Hasek Done?
Reports out of Ottawa today are saying a source close to the team is reporting that Dominik Hasek won’t return this season, and that with only 3 weeks to go before the playoffs, his abductor muscle hasn’t healed enough for him to return.
It may be fitting for his career that the last game Hasek played in was for the Czech Republic.
Ray Emery has done a good job in Ottawa, he has looked big in the net, he doesn’t save everything, but he makes key saves at key times and has been good when his team is down a man and killing penalties and late in games when they need him the most.
There is a big difference starting for a team that has come back from a long Olympic break and wants to re-establish itself as the top team in the league, and starting for a team in the playoffs who will go in favorites. There will be lots of extra attention on the Sens, and Razor will be under the microscope. His history this season shows he likes to get the attention of the press and fans in Ottawa.
Ottawa’s Stanley Cup dreams rest on a goalie with no playoff games. Razor has shown he can get blown-out, something Hasek never has happen to him, and the next 30 games can make or break his career, thats pressure.
The biggest thing of all is that losing Hasek may have taken away some of the invincibilty of the Sens, and teams like Montreal, New Jersey and others will go into the playoffs thinking or knowing they may be outgunned, but that they have a better goalie and that will give them confidence.
You gotta think this will play in the Sens players heads, and maybe they will approach the game differently.
Coach Murray has his work cut out for him keeping this team level and making the Hasek injury a non-issue.
Honourable mention to Mike Morrison…