" he had in the playoffs you refer to. I can't come up with them off the top of my head. Was it the NJ series where he made 70 saves and didn't give up a goal in the longest game in Sabres history? Was it the '93 game against Boston? Maybe it was in Game 6 of the Finals when Hull was given a goal in the 3rd OT of a 1-1 game? Maybe it was in the Ottawa series that year when he and Peca sealed Yashin's reputation as a no-character choker? Maybe it was in the Washington series the previous season when he had shut out the Caps in game one and was 12 seconds away from having a 5 period shutout streak going and then Frasier GAVE Washington a goal when Bondra was in the crease and hit the puck with a high stick and Frasier refused to go upstairs for a replay review (speculation was this was payback from the previous season when Ray and Barnaby threw tantrums in Philly to make Steven Walkom "look bad")? Or maybe it was later that game when in OT the Caps iced the puck but for some reason that only the linesmen know waived off the icing? By any chance do you remember some of the saves he made against the Flyers and Habs that year, or in game 5 in Washington? Oops, my bad, he couldn't have made any good saves against those 2, he's a playoff choker. Maybe it was in Philly in 2000 when the Flyers were given an imaginary goal in game 2? My guess is that in your opinion he "choked" against the Pens when he gave up a goal on the 10th or 12 shot of overtime of game 7 after Gilmour had failed to convert on 2 breakaways.

 

Yeah, Dom got tired of constantly hearing on the radio how he wasn't very good and only thought of himself. The $1MM to charity was pretty self-centered. Dom had stated he wanted to retire as a Sabre until after Regier/ the Regas's proved to him that they had no intention of giving him the "tools" the team needed to legitimately compete for the Stanley Cup by not signing / trading Peca in the '00-'01 season.

 

Dom's number will be retired by the Sabres. There was only 1 Sabre that can even be mentioned with him when the question is: who was the greatest Sabre to ever play?

[inkman]

Yeah, OJ only stabbed two people. Dom knifed a couple hundred thousand fans in the back.

...and I thought I was going to catch heat for that. :lol:

[Saber61]

Dom earned the scorn of the fans -- drunk driving arrest, bailing out on a playoff series, attacking a reporter, making a power play that led to Ted Nolan's departure, several big-time chokes in the playoffs -- long before he REALLY earned the scorn of the fans by orchestrating his own trade, screwing the Sabres over in the process, and announcing he would go into the Hall of Fame as a Red Wing! Yes, poor poor Dom. He will never be loved or even respected in Buffalo, no matter how much money he gives to charity. I am convinced the fans will NEVER allow the franchise to retire his number. He is just behind the Juice as a Buffalo sports pariah.

haha absolutely agreed... he deserves nothing from us... errr well im not from buffalo but i am a sabres fan... ive lost my respect for him... entering the hall as a redwing was a low blow to the entire sabres organization... ill never forgive him for that... and all that other stuff just compiles it... not impressed...

[hopeleslyobvious]

Dom earned the scorn of the fans -- drunk driving arrest, bailing out on a playoff series, attacking a reporter, making a power play that led to Ted Nolan's departure, several big-time chokes in the playoffs -- long before he REALLY earned the scorn of the fans by orchestrating his own trade, screwing the Sabres over in the process, and announcing he would go into the Hall of Fame as a Red Wing! Yes, poor poor Dom. He will never be loved or even respected in Buffalo, no matter how much money he gives to charity. I am convinced the fans will NEVER allow the franchise to retire his number. He is just behind the Juice as a Buffalo sports pariah.

Nolan is coaching in Juniors. I forget which team, but I think they're in the QMJHL.

[Stoner]

dave, yes, the Laryngitis goal is the biggest choke of them all. I love your posts, man, but your logic sometimes eludes me. You can't come up huge in big games and still choke? Remember Swiss Cheese?

 

Dom never did anything like the Kelley attack again? Didn't he go beserk in an amateur hockey game in the Czech Republic, leading to criminal charges?

 

One more question: where did you get your degree in Historical Revisionism? Every sports franchise has what-if championship scenarios, but you're going to the extreme. But I guess that's the fun of being a fan.

