I was never a big fan of Dominick Hasek but I really respect him for this: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=1758174 DETROIT -- Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek has refused to accept about $3 million of his salary because he is out with a groin injury. Hasek, who announced Feb. 10 that he would miss the remainder of the season with the injury, has not accepted pay since Jan. 9, general manager Ken Holland said Friday. That was the day Hasek and the team agreed the goaltender should rest the injured groin for two to four weeks. Hasek tested out the groin in early February, but later said he could no longer play this season. The nagging groin injury has limited him to 14 games since he came out of a one-year retirement. "He just felt that he wasn't doing what he really had set out to do, which is to play hockey and play at a high level," Holland said. "At that time, he told me that he did not want to receive any further salary until he was ready to play." By Jan. 9, Hasek had received a little more than $3 million of his $6 million salary for the season. "I think it's an unbelievable gesture," Holland said. One of the NHL's greatest goalies, Hasek won two MVP awards and six Vezina Trophies, given to the league's top goalie, during a nine-year stint in Buffalo. He also led the Czech Republic to a gold medal in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Hasek joined the Red Wings before the 2001-02 season, winning his first Stanley Cup that season. He retired in 2002, but came back to Detroit before this season.
Does the NHL have a Players Association??? MLB, NFL and the NBA PA would never let one of their players do that.
With the NHL strike coming, none of the players will be getting paid. Hasek is ahead of his time. And probably the best goaltender ever to play in the NHL.
didn't Shawn Kemp do somethign similar a few years ago when he was cut. I'm sure his motivation was so he wouldn't have to pay child support, but I seem to remember him refusing to be paid for some reason. CK
Hasek has been my favorite player since I started getting into hockey about five years ago. He's always had sort of an up and down relationship with the teams he's played on, pulling some antics that would get ordinary players in a lot of trouble. But this is a nice gesture -- I think he's a pretty honest guy, despite his fickle attitude.
wow.. that's respectable.. I wish I could say I would do the same thing, but I think I would take the 3 million..
Even more respectable would have been for him to take the 3 million and donate it all to charity instead of letting the greedy owners keep it.
fadeaway... that would be an option.. I don't follow nhl.. does detroit have someone who is thought of as a good owner or not? technically I guess he is entitled to keep the money.. if I was injured while playing I wouldnt' have too much of a problem collecting the paycheck don't the teams have insurance policies that cover if a player gets hurt anyways?
Yeah they do. I heard that the NHLPA is not real happy that he is doing this. Some of the Detroit sport talk shows are thinking that he might be doing this because he won't be coming back at all.
Man, I used to dominate the hell out of my roommate with the Sabres on NHL2K...God bless that man, as well as Barnes and Satan...
That would be a better gesture. At first I received this news with missed feelings. But nonetheless Hasek deserves fair remarks for his show of character.
That absolutely does not make much sense. Methinks if you are not coming back - you grab as much as possible.
No idea. I don't watch hockey either. NHL owners as a whole, though, are generally considered to be greedy SOBs; more so than in the other major sports.
When I first read the title I thought this was about NHL teams going so broke that they couldn't pay their players.
