What was the narrative about Hasek from pre-2002?

[SnowblindNYR]

Was it that he played on shitty teams or was there talk that he couldn't win the big one and wasn't a big game performer in the playoffs?

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[MadLuke]

Was all about circumstance.

1998 gold medal, reaching the finals with Buffalo, I do not remember much not a big game performer talk around Hasek.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Dragged buffalo to the finals.

 

[VanIslander]

...was there talk that he couldn't win the big one and wasn't a big game performer in the playoffs?

Ha. Ha.

In the '92 Stanley Cup Finals, after Belfour was pulled early in the 1st period when giving up goals to Jagr and Stevens, Hasek stopped multiple Stevens and Lemieux shots - including the iconic one against Mario in the Mastercard commercial - plus against Jagr, Francis, Trottier and others, in a valiant effort that had Scotty Bowman shaking his head:


Two years later in 1994, an epic 70 saves against cup-champs Devils (if you didn't screen him or get rebounds, he was unbeatable - as this exemplifies):


Then 1998 the gold medal Olympic win:


Then came his legendary dragging of a group of nobodies (plus Peca) to a bad official call in OT of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals (MANY FANS THOUGHT THE FIX WAS IN - i thought it ref incompetence/mistake).

Before he could come to the NHL, Hasek represented Czechoslovakia in the 1984, 1987 and 1991 Canada Cups, with clutch performances but not enough scoring to win a tourney.

Hasek was always seen as clutch but lacking all-time great skaters as teammates until his third decade of hockey in Detroit.

He is the best goaltender of all time.

He is arguably the 'greatest', though Roy had sweeter teams to bank trophies.

 

[Dingo]

I don't remember very much of the 'well, he isnt a winner, so....' BS. I think it was clear that he did everything he could in big games. 98 helped a lot.

However, I definitely do still remember something of a 'glass half full' approach. Wins became a very big thing soon after Hasek's prime ended and Brodeur began his run of Vezinas. He was also called 'flaky' a lot, which, true or not, was overtalked about considering Roy and Belfour (and many more) had strange attitudes/problems with the law, etc.

I don't think the general ethos out there ever depicted him as a non-winner, or big game player, yet, I still think there was a, perhaps subliminal, desire to have him behind Roy and Brodeur. In fact, I think this exists today, in people i know and a quick google search of 'best goalies ever'

 

[MadLuke]

I would even go as far that winning with that 2002 squad did not do that much for him, loosing could have, but winning with that loaded of a team just felt natural and did not move the opinion of players that were on the squad that much. He was a bit lost in a sea of legends.

I remember reading in the 2010s or 2020s people mentioning reached the finals once, forgetting he won the cup with Wings, 1999 was probably bigger for his career reputation than actually winning in 2002.

Would he have won again with the Sens (like they did seem they had good chance to do), that would have been bigger.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

it existed, because people are people and he was a european goalie, but it wasn’t a widely circulated talking pt, iirc.

but remember, pre-2002 no european had won the conn smythe, although fedorov maybe should have. and no team had won with a euro starting goalie until khabibulin in 2004.

my first glimpse of hasek was game four of the 92 finals. killer pad stack on i think mario or stevens on a breakaway.

 

[MadLuke]

but remember, pre-2002 no european had won the conn smythe, although fedorov maybe should have. and no team had won with a euro starting goalie until khabibulin in 2004.

see what I mean

people mentioning reached the finals once, forgetting he won the cup with Wings,

P.S. well aware here that the writer know he won in 2002 in this context... it is a joke.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Some say Roy was better than Hasek because of playoffs, but Roy wouldn't have dragged that 99 Sabres team to Cup either.

 

[VanIslander]

Hasek remains the best career save percentage in NHL history despite the majority of games played not with a dynasty or teams with HHOFers (technically tied with Dryden, who did it with for only 8 years on a dynasty team) .

From age 37 to 43, at the tail end of his 16-year career, he was in Detroit, and like Fetisov, many hockey fans remember 'competent' old Euro in Motortown over their truly greatness elsewhere (Russians know Fetisov was much better than Datsyuk; Czechs know Hasek was better than Jagr,... ESPECIALLY in the clutch, on the biggest stages, when it mattered most!!!)