 

As for Dom's number being retired, why do you think Hasek would ever allow it to happen? Even if he did, it would be a major embarrassment to the franchise, and to him, when he gets booed off the ice.

 

But that WAS a great post!

[Taro T]

dave, yes, the Laryngitis goal is the biggest choke of them all. I love your posts, man, but your logic sometimes eludes me. You can't come up huge in big games and still choke? Remember Swiss Cheese?

 

Dom never did anything like the Kelley attack again? Didn't he go beserk in an amateur hockey game in the Czech Republic, leading to criminal charges?

 

One more question: where did you get your degree in Historical Revisionism? Every sports franchise has what-if championship scenarios, but you're going to the extreme. But I guess that's the fun of being a fan.

 

As for Dom's number being retired, why do you think Hasek would ever allow it to happen? Even if he did, it would be a major embarrassment to the franchise, and to him, when he gets booed off the ice.

 

But that WAS a great post!

I'm not certain what you are referring to with the "Remember Swiss Cheese". I guess we can agree to disagree about the Pens game goal.

 

Forgot about the Czech roller hockey game. OK, he's a jerk (or overly competitive which is not necessarily a bad thing in a goalie, or more likely both). It doesn't change the fact that he was the team's best goalie ever and that his # should be retired.

 

Maybe you can explain to me, because you seem to be one of the fans that do hold his off-ice personality against his on-ice play, why the off-ice stuff outweighs so heavily what he DID do on ice? Had he murdered 2 people like the Bills most famous acquitted felon, I could absolutely understand the animosity. (But there are STILL people in Buffalo that LOVE that guy. The Bills had 1 playoff game in his entire career and now 2 people are dead.) When Hasek was in Buffalo, you'd have people like Schopp on the radio saying the Sabres should play Marty more often and that Hasek was overrated and he's a jerk and ... (I am certain that the guy on GR would have been even worse, but didn't listen to him after WNSA came along, so I don't know that for certain). The onslaught against Hasek was pretty merciless in my recollection and I never fully understood it then and I don't understand it now. As near as I can tell it's because Muckler and Nolan ended up out the door, but Hasek was a huge Muckler guy - he had no part in his departure, and Nolan (as near as I could tell) couldn't get along with anyone in the front office which may be part of the reason he still has never gotten another NHL head coaching offer. The Sabres DID give Nolan an offer to come back. It was only a 1 year offer, he was offended and turned it down and the rest is history. It has to be more than just Nolan, I just don't see why there is so much animosity.

[Stoner]

Hasek melted down in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals in 1998 against the Caps. I think he even gave up a goal from outside the blue line. The next day in practice, he was sporting a SWISS CHEESE sign on his back, or on his helmet, I forget.

 

I think the Nolan Affair was strike one against Dom. There's no point in rehashing whether he was responsible for Nolan's departure -- the fans blame him. Period. Strike two was the forced trade, limiting what the Sabres got in return, and his "retire as a Red Wing" comment. There didn't need to be a strike three.

 

That's just the nature of fans. They are not going to forget. When Dom's grandkid scores a goal on the Sabres in 2045, people are going to boo. They won't even know why. I was at a game once where Phil Esposito was in that little cubbyhole of a broadcast booth on the face of the oranges, and he was getting jeered terribly. So I joined in. To this day, I don't know what Phil Esposito did to Buffalo. I do remember when he stood at ice level to congratulate Wayne Gretzky on breaking his record, people booed.

 

God, I love sports.

[Stoner]

Come to think of it, maybe on a deeper level, Hasek getting out of town and getting his probably strikes very deep at the heart of the psyche of Buffalo. Hasn't practically every family in the Buffalo area been heartbroken by a loved one feeling the need to leave to find success somewhere else? Now, who do I bill $150 to for my psychological counseling? dave, do you have Pay Pal? :)

[Guest Guest_Toddkaz]

Hasek was great and was treated like crap.

 

When Belfour won the cup for dallas in the offsewason he offered his 2 arresting police officers for his i think DWI charge ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

 

BUFFALO WILL ALWAYS BE LOSERS we are affraid of winners being paid to much losers being paid to much and in the working toen of Buffalo you people will never allow success at a high price.

 

Like instead of not showing up You need to sell out and BOO what you stand for together.

