When the news first broke on July 6th, 2004, it hardly came as a surprise.
The Ottawa Senators were in the market for a veteran goalie and with John Muckler calling the shots as General Manager, it made perfect sense. So when Dominik Hasek signed a one year deal worth $2 million a season, it seemed like the perfect fit.
Sure he was 39 years old at the time and yea, he was coming off a significant groin injury that prematurely ended his previous season with the Detroit Red Wings but you don’t get many opportunities to roll the dice on a six time Vezina Trophy winner.
It was a gamble worth taking.
And when the league returned from a season-long lockout, it was clear that the man they called “The Dominator” hadn’t missed a beat.
He would win his first five starts with the Senators in 2005, including a shutout against his former team in just his second game in a Sens uniform.
Hasek would start 43 games for Ottawa that year.
He posted a 28-10-4 record in the first five months of the season, including a sparkling 2.09 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Vintage Hasek.
The Senators were well on their way to what would end up being their most successful regular season in franchise history.
They would win 52 games and score an absurd 314 goals over the 82 game season. Almost four goals a game.
Both Dany Heatley and Daniel Alfredsson put up 103 points that year. Jason Spezza might have hit the century mark too if not for an injury. The blueline featured two of the league’s best in Zdeno Chara and Wade Redden. They had a supporting cast of Martin Havlat, Peter Schaefer, Mike Fisher, Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov. Ask any Sens fan to name the best team in franchise history and the majority will point to the 2005/2006 team.
They had all the pieces in place to bring a Stanley Cup to Ottawa. Yet their legacy can essentially be summed up in one word- adductor.
By the time the Olympic break rolled around, the Senators were in cruise control. They sat comfortably atop the Northeast Division and sent a league high nine players to the Olympics in Torino.
Among them- their 40 year old starting goalie.
It happened in the first game of the tournament against Team Germany. Less than ten minutes in actually. Hasek kicked out his right leg to make what looked like a routine save and his words he “felt a really sharp pain.” Hasek knew right away that it was bad. He left the ice immediately and within a couple days, was on his way back to Ottawa.
In the days that followed the injury, the reports seemed to suggest it might not be that serious. Hasek met with the media in Ottawa and according to those in attendance, “walked without any visible limp”.
The team’s doctor seemed fairly optimistic too.
“The amount of swelling has actually decreased somewhat,” Doctor Chow said at the time. “So far, things have proceeded very nicely.”
That was in late-February.
As the days passed and the playoffs neared, it became increasingly clear that the injury was going to be a bigger issue than the team had originally let on. When asked about a potential return, Hasek frequently offered up the now infamous line “Maybe Friday.”
When Hasek was still on the sidelines as the Senators opened up the post-season against the Tampa Bay Lightning, panic was starting to set in across the city.
Ray Emery got the team through that first round series but everyone knew that if they were going to make a serious run, they needed their starter.
Hasek was practicing regularly at that point but his status remained a mystery. The Senators were still favourites in their second round series against the Buffalo Sabres but they would have to do it without their number one goalie. Ottawa would score six goals in Game One of that series and lose…7-6 in overtime. They’d lose Game 2 and Game 3 by a goal.
With the Senators in a stunning 3-0 hole in the series, the team’s veterans led by Daniel Alfredsson, met with Hasek. They were hoping they could convince him to play in Game 4.
Hasek had been practicing for weeks and had long since been cleared by the Team Doctors. But Hasek refused. Describing the situation after, Hasek said “I could stand in the net but we’ll lose 6-2.”
The moment he walked away from that table ahead of Game 4, he was essentially walking away from the Senators. That off-season, Hasek expressed an interest in returning to Ottawa to take care of unfinished business. Bryan Murray, then Head Coach, advised against it. It was clear that the bridge between Hasek and his teammates had been burnt.
Instead, Hasek would return to the Red Wings that off season. The following year, he was named to the NHL All Star team and finished 5th in the Vezina voting. Ottawa went all the way to the Cup Finals in 2007 but couldn’t close the deal against the Anaheim Ducks.
The 2007/2008 season would be Hasek’s last. He’d split the William Jennings trophy with Chris Osgood and close out his career with a Stanley Cup win in 2008.
Meanwhile, Senators fan are left to wonder what might have been had Dominik Hasek’s adductor held up on that meaningless kick save more than 12 years ago.
