For the second time in his sixteen year NHL career, goaltender Dominik Hasek has announced his retirement.

Unlike his first retirement at the end of the 2001-02 season, which also came following a Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup championship and last about a season and a half, expect this one to be permanent.

Hasek pretty much split the Red Wings goaltending duties this past season with Chris Osgood due in part to injury, but while their goals-against average this season was almost identical (his 2.14 to Osgood’s 2.09) and Hasek had one more shutout (5) than Osgood (4), Ozzie had the better save percentage (.914 to Hasek’s .902).

It was in this year’s playoffs, however, that it was apparent Hasek was now past his prime.

After an outstanding performance in last year’s post-season (a 10-8 record, with a 1.79 GAA, a .923 SP and 2 shutouts), Hasek struggled in the Wings opening round series against the Nashville Predators (2-2, 2.91 GAA and a .888 SP) and was lifted midway through Game Four after a horrible outing, replaced by Osgood, who was terrific in carrying the Wings to the Stanley Cup.

The 43-year-old Hasek rode the pine the rest of the way and was a model teammate, not sulking or voicing his discontent, probably because warming the bench for so long gave him enough time to think about his career and to realize that this time, it was truly over.

And it was a tremendous career, as Hasek was unquestionably one of the greatest goalies in NHL history as well as in international competition, playing an unorthodox flopping style that looked out of place in the era of the butterfly goaltender but due to Hasek’s amazing flexibility, concentration and vision worked incredibly well.

He won 389 NHL regular season and 65 playoff games, with 81 regular season and 14 playoff shutouts. His regular season career GAA was 2.20 and SP was .922 and in the playoffs his career numbers were 2.02 and .925.

Hasek was also a six-time Vezina Trophy winner, including a streak of five in six years from 1994 to 1999, and was the first goaltender since Jacques Plante in 1962 to win the Hart Trophy, which he did twice in 1997 and 1998.

He won most of those awards as a member of the Buffalo Sabres, when he had his greatest seasons, which included backstopping an upstart Sabres team to the 1999 Stanley Cup final, which they lost to the Dallas Stars due to a controversial OT winning goal in Game Six.

Those performances with the Sabres earned him the nickname of “The Dominator” and in those days few would dispute that it was well-earned,

It was with the Detroit Red Wings where Hasek would twice have his name on the Stanley Cup, in 2002 where he played every game as their starting goalie and in 2008.   

In his native Czech Republic he’s a hockey god, named the country’s hockey player of the 20th century, and carried that nation’s men’s hockey team to an upset gold medal victory at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Hasek was definitely one of a kind, and he’s a certainty for induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Check out this link for more on Hasek's incredible hockey career and life.

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.

Chris Gratton is returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the third time in his career.

The Lightning acquired Gratton on Wednesday from the Florida Panthers in exchange for an optional second round pick in 2007 or 2008 (Florida’s choice).

TSN.ca reported Lightning GM Jay Feaster said he saw Gratton as “the ideal third-line center for our hockey club”, adding he’d pursued the big center for some time, even trying to land him at the trade deadline in February.

Gratton began his career with the Bolts, having been drafted third overall by them in 1993, and has bounced amongst the Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, back to the Lightning, to the Buffalo Sabres, Phoenix Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers.

Gratton’s salary is an affordable $1.5 million, and as Feaster suggests he’ll be a good fit on the Lightning’s third line, but his salary nudges the Bolts payroll to almost $36 million, and the team still has 9 more players to sign to fill their roster for next season.

Ownership has suggested the Lightning’s payroll might be higher than last season’s $42.5 million, but even if it were to go up to $46 million, that might still be a bit of a cap crimp for the Bolts, and might fuel speculation that the Lightning aren’t done dealing this off-season.

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally got team captain Mats Sundin re-signed to a new contract, albeit one shorter than anticipated.

Sundin’s new deal is for one year at $5.5 million, with an “no-move” clause, meaning he cannot be traded, waived or demoted without his concurrence.

The one year deal was at Sundin’s insistence, giving him flexibility should he decide his skills are no longer up to par thus not saddling the Leafs with a longer deal.

It’s also raised a darker suggestion, that if Sundin’s skills are fine but the Leafs aren’t a playoff contender by next season’s deadline, it gives him the out he needs to seek a trade, or failing that, to walk away at the end of next season as an unrestricted free agent.

It remains to be seen how this season pans out for Sundin and the Leafs, but you can bet the rumormongers will be watching closely for any sign of potential discontent.

Good news for Detroit Red Wings fans today, as GM Ken Holland announced goalie Dominik Hasek has confirmed he will return with the Wings for another season.

That’s effectively take the Wings out of the market for a goaltender this summer, although it seems it was never in doubt that Hasek would return. He’s a good fit with the Wings, and everyone from management to the coaching staff to the players expressed the hope he’d return next season.

Of course the price won’t be as cheap as last season’s bargain-basement $750,000, but it’s probably not going to be outrageously expensive. The betting here is a $2 million base salary with bonus clauses of an extra $2 million, the main one likely to be games-played.

There's been a running debate in the comments thread at my "Growing Pains" post (regarding the Penguins) over which goalie back in the 1990s was better, Martin Brodeur or Dominik Hasek.

The Hasek camp suggests he was better because he carried the Sabres to the 1999 Stanley Cup finals without a strong support cast that Brodeur had in New Jersey in 1995 when the Devils won the Cup. The Brodeur camp suggests otherwise, that his Devils teammates had yet to fully blossom into the stars most would become and that Brodeur was every bit a good or better than Hasek. 

Since this debate is threatening to highjack that thread, I'm making this post to allow the folks involved in that debate to continue it here.  If anyone else wants to chime in, feel free.

Flail away, boys, and keep it clean, as well as off the "Growing Pains" thread!