 

Quit whining about how a player hurt your feelings LOL, Hasek's personalty is no more eccentric then the next premadonna instead you fans didn't wanna stroke his ego because he was better then you, then the press and he showed it. Limeiux ran the team when he didn't own it, Gretzky ran the team when he owned it, Yzerman is the man in Detroit. Hasek should of had some pull.

 

SCREW KELLEY tell him to get lost stick up for your team I would have laughed in that KELLEY's face if i was a sabre he doesn't score me goals or make saves who the heck is he???

 

 

PS. HASEK FAKED A GROING INJURY BUT YET HE HAD SURGERY IN DETROIT ;)

[Stoner]

I think he offered a billion if I am not mistaken. lol

[shrader]

Nolan is coaching in Juniors. I forget which team, but I think they're in the QMJHL.

Moncton. They're a very dirty organization and it sounds like the perfect fit for him. The GM of this club likes to circulate rumors that college players will be leaving school after the year to jump ship to Moncton's team. He's gotten a lot of heat from a couple college coaches and AD's about it.

[hopeleslyobvious]

Thanks, I knew I just read about him in the Hockey News Junior report, but I couldn't remember the team.

[Taro T]

Hasek was great and was treated like crap.

 

...

 

PS.  HASEK FAKED A GROING INJURY BUT YET HE HAD SURGERY IN DETROIT ;)

Yep.

[Eleven]

Best goaltender in the history of the game (tell Sawchuk to face 1990s shooters with 1990s rules), and he made his name here. I'd love it if the Sabres retired his number someday.

[Guest Guest_radio dude]

Quite simply, Hasek took a non-descript team on his back to a Stanley Cup final. Take it from someone who's talked to a LOT of people around the U.S. and Canada that know the game of hockey. He saw the Titanic was sinking and wanted to win a title before he retired...the first time...and did...and will likely do so again!

[Sabresince70]

I remember when I first got Empire on Directv and couldn't wait for the Sabres report on the WSAN simulcast. And then I heard Kelley talk for about 5 minutes and wondered why I was spending the $12.00. It turned out to be worth it for the pre and post games, but I never really found Kelley to be informitive.

 

And I believe the charges in the roller hockey incident were dropped and that he was "protecting" another play who was taken a run at (he was playing as a forward). It wasn't a Bartuzzi from behind type thing, But an overly gifted athelete over powering an ametuer. Yes, he should certainly have known better, but who hasn't over reacted in the heat of battle? His number should be retired.

[Taro T]

Hasek melted down in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals in 1998 against the Caps. I think he even gave up a goal from outside the blue line. The next day in practice, he was sporting a SWISS CHEESE sign on his back, or on his helmet, I forget.

 

I think the Nolan Affair was strike one against Dom. There's no point in rehashing whether he was responsible for Nolan's departure -- the fans blame him. Period. Strike two was the forced trade, limiting what the Sabres got in return, and his "retire as a Red Wing" comment. There didn't need to be a strike three.

 

That's just the nature of fans. They are not going to forget. When Dom's grandkid scores a goal on the Sabres in 2045, people are going to boo. They won't even know why. I was at a game once where Phil Esposito was in that little cubbyhole of a broadcast booth on the face of the oranges, and he was getting jeered terribly. So I joined in. To this day, I don't know what Phil Esposito did to Buffalo. I do remember when he stood at ice level to congratulate Wayne Gretzky on breaking his record, people booed.

 

God, I love sports.

Thank you for explaining the "swiss cheese" reference.

 

I do disagree with a couple of your opinions though.

 

I would not consider 2 goals against, one of which came shorthanded, as being a "meltdown" in a game that the offense helped him with 0 goals. I don't recall any goals coming from outside the blueline, but I do remember Washington scored a goal in Buffalo off of one of Dom's patented poor attempts at puckhandling, perhaps it was in this game, but I had thought it resulted in the 1st Bondra goal from game 3. Perhaps you were referring to game 3 as his "swiss cheese" game as he gave up 3 goals on 11 shots through the 1st 2 periods, but 2 were powerplay goals and the other came from his personal nemesis Bondra. He then stopped 18 shots in 30 minutes in the 3rd and OT before Bondra (there's that name again) beat him.

