The record will show that netminder Hasek, ‘The Dominator,’ led this improbable Czech team to victory, posting a pair of shutouts (against Finland and Russia) and a dramatic shootout victory (over Canada) en route to a 5-1-0 record and the gold.
Hasek was good. At times he was great, especially in the 4-1 quarterfinal win that eliminated the U.S. and during the late stages and shootout of the semifinal win over Canada. The Czechs likely wouldn’t have won gold without him. But as good as the Buffalo Sabre goalie was, he was not the focal point for this story.
That honor goes to the entire Czech team, notably a much-maligned defensive crew that emerged as the tourney’s most valiant defenders.
It was a group far greater than the sum of its parts. Jiri Slegr and Richard Smehlik, regarded as two fair-to-middling NHLers, were towers of defensive strength. So, too, were Frantisek Kucera, a failed NHLer, and Jaroslav Spacek, a virtual unknown. The third pair was Roman Hamrlik and Petr Svoboda, who scored the only goal of the gold medal game when he rifled a point shot past Russian goalie Mikhail Shtalenkov at 8:08 of the third period.
