Dominik Hasek has turned out to be the pair of shoes you find on the clearance rack for 75% off, that has ended up fitting well and wearing just fine, thank you. And you can’t believe you got them for such a steal.
Goaltender Hasek, 42, signed an incentive-ladened, one-year contract last summer with the Red Wings for a base salary in the neighborhood of $750,000. That’s bargain basement nowadays, especially for someone with Hasek’s resume.
And he wasn’t even the team’s first choice.
Remember the Red Wings’ flirtations with Eddie Belfour? The two sides looked close to an agreement several times, and the papers ran daily updates about Belfour’s situation — even when there was nothing new to report.
“Ed Belfour is STILL not a Red Wing,” was the theme of so many items back then.
Today, if you wanted to trade Belfour for Hasek, you’d better package a lot of dough, some prospects, and maybe even a new Zamboni for Al Sobotka. And even then you might not make the deal.
Hasek’s numbers thru yesterday blow Belfour’s away:
HASEK
36-11-5; .910 save pct; 2.09 GAA; 7 shutouts
BELFOUR
25-17-9; .901 save pct; 2.78 GAA; 1 shutout
The Red Wings appear, more than in recent years, to be playoff-ready. If some of the dinged up players can bounce back and shake off the rust (Henrik Zetterberg and Todd Bertuzzi especially), they have a deeper, tougher roster than did last year’s first round victims.
Ahh, but it will still boil down to Hasek, and whether he can stay healthy throughout the playoffs. The goalie is always going to be a team’s barometer in the postseason, no matter how nifty the rest of the roster is. And it’ll be that way, even if the teammates don’t all pull their weight.
Isn’t that right, Manny Legace?
“If we play hard, we’ll be a good team [in the playoffs],” coach Mike Babcock said the other night. “If we don’t, we won’t.”
I think I know what the coach means. But I also know that if Hasek’s play drops off dramatically from the regular season, then none of that will mean a hill of beans. But I don’t think it will.
The team has done a marvelous job of keeping Hasek active this season yet not too much so, in order to protect his troublesome groin. The goalie says he feels great; his play would seem to underline that.
The Red Wings, once again, go into the playoffs with the highest of expectations — even this spring, when all eight playoff teams in the West could have 100+ points. And, once again, they go into the playoffs with a question mark in net.
Not that Hasek should be classified as a question mark, as an individual. But he still remains the only player whose performance will be under the microscope. It still comes down to him.
It’s always been that way, and always will be.
And the Red Wings can only hope that their clearance rack find has some more wear and tear left in it.
