In the doldrums of the NHL offseason, there are only so many angles one can take on the current state of the Buffalo Sabres roster. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen has already done a masterful job of setting the Sabres up for long-term success, but the season is still months away.
With that in mind, it is fun to take a look back in time and wonder: What if? It’s fun to think about what the team would have looked like if they hit on big draft picks, but there’s an even more fun “What if?” to contemplate: what if the Dominik Hasek trade never happened?
The Sabres-Blackhawks trade
On Aug. 7, 1992, the Buffalo Sabres made a seemingly innocuous trade. They dealt fourth-round pick in the 1993 NHL Draft and journeyman goaltender Stephane Beauregard to the Chicago Blackhawks for a then-unknown 27-year-old goaltender by the name of Dominik Hasek.
On the surface, it looked like a completely inconsequential move. Hasek, the 199th overall pick in the 1983 draft, had done little with the Blackhawks to that point. There were no indications that he would do anything in Buffalo, but no one could have predicted what would follow.
Hasek’s performance in Buffalo
After an okay 1992-93 season — 11-10-4 with an .896 save percentage and 3.15 goals against average — Hasek would go on what is easily one of the greatest stretches by a goaltender in the history of the NHL.
Hasek took over the starting position in Buffalo for the 1993-94 season and wouldn’t hold back. He would lead the league in save percentage for the next six seasons, three times in shutouts, and twice in goals against average.
His individual hardware is the most impressive aspect of his performance. Over the eight-year stretch from 1993-2001 in which he started, Hasek was otherworldly: six times a first-team NHL All-Star, six Vezina Trophy wins as the best goaltender in the league, two Lester B. Pearson Award wins as the league’s MVP as voted on by the players, and an incredible back-to-back Hart Trophy wins (with a runner-up and a pair of third-place finishes, as well).
Hasek won the Hart Trophy at a time when goaltenders simply didn’t win the award. His level of dominance is on the level of someone like Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky, especially behind a team that wasn’t ever considered to be the strongest.
Hasek's impact on the franchise
The on-ice impacts were incredible, and they speak loudly to what Hasek was bringing to the team. They won the Northeast Division in 1996-97. They made the Eastern Conference Finals in 1998, ultimately losing to the Washington Capitals.
The Sabres also made the Stanley Cup Final in 1999, losing to the Dallas Stars in six games. They finished fourth in their own division that season and their top players included names like Miroslav Satan, Michael Peca, Michal Grosek, and Alexei Zhitnik.
Hasek was the unquestioned King of Buffalo, especially as the Buffalo Bills continued to slide from dominance into mediocrity. He brought fans to the building, kept the Sabres in contention, and nearly dragged an infinitely average roster to a championship.
What if the Hasek trade never happened?
Without Hasek, the Sabres move from the Pat Lafontaine/Alexander Mogilny era into mediocrity. Their roster was constructed of solid two-way players with little offense to show. On the ice, they likely have an extended playoff drought (something the fan base is all too familiar with the last two decades).
Off the ice is where it matters more, though. By 1998, ownership transitioned from the Knox family to John Rigas and Adelphia Communications. The team would eventually declare bankruptcy in 2003, but things would likely have been so much worse without one of the game’s biggest superstars to keep them afloat.
As it stands, Hasek gave the franchise and city a taste of success that would have otherwise not existed. And it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to think that the financial issues facing the team would have been worse, even potentially leading to the team being sold and/or moved.
Dominik Hasek is the greatest player in Buffalo sports history and the greatest goaltender in the history of the NHL. His impact on the franchise and city cannot be properly measured, though his mountain of hardware is a good start.
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