Hasek Done? My October Worries Were Misplaced

It was only six months ago, but it may as well have been six years ago, for as inaccurate as it was. Yes, I, Greg Eno, in a fit of over-reaction, banged out these words in this blog about Red Wings goalie Dominik Hasek. The date was October 17, 2007:

But this season, early on, Hasek looks more like a 42-year-old playing goalie than a goalie who happens to be 42.

His GAA is 2.94, with an unsightly save pct. of .874.

…already, I’ve seen pucks bounce off Hasek’s helmet, off his shoulder, through his pads, and they’ve all ended up in the net. He’s been a mediocre netminder, truth be told, in his 306 minutes played.

It hasn’t been mentioned, and perhaps it’s too early to do so — especially with the Red Wings doing alright with a 4-2-1 record — but I don’t think it’s overreacting to suggest that we need to keep an eye on Hasek to see whether this bumpy start is an anomaly or the start of a trend downward. Again, how quickly does a 42-year-old goalie start to go downhill?

Hasek keeps himself in marvelous shape. Few, if any, goalies work as hard as he does — on and off the ice. But at what point does the calendar overtake the reflexes, the instincts, the peripheral vision? Working hard isn’t the only prerequisite.

Yes, I know; I ought to be paddled with Hasek’s goal stick for leaping to such conclusions barely three weeks into the freaking season. While it’s true that his start wasn’t the best, in retrospect my suggestion that Hasek was perhaps done seems fraught with Chicken Little.

Hasek is not done. Not even close, I’d even say.

Hasek, maybe more so than anyone, was responsible for the Red Wings’ 4-2 win over the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round series. He was his old self — and by that I mean his Cup-winning self — in the first period, especially, and at the end, with the Preds up two men due to a penalty and an empty net. Hasek stonewalled the Preds’ furies, and his numbers reflect his play: 1.50 GAA and .932 save pct. after two games.

But one of my concerns still holds, and that’s, how DO you know when a 43-year-old goalie is about to collapse like a house of cards? Does it happen suddenly, or do his talent and reflexes dissipate slowly? Is Hasek going to be great during this playoff run, then not good at all next season? Or will he simply retire, thus saving me all these questions?

Dominik Hasek was stellar against the Predators in Game 2. He was pretty darn good in Game 1, though not as busy. He’s making my October worries seem ridiculous in their embellishment.

I’m enjoying this crow, though. I could even get into chowing it through June, if you know what I mean.

We’ll See If McCarty Is Cut From Same Cloth As Chelios, Or From Redmond

Darren McCarty is making news, sort of, in attempting a hockey playing comeback, with Flint of the IHL. He hasn’t played in an NHL game since April 2006, with the Calgary Flames — who signed him after the Red Wings let him go following the 2004-05 lockout. He’s had some off-ice trouble, and one wonders how much that contributed, in the long run, to his current career derailment. Regardless, he says he’s going to give it another try. Maybe another NHL team will give him a call.

McCarty is 35 years old.

Chris Chelios has never had to comeback from anything to continue his NHL career. He’s managed to keep gainful employment, first with Montreal, then with Chicago, and now in Detroit. It’s fitting that he should only have played for Original Six teams in his 22-year (so far) NHL career. Very, very fitting.

Chelios will soon be 46 years old.

It’s possible, though far from a slam dunk, that Chelios will challenge Gordie Howe’s record for being the oldest man to lace up NHL skates. Howe was 52 years and six days old when he played his last regular season game for the Hartford Whalers in 1980. Howe then extended his career by about a week while the Whalers were getting ousted by Montreal in the playoffs.

But just the fact that we can even entertain the idea of someone approaching Howe in terms of longevity is amazing enough. And I wouldn’t put it past Chelios to think about it, if he’s still playing his irascible style of hockey a few years from now.

I just thought it was interesting that Darren McCarty is in the same sentence as the word “comeback”, when he’s 11 years Chelios’s junior.

Chelios has not only played a long time, but he’s done so without any major injuries


Today, the Red Wings announced that goalie Chris Osgood has been signed to a three-year extension, keeping him in Detroit thru the 2010-11 season, in which he’ll turn 38 years old. His partner in net, Dominik Hasek, will soon be 43. All-World defenseman Nick Lidstrom, who along with Chelios helps keep the heat off Osgood and Hasek, will be 38 this year. So the Red Wings’ two goalies and two of their best blueliners will be, by the end of the month, a combined 161 years old. I’ll do the math for you: that’s an average age of 40.25 years.

Mickey Redmond, reliable broadcaster, wasn’t blessed with the same genes as the aforementioned quad of players. Redmond was plagued by back problems and didn’t play a game past January 1976, when he was but 28. He tried it one last time in training camp of 1979, but he only lasted a few days before he was forced to quit. Also in camp that September was Frank Mahovlich, 42 and a couple years removed from his last game in the WHA. The Big M got into some exhibition games, but couldn’t make the final cut.

The 40+ year-old NHL player is becoming more and more frequent. Better training regimens, nutrition, and technology have contributed to this. It should also be noted that flying around the country in a private team jet doesn’t hurt, either. When Mahovlich broke into the NHL, for example, air travel in the league was still in its infancy. Many clubs still used the train to get from city to city.

Back in the day: McCarty taking care of business with Claude Lemieux

I wish McCarty well as he climbs his way back into the NHL, which is his ultimate goal. At 35, he’s far from washed up, if he commits himself physically and mentally. Someone asked him at last night’s Red Wings game if he’d consider playing for the Colorado Avalanche, a longtime rival, if they called.

“Beggars can’t be choosy,” he said. “I just want to play hockey somewhere, anywhere.”

So did Redmond, and so did Mahovlich. But their bodies wouldn’t allow it. Fortunately for Chelios, Lidstrom, Hasek, and Osgood — and for us — they’ve been blessed with strong, durable stock.

Almost as strong as, say, a certain man from Floral, Saskatchewan, who wore number 9.

Hasek, I Fear, Is About Done

The Dominator is now The Dominated.

I railed about this last month, and it hasn’t gotten any better, really.

The Red Wings need to seriously consider whether goalie Dominik Hasek is done.

Hasek was miserable — again — in St. Louis last night, giving up four goals in seven shots in the second period of the team’s 4-3 loss to the Blues. A couple were toughies, but the others were highly stoppable.

Like I say, I’m not sure when the end comes for 42-year-old goaltenders in the NHL (Hasek will turn 43 in January). I don’t know if they lose it suddenly, or if there’s gradual degradation in skill. I don’t know because I’ve never seen a 42-year-old goalie perform. Oh, there was Jacques Plante back in the day, and others in the 1950s and ’60s performed into their 40s. But that’s before even this oldtimer’s generation.

Hasek, to be fair, has been slowed by injury this season. And there’s still plenty of time to decide whether an upgrade needs to be sought in some sort of trade-deadline deal. That, and the fact that 35-year-old Chris Osgood has played well (8-1 this season), has cushioned the blow of Hasek’s disturbing inconsistency. But his spotty play can’t be ignored any longer.

The Red Wings, I believe, are improved even from last spring, when they made it all the way to the conference finals. They were, frankly, a fluke goal away (end of regulation in Game 5) from making the Cup Finals. Still, that team isn’t as good as the one that performs today.

But they are not going anywhere if the goaltending that Hasek is providing now is a sneak preview of what he’ll give the Red Wings in April. And how much can, or should, the Red Wings rely on Osgood?

Coach Mike Babcock omitted Hasek as one of the guilty parties in last night’s come-from-ahead loss (the Wings blew a 2-0 lead). My guess is that such free passes are being handed out now, in deference to all Hasek has done in his career. But they can’t go on forever, if Dom continues to battle the puck — and losing on most occasions.

I hope I’m proven wrong, but I fear that we’ve seen the last of the great goaltending play from Dominik Hasek. The Red Wings would be best served to start thinking about looking at their netminding as something that needs fixing before the playoffs.

Hasek’s Shaky Start A Troubling Sign?

I’m not sure when the end comes for goaltenders past 40 years of age. Though I’m pretty certain that they don’t collapse and break into little pieces, like some children’s game of Tinker Toys.

One reason for my lack of clarity is that not too many goalies are still card-carrying members of the NHL at such an advanced age. The 40s, for most of them, means lots of golf and a growing paunch. Definitely not sprawling on the ice, flailing at discs of vulcanized rubber.

Dominik Hasek is a couple years past 40, and will be three years past it come January. Last season, returning to the Red Wings after two years in exile, Hasek had an All-Star season, though he was rooked and left off the team. His GAA and save pct. were constantly in the top three of the league. He racked up eight shutouts. He was splendid in the playoffs, and only showed some wear in the Red Wings’ final game of the post-season.

But this season, early on, Hasek looks more like a 42-year-old playing goalie than a goalie who happens to be 42.

His GAA is 2.94, with an unsightly save pct. of .874.

Hasek has been a shadow of his 2006-07 self, early on

Now, realizing that numbers can be as misleading as a political ad, it’s not all about the stats. But already, I’ve seen pucks bounce off Hasek’s helmet, off his shoulder, through his pads, and they’ve all ended up in the net. He’s been a mediocre netminder, truth be told, in his 306 minutes played.

It hasn’t been mentioned, and perhaps it’s too early to do so — especially with the Red Wings doing alright with a 4-2-1 record — but I don’t think it’s overreacting to suggest that we need to keep an eye on Hasek to see whether this bumpy start is an anomaly or the start of a trend downward. Again, how quickly does a 42-year-old goalie start to go downhill?

No, there weren’t any comments about Hasek’s age last year, one of his finest. Nor should there have been. And I bring it up now, only because we’re kind of in unchartered territory here. We’ve seen it happen in other sports — where the aging veteran can so quickly lose his mojo. Playing such a high-profile position as goalie makes us notice as it’s occurring. You don’t have bad goalie play and then only notice it at the end of the season. Its impact is immediate, its unraveling very public and potentially very ugly.

Hasek keeps himself in marvelous shape. Few, if any, goalies work as hard as he does — on and off the ice. But at what point does the calendar overtake the reflexes, the instincts, the peripheral vision? Working hard isn’t the only prerequisite.

Maybe Dom Hasek will work his way out of his little funk. Maybe some blame can be placed at the doorstep of his teammates. Maybe there’s nothing to worry about, after all.

But maybe not. So then what do the Red Wings do? And when would they consider doing it?

Just something to think about. Watch him and see if you don’t agree.