 

He followed game 4 up with a 34 save effort and some absolutely incredible saves. One on Oates in the 3rd was shown for about 3 seasons on ESPN highlight reels. Since they lost the 6th game in OT (as they had lost the 2nd and 3rd games), it seems from your other posts that you are of the opinion that he "choked". I disagree 100%. The loss in game 2 was handed to the Caps with 2 goals that clearly should have been disallowed. Give Dom credit for the game 3 loss if you want, but don't forget to give him the credit for the wins in games 1 & 5. Game 6, Kolzig played incredible, but so did Dom. The fact that Koharski seemed determined to get Washington back into the game as he called a rather dubious penalty on 'Zinger that created the game tying pp and then lost his whistle during the powerplay as Housley blatently hooked Plante and then all but tackled him on that powerplay must not have entered the equation. Buffalo also did not help their cause any that game as they stopped working immediately after scoring the 1st goal in the 2nd period and let Washington dominate play after the faceoff and even up the game (kind of like in the Rochester game this year). Dom and the team got themselves to OT in 3 of the 4 losses; the only loss that didn't go to OT, the Sabres did not score at all. Buffalo was outplayed and outshot in OT in games 3 and 6, that is not Dom's fault. (Game 2 was the "just give it to them game". Thanks Kerry.) IIRC, after the Sabres were eliminated, several Sabres were on record as saying they had let Dom down; ESPN's opinion that Kolzig outplayed Dom not withstanding and also not altering the fact that Dom was the primary reason Buffalo reached the Semis that year.

 

As to your point on the "Nolan Affair", do you realize that it reads like you said that it is immaterial whether Dom had responsibility for Nolan leaving, that fans "blame him" is enough for it to be so? I hope I am reading it wrong, because I thought about that a little bit, and I must say while that attitude doesn't really mean much when we are dealing with hockey games, that is an incredibly destructive attitude to take in almost any other endeavor. Reality doesn't matter, all that counts is perception. That is probably a big part of the reason that I cannot understand the animosity toward Dom, reality has nothing to do with it apparently.

 

If the Sabres get anything for Peca in '00-'01, I don't see any way Dom asks for the trade at the end of that season, as prior to the debacle he had never even hinted at dissatisfaction with Buffalo or the Sabres. If people are going to be ticked at someone for that, how about being ticked at the criminals (or Darcy (had to throw a bone to DeLuca ;) )) who were actually responsible for the situation?

 

I can understand to a degree people being ticked about "I am now and forever a Red Wing", but let's put that in perspective too. He is at a press conference in his new team's city, what do people expect him to say, something like "I loved Buffalo and never wanted to leave, but now that I've ended up here (at my own request) I guess I'll try to tolerate it"? C'mon, I'll agree it wasn't the best thing to say, but what did you want / expect him to say?

[Taro T]

I remember when I first got Empire on Directv and couldn't wait for the Sabres report on the WSAN simulcast. And then I heard Kelley talk for about 5 minutes and wondered why I was spending the $12.00.  It turned out to be worth it for the pre and post games, but I never really found Kelley to be informitive.

You may not think much of him, but somebody must like him. He's in the Hockey Hall of Fame as the 2004 Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award Winner.

 

2 other Buffalo writers are in the Hall, Charlie Barton from the old Courier Express (whom I don't remember) and Dick Johnston. Dick Johnston was a great writer, as was Kelley. When I lived in the south (pre-internet days), I had a Sunday subscription to the BN so I could read Kelley's Sunday Inside the NHL column. It typically had much better info than THN did regarding potential player moves and the like.

[Guest Guest_Toddkaz]

I love HASEK, he gave me something to love and cheer for years.

 

Hasek meltdown?

 

If we condemned players for losing then I guess their would be no BILLS fans in NY

 

Because they BLEW 4 SUPERBOWL CHANCES LOL!!!!

 

HASEK is the best player ever to put on a BUFFALO uniform!

[inkman]

He might have been the best Sabre ever but like a conquerer drunk with power, he took over this town, turned them against him, bent them over and proceeded to rape and pilage with no remorse...or somthing like that. :rolleyes: