The Detroit Red Wings have announced the re-signing of goaltender Dominik Hasek to a one-year bonus-laden contract, with a base salary just over $2 million.
This wasn't surprising. Hasek had a resurgent performance with the Wings last season, playing like "The Dominator" of old, and in this year's playoffs, especially against the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks, he was outstanding, one of the Wings most valuable players.
Other teams were believed interested in Hasek but it was obvious he was only interested in returning with the Wings, who certainly wanted him back.
Indeed, Hasek seemed a changed man this season. Gone it seems was the sometimes distant and moody Hasek of the past. This year, he was healthier, over ten pounds lighter, and also light-hearted, getting along particularly well with backup Chris Osgood
His teammates all spoke of Hasek's positive impact both on the ice and in the dressing room and expressed their hope that he'd return.
It's a good idea to make it a one-year signing, for as good as Hasek was last season, he's well into his forties, and age will start to take its toll. Best to go year by year with his contracts.
This was about the money that was rumored, so even though it took a while, nothing too terribly shocking here. Hasek played amazingly well last year, even by his standards. One of this years his play will have to tail off, but until it does...
This is off topic. The duck, why is your name the duck if you're a Blues fan? I always thought you were a Ducks fan. I don't want to be intrusive, just wondering.
Very, very disappointing......are you telling me that the Kings couldn't have offered twice as much in money and time and given the Dominator a chance to finish his career in the sunshine of Southern California, while mentoring Jason LaBarbera into the next great goaltender in the NHL.....common Anchutz, Lieweke, Lombardi, Crawford.....give me a break! Maybe you are now expecting Hextall to come out of the office "on the cheap" and save us from another disastrous season!
Uh oh, getting back into bad moves by Kings management. You can't put blame on any other GM for not signing Hasek, his agent said it all in the press release when he stated that Detroit, he, and the Dominator all knew he was worth way more than this contract and flat out didn't care. Hasek has really been a class act. He was already a sure fire Hall of Famer anyway and didn't want to go out banished from Ottawa with injuries. Now he's agreeing to a heck of a lot less money to get another shot at Stanley. And once again, the Kings can't really do anything in the nets until they rid themselves of Cloutier's contract one way or another.
You are probably right about Hasek being a class act and not playing for the money (guess he doesn't like to play golf year round, also), but I can assure you the Kings have plenty of room under the salary cap to entice a quality goaltender and carry three goalies (as Lombardi hinted they would given Cloutier's likely continued liability to the team). Unfortunately now with Giguere and Hasek signed and Fernandez already moved, there isn't much left for them to do in this area.....which likely means another disappointing season on the horizon.....by the way, MPH, what team/league is that logo from you are using?
Unless they're going to make some kind of play for Bryzgalov, or you want to try the Ed Belfour or Robert Esche experiment, I'd say you're right. While I wish that I could say my logo was from some obscure IHL league, it's not. Just a personal logo I use for recreational hockey..because, really, what's more entertaining than leprechauns holding beers? You tell me, because I don't know.
Hasek going to mentor a younger goalie on the west coast? Not going to happen. If he were interested in playing for other clubs the Redwings would've paid him more, but it's pretty obvious that he's happy playing his days out in Detroit.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
