Red Wings To Dominator: Good Riddance

Dominik Hasek is out for the season, and his teammates do not wish him well. That's the word from yesterday's Detroit Red Wings' practice. It was Hasek's last practice with the team before declaring he will miss the rest of the season with a groin injury. According to Darren Pang at ESPN, the first few shots on Hasek were aimed directly at his head. In the hockey world, that is known as sending a message to the goaltender.

Appearing on TSN's "Powerplay" panel last night, Pang said the Detroit players are disappointed in Hasek, believing he did not work hard enough to recover from the groin problems. Keith Allen of USA Today, appearing on the same show, agreed.

At the ESPN website, Pang writes that the belief in Detroit is that Hasek quit on his teammates: "The team no doubt fully anticipated him working hard to rehab his groin injury and come back to help the team, and by announcing with 30 games left in the season that he is packing it in Hasek surely caught the Wings completely off-guard."

Hasek claims his career is not over. "I'll be back next season," he said.

Wings' GM Ken Holland is not so sure: "I think in the summertime he's going to decide whether he wants to officially retire."

For now, it appears the team has courted disaster and come out smiling. With Hasek returning last fall, the Red Wings tried hard to trade Curtis Joseph, but found no takers for his $8-million-per-year contract.

Lucky for them, as it turned out. The recurring groin troubles limited Hasek to just 14 games. He hasn't played since December 8. Joseph, taking over, is 13-9-2 with a 2.48 goals-against average. The team is set in goal with Joseph and Manny Legace as a highly capable backup.