reality. Abiteboul said he supported the move to push innovat

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Dominik Hasek is not a goaltender anymore. He hasnt taken his customary place between the posts since his last game on Feb. 27, 2011 for Spartak Moscow of the KHL. He has thought and talked about playing since, but never followed through. "My equipment is still in the same bag," he said. Even when the 49-year-old plays with friends once or twice a week, Hasek plays as a defenceman. Forty years as a goalie was enough. And its unlikely the man nicknamed "The Dominator" can capture the kind of performances that made him one of the best goaltenders in his era, alongside Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. Hasek played his final NHL game five years ago, and then officially retired in 2012. Its taken time since he left the league for his true place in NHL history to come into focus. Six Vezina Trophies as the leagues best goaltender, two Hart Trophies as MVP, one Olympic gold medal, six first-team all-star selections and two Stanley Cups -- one as a starter -- dont even tell the whole story. Few goalies during the 1990s and 2000s could do what Hasek did to opponents. "He mentally and physically intimidated you," said St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock, who beat Hasek in the 1999 Cup final with the Stars. "I think there were games that you knew you were never going to score on him, and I think it was very discouraging at times. I think thats a great quality. Id never seen the guy quit on a puck, Id never seen the guy give up on anything. And thats hard to play against." Haseks .922 save percentage is the best of any goalie since the league started keeping track in 1982-83. His 2.02 goals-against average is the best in the modern era, slightly lower than Ken Dryden and Brodeur. Brodeur has many more shutouts, but when Hasek was on his game, he had the ability to almost will teams to win. "He makes a team believe," ex-Sabres and current Stars coach Lindy Ruff said in a phone interview. "You just start believing that with him in goal you can win any given night." Ruff recalled times when Hasek was so locked in that "we really only had to score one. And if we got two, it was almost guaranteed-win night." Hasek, who is being inducted into the Sabres hall of fame Saturday night and will be the first NHL player to have the number 39 retired next season, wanted victories more than trophies or honours. "I want to be remembered as a competitor who gave the teams always (the chance) to win the game," Hasek said Friday at First Niagara Center. "As a great goalie, as the person or goalie who gave the team (a chance) to always win the game. Thats what was hockey for me. I enjoyed my time, I enjoyed when I played here and any time I step on the ice my goal is to win the game and try to help my teammates win the game." Hasek will forever trail Brodeur (three Cups with the New Jersey Devils) and Roy (four, two each with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche), and one of his two in Detroit came as Chris Osgoods backup. But Hasek could potentially have won another title in 1999, had it not been for Brett Hulls controversial skate-in-the-crease overtime series winner in Game 6. A Cup there would have burnished Haseks legacy even more, but its not something that he laments 15 years later. "Its part of the life," he said. "Sometimes you win, sometimes you come close and you dont win it the whole way. It was an unfortunate night for us, it was something disappointing, but for me it wasnt end of my life." Far from it. In fact, Hasek teamed up with Hull to win the Cup in 2002 with the Red Wings, posting six shutouts along the way. "Winning a Stanley Cup anywhere, its hard," said Sabres coach Ted Nolan, who spoke with Hasek Friday for the first time since Nolan was fired in Buffalo in 1997. "Its hard and all the stars have to line up. They didnt quite line up here but he went and lined it up in Detroit pretty well." In 1999, Hasek had two shutouts and a playoff-best .939 save percentage in almost getting the Sabres their first championship in franchise history. Stars centre Joe Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy, but it easily couldve gone to Hasek even in a losing effort. "We were a huge underdog, obviously, going through the playoffs," Ruff said. "I thought that our team really fed off of Doms performance for the most part. He wouldve been able to take a team that wasnt supposed to get there and win it." Haseks dominant prime lasted six seasons, from 1993-94 through 1998-99, when he led the league in save percentage every single time and came away with five of his six career Vezinas. Asked about those years, Hasek smiled and brushed off the notion that it mightve been the best stretch any goalie has ever played. "I dont think about this that way," Hasek said. "I got a chance to prove, to become starting goalie and after that I had, I dont know, six, seven years, which we had great teams, we made it every year to the playoffs except one of nine years." Hasek proved much more than that, something that will more than likely be validated with induction to the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. "For me its a no-brainer," Ruff said. "I think he definitely stands as one of the best. He was on the cutting edge of the way a lot of goaltenders play. Always looking for a way to be better. He could take a team a long ways with the way he played." Hasek isnt carrying teams anymore, instead living back home in the Czech Republic and working "a little bit" in hockey and also in