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Buffalo Sabres: 3 reasons Dominik Hasek is the G.O.A.T at goalie

By Sion Fawkes

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 21: Dominik Hasek #39 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during NHL game action on November 21, 1998 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Graig Abel/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 21: Dominik Hasek #39 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against the Toronto Maple Leafs during NHL game action on November 21, 1998 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Graig Abel/Getty Images) /
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Dominik Hasek
Unknown Date, 1995; Manhattan, NY, USA; FILE PHOTO; Buffalo Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek (39) on the ice against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY NETWORK /

Only goaltender to win the Hart Trophy Twice

In case you don’t know, the Hart Memorial Trophy is the NHL’s version of the MVP award. And you don’t see goaltenders win the Hart often. In fact, only seven have won the honor since it was first awarded in 1924. Of those seven players, Hasek was the first and only goaltender to win it twice.

And in both instances, his wins occurred with the Buffalo Sabres, with his first coming in 1996-97 and the second a season later in 1997-98. Each time, Hasek also won the Lester B. Pearson Award (today the Ted Lindsay Award) as the NHLPA’s top player, and the Vezina Trophy, which recognizes the NHL’s top goaltender.

Hasek has also won the Vezina Trophy six times, which is tied with Bill Durnan for second all-time, trailing only Jacques Plante, who has seven. But that’s beside the point. Hasek’s multiple Hart Trophies showed his dominance during an era where the Sabres defensive rotation was not one of the NHL’s best, which further displays just how valuable Hasek was to the Sabres playoff runs in the late 1990s.

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