Dominik Hasek donned a Buffalo Sabres uniform for nine seasons during his incredible NHL career, making the playoffs in eight of them.
That type of consistent regular-season success is either a distant memory or a completely foreign concept to current Sabres fans who have watched their team struggle mightily this decade. The team has failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of the past seven years and hasn’t won a playoff series since 2007. Thankfully for the passionate Upstate New York fan base, this year’s edition of the team is currently thriving and on pace to snap that lengthy drought.
“Finally, they are contenders and they have a good team,” Hasek told Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup Thursday morning on Sportsnet 590.
Hasek lives in his native Czech Republic but usually ventures to Buffalo at least a couple times per year and takes in Sabres games whenever he’s in town. He said he has enjoyed watching the team’s young, skilled players in recent years but that “they didn’t work as a team.”
The 53-year-old Hall of Famer gets a different feeling with the 2018-19 edition of the Sabres.
“Finally, it looks like they work as a team and they can make it for the playoffs,” Hasek said. “It’s a different team than the year before and also I think they have good leadership and good coaching, which is very important.”
Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart are having career years while the Ramuses – Ristolainen and Dahlin – lead a fledgling blue line that boasts a nice combination of size, skill and ruggedness.
The Sabres boast the third-best home record in the East and currently occupy the top wild-card spot in the conference as they’re set to officially hit the halfway point of their season Thursday when they host the Florida Panthers.
“It’s a completely different feeling [in the city] because last year I remember I was here sometime in November and it already looked like they were going to miss the playoffs – and of course they didn’t make [the playoffs],” Hasek added. “However, this year it’s exciting in the city, exciting at the rink.
“You see the excitement on the bench, the excitement in the building. I’m glad about this team because the city is waiting a long, long time to see the team be contenders for the playoffs.”
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