This Day in Hockey History – December 31, 1997 – Hasek’s Six

Dec 31, 2018

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Czech goalie Dominik “The Dominator” Hasek closed out 1997 with six shutouts during the month of December. The only other goaltender to achieve that many shuts in a month was George Hainsworth, with the Montreal Canadiens during the 1928-29 season. Prior to this the closest a goaltender had come was getting five in one month, which was accomplished by Tony Esposito in February 1974 and Jim Carey in March 1996.

On December 31, 1997, the Buffalo Sabres played the Ottawa Senators at Marine Midland Arena. The Sabres took the lead midway through the first period when Randy Burridge scored a power-play goal. Then Michael Peca scored two shorthanded goals (during the first and third periods). While the Sabres managed 29 shots on goal, Hasek blocked all 36 from the Senators. This was his fourth shutout in his last six starts. During December, his only non-shutout win was the 3-2 overtime game against the Carolina Hurricanes on December 12, 1997. He allowed just 22 goals during the entire month of December. His record for the season to that point was 13-15-4. This was during the time when he “faced more shots per 60 minutes than any other goalie.” By the end of the December, he had seen 409 shots, stopped 388 of them for a .948 save percentage and had a record of 7-6-1 for that month’s games.

Although Hasek had been drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks back in 1983, he remained in Czechoslovakia—which was still under Communist rule until 1989—where he was named Extraliga’s Goaltender of the Year from 1986 through 1990 and thrice named the league’s top player. Hasek was finally able to join the NHL in 1990, but he did not have much opportunity in Chicago until the 1992 Stanley Cup Final. The Sabres traded for him two months later, and when their starter (Grant Fuhr) was injured in 1993, Hasek took over. In that first month, December 1993, Hasek had five shutouts and a 1.95 average (the first lower than 2.00 since 1973-74). Four years later, Hasek beat that with the six shutouts, and two months after that (in 1998), as Nagano Olympics’ top goalie, he earned gold for the Czech Republic. In 2001, Hasek was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, and they won the Stanley Cup that season. Hasek played for Detroit off-and-on until the 2007-08 season, when they again won the Cup. When Hasek then retired from the NHL, he had a record of 389-223-82-13, a goals against average of only 2.20, and a save percentage of .922. He continued to play in Europe until he was 46 (2011).

Hasek’s improvisational style clearly worked for him. He led the NHL in save percentage for six straight seasons (1993-99). He also earned the Vezina Trophy six times (in eight seasons). In back-to-back years, 1997 and 1998, he received the Hart Trophy as the league MVP, and he is the only goaltender to receive that honor more than once. Hasek was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.