business. As much as hed appreciate it, making the Hall of Fame was never his goal, and thats not his focus even now. "There are new goals in life and always something new to prove. The hockey career is something what is behind me," Hasek said. "What great years, what fantastic things to do something what you enjoy, what you love to do, and be very well paid and be around the people who you love and spend great time with them. However its part of the life that every professional player has to retire some day, and you wake up and you enjoy your life different ways." Supply NFL Jerseys . His head snapped back from the impact and hit the floor. The All-Star power forward was all right afterward, a relief for the Minnesota Timberwolves. NBA Jerseys From China . - Joao Plata scored twice in the final 24 minutes, including the winner in stoppage time, to help Real Salt Lake remain unbeaten with a 3-2 victory over the winless Chicago Fire on Saturday night. http://www.chinajerseysauthenticnflwholesale.com/cheap-dallas-cowboys-jerseys/ . -- Canadian freestyle skier Roz Groenewoud isnt letting surgery to both of her knees deter her expectations for the Sochi Olympics. Cheap NFL Jerseys China . As the only competitor to try two quads, much less complete them, Kovtun ended the day nearly nine points ahead of Japans Tatsuki Machida, who opened with a clean quad but then stepped out of the triple toe loop that was the second jump in his combination. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Not Peyton Manning. Hes holding on to the heartache to stoke his competitive fire.JEREZ, Spain -- Formula Ones sweeping rule changes may be contributing to defending champion Red Bulls dismal start to the preseason. The smaller teams just dont see his troubles transferring into a major shift in the balance of power this season. F1 decided to overhaul its rulebook after the 2013 season, when Sebastian Vettel paraded his Red Bull to victory in the last nine races to win his fourth consecutive title. However, team bosses and chief engineers told The Associated Press that the move to more expensive turbo engines, as well as numerous other changes, will only reinforce the dominance of the front-runners who are better equipped to absorb the increased costs and have money left over to spend on other aspects of their vehicles. Many of those who help run the teams that rarely, if ever, reach the podium expect the gap between the top and bottom to only get bigger. Williams chief technical officer, Pat Symonds, said the best way to encourage parity was not through change, but rather by creating "stability" that would level the technological playing field. "If you stir up the rules to make it economically more difficult, absolutely no, you are not going to make the racing closer," he said. Symonds spoke to the AP in Williams hospitality tent pitched at the end of a row of the other teams luxurious motorhomes at the Jerez track, where preseason testing is being held until Friday. Symonds joined Williams this season from struggling Marussia to help in what he called a rebuilding of the team, whose ninth and last constructors title came in 1997, last grand prix victory was in 2012, and which earned just five points last year. "Changing to the 2014 power unit and then running the 2014 power unit is very significantly more expensive than it was prior," Symonds said. "Now that hits the smaller and the mid-sized teams much harder than it does the big teams." Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley said his team and others agreed. "The disparity between the teams that are lower down the grid annd the ones at the front is also connected to how much you can spend on development," Fernley said.dddddddddddd "We are all having to spend roughly 100 million euros ($135.74 million) to go racing; thats to build a car, to go to each of the 19 races. So whatever youve got above that is your development. So if youve got 10 million and Ferrari have got 100 million, theres always going to be a difference." Besides switching to a 1.6-litre V6 turbo engine from last years 2.4-litre V8 engine, the rule changes focus on boosting cars energy recovery systems, and alter their fuel limit, weight, and body. F1 also decided to award double points to the seasons last race to keep the title race alive, and fans and TV audiences interested. Caterham team principal Cyril Abiteboul called the double points decision an "artificial" fix to try to increase competition in appearance, while not in reality. Abiteboul said he supported the move to push innovation in F1 so that it could continue its mission of "preceding the automobile industry." But he said applying so many changes in one year instead of over two or three hurts smaller teams like Caterham, which didnt win a point in its first two seasons. For both Fernley and Abiteboul, the new regulations put more importance on the engine manufacturers: Renault (Red Bulls engine maker), Mercedes and Ferrari, who in addition to having their own factory teams, also sell engines to the other eight teams. For a smaller team "to win a race I think is a little bit extreme," Abiteboul said. "That would really only happen if one of the three engine manufacturers we have this season has a real performance advantage on the other two, firstly, and even if that happens I would expect that the factory team of that engine manufacturer would have an edge." Although Red Bull has managed just 14 laps through three days of testing due to engine problems, it should still be in fine shape come season end. The season begins with the Australian Grand Prix on March 16. ' ' '