page_title: Dominik Hašek
section_title: Return to the Red Wings (2006–2008)
hierarchical_section_title: Dominik Hašek / NHL career / Return to the Red Wings (2006–2008)
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of w:Dominik Hasek of the w:Detroit Red WingsČeština: Dominik Hašek v dresu Detroit Red Wings
context_page_description: Dominik Hašek is a Czech former ice hockey goaltender. In his 16-season National Hockey League career, he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and the Ottawa Senators. During his years in Buffalo, he became one of the league's greatest goaltenders, earning him the nickname "The Dominator". His strong play has been credited with establishing European goaltenders in a league previously dominated by North Americans. He is a two-time Stanley Cup champion, both with the Red Wings.
  Hašek was one of the league's most successful goaltenders of the 1990s and early 2000s. From 1993 to 2001, he won six Vezina Trophies, the most under the award's current system of voting for the best individual goalie. In 1998 he won his second consecutive Hart Memorial Trophy, becoming the first goaltender to win the award multiple times. During the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, he led the Czech national ice hockey team to its first and only Olympic gold medal. The feat made him a popular figure in his home country and prompted hockey legend Wayne Gretzky to call him "the best player in the game".
context_section_description: On July 31, 2006, at the age of 41, Hašek joined the Red Wings for the second time. He signed a one-year $750,000 US
  contract, with added bonuses if the team succeeded in the playoffs. He posted 38 wins and a 2.05 GAA while leading the Red Wings to
  the number one seed in the Western Conference. He also broke his own personal record by going 181 minutes and 17 seconds without allowing a goal.
  Midway through the regular season, the team announced that to avoid injury and preserve Hašek for the playoffs, he would not play on consecutive nights. He played his first consecutive nights of the season on April 21 and 22 against the Calgary Flames in games 5 and 6 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals. Hašek won both games, clinching the series for Detroit. In the next round against the San Jose Sharks, the Red Wings were on the road and down two games to one, but Hašek held the Sharks to three goals in the next three games. His 28-save shutout in game six was his 13th in postseason play and sent the Red Wings to the Western Conference finals against the Anaheim Ducks. However, Hašek and the Red Wings lost in six games to the Ducks, who eventually defeated the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup.
  Hašek contemplated retirement in the 2007 offseason, but on July 5, 2007, he signed a one-year contract with Detroit worth $2 million with up to $2 million in bonuses,
  reportedly turning down $5 million for salary cap room for the rest of the Red Wings' roster.
  During the 2007–08 season, Hašek was replaced by backup Chris Osgood, who had originally been waived by the Red Wings to make way for Hašek before the 2001–02 season. When Hašek recovered and got back into his stride, Detroit chose to alternate goaltenders in tandem instead of designating either as the backup. Detroit head coach Mike Babcock announced that Hašek was to start in the 2008 playoffs. Through the first two games against the Nashville Predators, the Red Wings were victorious, but after a lackluster performance in the next two, Osgood was in goal for the remainder of the playoffs. Despite expressing disappointment at losing his starting position, Hašek maintained his professionalism in practice and continued to support his teammates, with Darren McCarty citing a close relationship between Hašek and Osgood. Eventually the Red Wings beat the Penguins in six games for the Stanley Cup.
  On June 9, 2008, Hašek announced his retirement from the NHL, only five days after winning his second Stanley Cup with the Red Wings, saying he lacked the motivation for another year in the NHL. With Osgood, the two were awarded the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals against on a team in the season.
caption: Hasek with the Red Wings in October 2006
exif: {}