Dominik Hasek was good at a lot.
But the English on the ice was like that.
Even to the extent that Nicklas Lidström was allowed to act as an interpreter – just so that the Swedish colleague would understand what was said on the ice.
Few goalkeepers in the history of ice hockey have been as entertaining to watch as Dominik Hasek. Something unexpected always happened to him in the cage and that little extra, but he was also an extremely skilled goalkeeper who reaped absolutely enormous success.
Tribute to Hasek
In total, there were 16 seasons in the NHL for Hasek, who ended his career with two Stanley Cup titles, and senseless six Vezina Trophies, which are awarded to the NHL’s best goalkeeper. Hasek had just what a world goalkeeper needs, but it was not only on the ice that he was so popular.
Everyone who played with Hasek loved having him as a teammate, including Andreas Lilja, who played with Hasek in Detroti. However, he believes that Hasek is the teammate he had who had the most quirky stuff on his side.
– He was a giant, a giant foam. But also great fun. He was such a guy who talks, but does not know that he is funny and everyone laughs. He had shady stuff in front of him. He was a star at his fingertips, says Lilja in the podcast Släpp Sargen.
When Lidas became an interpreter
Lilja tells about some of the nonsense that Hasek had in mind.
– He was very special. If we lost a match, he went and weighed himself, and if he had gained two grams, he would have stood there and shouted: “I fucking knew it!”. Then that was the mistake, he says.
But Lilja also remembers a difficulty he had with Hasek – namely his English order on the ice.
– I played with Lidström and we had Hasek in the goal. It was one of my first matches with Hasek in goal. Hasek starts screaming and I really do not understand what he is saying. “Masi, masi, masi!”. And I stood there and did not understand anything, what the hell is he shouting ?, says Lilja, and continues:
– So I come to the bench and ask Lida what it really was. But then it was “must see”, meaning that he had to see. He said that “if I see the puck, then I take it”. So he would rather you just move than try to get in the way of the puck. He stood and shouted the whole match: “Masi! Masi! ”. I loved blocking shots, but when I had him he wanted me to move.
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