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Friday, October 1, 1999
The Dominik Hasek Farewell Tour
"I had just finished a bad hole," said Woolley, who was trying to enjoy what little remained of summer after the Sabres' unexpected run to the Stanley Cup final. "It was a reporter.
"I thought it was (teammate) Dixon Ward or somebody goofing on me. I said, 'Yeah, whatever.' "'
By the 18th hole Woolley could see the end of an era on the horizon.
"It's still kind of a shocker," he said.
Hasek, 34, said again last week that he'll quit after the season. Well, probably.
"The last game for the Buffalo Sabres this season will be my last one," he said. "I don't know how I am going to feel.
"I won't play hockey for six or seven months, and then I'll see how I feel. It's hard to say."
Does that mean the man regarded by many as the world's best goaltender could change his mind?
"We'll find out, won't we?" Woolley said.
Hasek, who made $7 million last season and is walking away from millions more, has always been hard to figure out, from his unorthodox and brilliant playing style to his mood swings. But most do believe that he is serious about his decision to stop playing, even if they don't understand it.
"That retirement thing is a guy's own personal preference, although I don't know why anyone would want to retire with the money they're paying," said Brett Hull, whose skate-in-the-crease goal in triple-overtime of Game 6 gave Dallas a 2-1 victory over Buffalo for the Stanley Cup last season.
Hasek, the Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's top goalie five of the last six seasons and the only netminder with two Hart Trophies as league MVP, would love nothing better than to win the Stanley Cup. And beating Dallas would make it even sweeter.
But Hasek says the disappointment of last season had nothing to do with his decision to move back to the Czech Republic after the season with his wife, Alena, and their two children, nine-year-old Michael and four-year-old Dominika.
Among the reasons was his desire to immerse his children in Czech culture. Hasek also was shaken by the high school killings in Littleton, Colo., which happened during the April playoffs. Hasek surprised the NHL awards gala with a plea for gun control when he picked up his Vezina Trophy in June.
"I have two kids and I don't want something to happen to them like what happened in Colorado," Hasek said.
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr, last season's Hart Trophy winner and Hasek's teammate on the 1998 Olympic gold medal-winning Czech team, also wants to return home when his playing days are over. But he wondered if Hasek might be leaving the game too soon.
"I think it surprised everyone, but that's his decision," Jagr said. "He knows what's best for him and his family.
"He's a smart guy, and he must have his reasons to want to retire. But I don't know what they are."
Hasek, who played nine seasons in a Czech league before making his NHL debut in Chicago in November 1990, said he's simply had enough.
"I just want to change my life," he said.
Hasek's first NHL win came in a game against Buffalo, which sent goaltender Stephane Beauregard and a fourth-round pick (Eric Daze) to Chicago for him in 1992. The Sabres are sure glad they did, and now they don't want him to go.
"There's no way you're going to find another goalie like him," teammate Michal Grosek said. "You can put another goalie in there, but it won't be Dominik."
Hasek's flopping style allows him to make saves while sprawled in front of the goal. He instinctively knows when to raise a pad to stop a shot, and often tosses his stick aside and goes at the puck with his glove and blocker.
His departure will fuel the debate about who is the best goalie.
"Hasek's right there," Hull said. "I'd have to rate him No. 1 or tied for No. 1."
The debate will be accompanied by the farewell party that the painfully shy Hasek has set himself up for at NHL arenas during the entire season.
Maybe some attention isn't such a bad thing after all.
"I guess it's nice but I can't think about it too much," Hasek said. "I have to think about the game.
"We need to win some games on the road to get back to the playoffs."
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