Hart Memorial Trophy
Think of the Hart as the League MVP in pro sports, or equivalent to the Heisman Trophy in college football. It is an award that only one member of the Buffalo Sabres has won thus far.
Dominik Hasek (1996-97, 1997-98)
They called Dominik Hasek the Dominator for a reason. He is, to this day, the only goaltender in NHL history to win the Hart Memorial Trophy twice. You will see his name pop up in other slides in this article, and it is a testament of how good he really was. But let’s focus on Hasek’s two MVP seasons.
The first of which occurred in 1996-97. In that year, he posted a 0.930 save percentage, plus a 2.27 GAA. He notched a career high 37 wins with the Sabres, which he would break in 2001-02 as a member of the Detroit Red Wings.
In 1997-98, he won the Hart for the second year running, one of very few players in NHL history to win the award. He logged a GAA of just 2.09 and a save percentage of 0.932. He lost 23 games that year, but if it wasn’t for Hasek, the Sabres may not have been competitive.