Pro Hockey Resume

Moscow (Reuters) – Former NHL All-Star goaltender Dominik Hasek is set to join Spartak Moscow, the Continental Hockey League (KHL) club said on Wednesday.

Spartak will hold a news conference on Monday to announce the signing of the 45-year-old, who came out of retirement last year to play for Pardubice in his native Czech Republic.

Hasek retired from the NHL in 2008 after lifting the Stanley Cup for the second time with the Detroit Red Wings.

His best years were with the Buffalo Sabres where he won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player in 1997 and 1998 and also claimed the Vezina Trophy as the best netminder six times from 1994-2001.

Hasek led the Czechs to the gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Games when leading NHL players were allowed to take part in the Olympics for the first time.

He has been persuaded to move to Spartak by the club’s Czech coach Milos Riha, the goalie told Russian media.

“I know Pardubice would have liked me to stay for another season but I wanted a new challenge,” said Hasek, who helped the small-town team to the national title this year.

“Hockey experts say KHL is the top league in Europe so I want to try it. Mr Riha has told me a lot of interesting things about Moscow and the Russian league.”

The KHL, formed in 2008 with teams from Russia, Belarus, Latvia and Kazakhstan, is trying to lure big-name players to rival the NHL.

Hasek’s fellow Czech and former NHL All-Star forward Jaromir Jagr has played for Siberian club Avangard Omsk, who are also in the KHL, since 2008.

By: Jan Velinger

The Czech hockey club Pardubice is one step away from winning the playoff final in the Czech hockey league’s Extraliga. On Wednesday, the team, boasting legendary goalie Dominik Hašek in net, trounced opponents Vítkovice 5:2, to take a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series.

One more win and they’ll sweep their opponents, winning the title for the first time since 2005. If they do, it will be Hašek’s first hometown title in 21 years, to add to earlier successes such as Olympic Gold and two Stanley Cup rings.

Earlier Jan Velinger spoke to well-known hockey commentator Martin Hosták, who discussed Hašek’s play in the series.

“He has definitely been a factor and Vítkovice has been having problems to create chances. And when they do have a chance they come up against Dominik Hašek. He has played really well and the numbers show it, allowing only three goals in three games, which is great, and has shown that he is still capable of great performances even at his age.”

He is 45 and it may come as a surprise to some abroad that he is still playing and doing well in the Czech league…

“It’s amazing how he can prepare himself for important games. He wasn’t that terrific during the regular season but has played very well during the playoffs and grown in confidence with every game. Pardubice have won 11 games in a row, which is a record in the playoffs.”

Before the series began, Hašek was quoted by the daily Mladá fronta Dnes that he was hoping for a call from the national team coach after the series ended – namely offering him a spot on the national team ahead of the upcoming World Championship in Germany. Especially, if Pardubice do win, do you think Hašek could be called up by the national team?

“I don’t think so, I don’t think he has a big chance. The team coach Vladimír Růžička has already said that his No. 1 goalie is Tomáš Vokoun and I don’t think he’d mix these two goalies as No. 1 and 2. I’m not even sure he’d entertain the idea of taking Hašek. So his only chance, it appears, is if Vokoun couldn’t go due to injury or something similar. Then Růžička would have to go for an experienced goalie to replace Vokoun. That could be Hašek’s only real opportunity, and I don’t think it is one the coach is counting on in his team plans.”