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: Russia Today

With all the action done and dusted in the KHL this season, it was time to party. The end of season awards ceremony brought out the best and brightest, with RT’s Robert Vardanian stuck in the middle.

The 2010 KHL awards ceremony was hosted in one of Moscow’s elite night clubs.

With the season’s battles on the ice finally over, the recent rivals went face-to-face again, not for a battle, but for a celebration.

“I think the season was very good, and why not have a party to celebrate it at the end. It’s a celebration of a lot of good things that happened,” explained HC MVD goalie Michael Garnett.

Head coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov, whose team beat MVD in the final series, echoed the Canadian goalkeeper.

“There are such a lot of friends of mine here, whom I used to play with, and against. Everybody’s very busy during the season, but now we can finally see each other and have a good time. That’s great!”, he exclaimed.

But aside from it being a great party, the night also had the serious side, which was all about the awards.

No surprise that most of the accolades were shared by the Gagarin Cup finalists, winners Ak Bars and the season’s biggest sensation, MVD.

The Kazan side’s Petri Vehanen was crowned the best goalie, despite many expecting the award to go to Garnett, the Policemen’s netminder.
Meanwhile, Vehanen’s teammate, defenseman and Russian international Ilya Nikulin, was named the playoffs Most Valuable Player.

“Nikulin was amazing. In the finals, he was out there almost 30 minutes a night. Every time he was out there, he was creating chances and playing good defense. I think he was the best player, for sure,” Garnett said.

However, the award for the best coach did go to MVD. Oleg Znarok led the club, with one of the lowest budgets in the league, to the KHL final.

“I didn’t expect this,” Znarok said. “I think there are some coaches here who are much more experienced and deserved the award more than me. I’m still learning and gaining experience.”

Znarok should have far more resources at his disposal. He tries to go one better next season as the KHL’s Cinderella side, MVD, has recently merged with giant Dynamo Moscow. And it’s Znarok, still the coach of the Latvian national side, who will also lead the newly-established club.