| Scott Essman. 10th January, 2008 - 2:06 pm
 In nearly all sports, players' skills begin to decline in their mid-to-late 30s, or, at least, certainly by 40. Though it's more common than it used to be, seeing a 40-year-old player who is still in the skill-level area of their peak playing years is an anomaly.
Of course, there are those freaks of nature, whose bodies and minds somehow defy all manners of erosion of their mental acuity, ability to discern details clearly, and maintenance of eye-hand coordination. Chief among these athletes is Detroit Red Wings' goaltender Dominik Hasek.
Now in his second stint on Detroit, Hasek, the Dominator, is doing the unthinkable this season - his goals-against-average (GAA) in the 22 games in which he has played thus far is actually LOWER than his career mark. Is that possible? Are the statisticians at his games being misled by a career of greatness? No and no.
Later this month, Hasek turns 43 years old, an age at which most NHL hockey players have hung up the skates for nearly a decade. But Hasek is rolling like never before. In fact, in the three seasons that he has played into his 40s, his GAAs have actually LOWERED his career mark.
Amazingly, Hasek has only allowed 46 goals in the 22 games thus far this year, for an astounding 2.11 GAA, bringing his current career GAA to an even 2.20. How unlikely is this? To make an MLB analogy, this is like a Hall of Fame-bound pitcher actually improving his ERA in his 40s. Moreover, Hasek has 79 career shutouts, with 16 of those coming since his 40th birthday.
Certainly, Hasek was a formidable goalie in his early years. After two incomplete seasons on the Chicago Blackhawks in 1990-1992, coming from the Czech Republic when he was 25, he established himself on the Buffalo Sabres in the 1993-1994 season. Seven superb seasons in Buffalo followed with Hasek's GAA very consistently hovering in the low 2s.
One terrific Stanley Cup-winning season in Detroit came next, again with Hasek posting remarkable overall numbers and a steady GAA of 2.17. After an absent year and a partial following season, he left the NHL in 2004-2005. But Hasek returned, playing about half of the 2005-2006 season in Ottawa where he only gave up an unthinkable 2.09 goals per game as a 40-year-old.
Last season, he returned to Detroit and again confounded the whole hockey world. In that year, he played 56 games at age 41-42 and allowed 2.05 goals-per-game, his lowest GAA since 1998-1999 when he was 33, with eight shutouts. The only available sports analogy would be that of Nolan Ryan pitching no hitters into his mid-40s.
This season, Hasek is at it again, leading the Red Wings to an NHL-best record of 33-8 and 3 OT. In tandem with 35-year-old goalie Chris Osgood, no slouch himself, who has started the other 22 Red Wing games, Detroit has allowed the fewest goals in the league with only 90 goals-against in those 44 games.
In recent news, what has Hasek done? On Tuesday night, January 8 in Detroit, he saved 19 shots in 19 attempts by the visiting Colorado Avalanche, his second consecutive such shutout. Colorado had been averaging just under three goals-per-game. It seems totally impossible, but Hasek, on the verge of another birthday, seems to be getting BETTER as time goes on. Apparently, the only x-factor on his horizon is how long he wishes to continue dominating the game. |
