How The Buffalo Sabres Ended Up With One Of The Greatest All-Time Goalies | Trade Trees

[@dalehuber786]

Besides the 13,308 games error, there was one other. Steve said Hecht got some Selke votes because he played in front of Hasek who never let anyone score. Well since Hecht was part of the trade that sent Hasek to Detroit, that wasn’t why he got Selke votes.

[@FenixDown87]

Yeah I caught that too, I think he got those votes playing with Miller

[@JPMadden]

I had to know where that 13,308 number came from--it's how many saves he had playing for Buffalo.

[@fractaljack210]

I played goalie as a kid, and was taught traditional style with butterfly. I watched Hasek and kept losing my mind screaming, "You can't do that!" "What is he doing?" "How did he? What? OMG," He quickly became my favourite goalie.

[@WideTier]

You’re exactly right! Especially since the butterfly method is really the only one used with every goalie now dropping to his knees as soon as the opposing team skated over his blue line. Hasek on the other hand would never have been able to make all those acrobatic mind numbing saves if he had simply dropped to his knees that quickly himself. Instead he’d wait till the last second and use one or the other skate to hurl himself all over in front of the net. Truly one of a kind.

[@fractaljack210]

@@WideTier Fantastic summation. I know if I was a kid when he came along, I'd want to emulate him, but you can teach instinct. Just an amazing talent.

[@CowboyCountry]

Just a quick note, Hasek actually won two cups with Detroit. 2002 against Carolina and 2008 against Pittsburgh, though Chris Osgood started most of the playoffs. Also calling Slava Kozlov Vyecheslav makes me uncomfortable as a Red Wings fan. Edit: Hasek was in his second stint with Detroit in 08, so that makes a bit more sense for the video.

[@chrisbee9643]

its Slavas real name. Its a respect thing you know :)

[@krog21]

Why does that make you uncomfortable?

[@ivanpavlov9885]

"Slava" is simply the short form of the name "Vyacheslav"

[@broadstreetbullies849]

​@@krog21he was always called Slava. So it sounds weird

[@KolossusB]

It still boggles my mind that a 40 year old Chris Chelios on that 2002 Detroit Team Played 79 regular season games averaging 25:18 in ice time a game, contributing 39 pts as a Defenseman, and all 23 playoff games averaging over 26 minutes a game popping another 14 pts while being very defensively sound and always in position. While also leading his team in +/- both in the regular season, and Playoffs. At 40..Guys dedication to fitness and adapting his game kept him around and playing elite hockey for so long.

[@SeanP7195]

I remember when Detroit traded for him the league was bent over laughing at them. I myself, who was a huge Chelios fan thought, I’d love this trade, if it was 5 years ago. Dude came in and dominated.

[@WideTier]

Great video….of course I’m a tad biased being from Buffalo and a life long die hard Sabres fan since day 1 in 1970. However, I love the job you do on all these trade trees your sense of humor is hysterical and after enjoying many of these that had nothing to do with the Sabres in the main players traded, I actually suggested you do this exact tree recently in the comments of the last one I watched….and you have. THANK YOU! Watching Hasek play just about every game with the Sabres was amazing.

[@adampratt1925]

Sometimes I marvel at how lucky I was to be in a STH family in WNY during that time, to see the hockey I did, to watch the greatest goaltender of the last 50 years carry a team and the weight of a city on his 185 pound frame. I was really happy for him when he got to carry The Cup even though it ripped me to pieces that it couldn't have been in a Buffalo sweater.

[@denvitaranden]

Thanks for the love for Eric Daze, a often forgotten great from a mediocre Chicago team.

[@justjohnny420]

I remember Daze just from him being really good in the video games around that time 😂

[@bakedalaskax]

I remembered him...and immediately felt really old too 😆😆😆

[@orebrotribune8302]

Yes, underrated =)

[@neroameealucard945]

Eric was a light during some dark days

[@Idelexplorer]

I was a Hasek super fan growing up he was so amazing to watch, you never knew what he was gonna do except save the damn puck. :D I was as all Buffalo fans totally heartbroken when Mr Hull "scored" that goal. But most of all i just felt so damn sad for Hasek, cause he carried Sabres on his back for so long and was soo close to futher prove that 1 man can do it all. I was super excited and happy when he got to Detroit, and yea 2002 Red wings as you said might be the best team ever. Thanks for a great video keep it up

[@mcj88]

There's another part of Hasek's rise that's interesting to me, because there were two other teams beyond just the Blackhawks who passed on the chance to have him: the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Florida Panthers. At the 92-93 trade deadline, ahead of the 1993 Expansion Draft, the Sabres traded Darren Puppa to Toronto (along with a 1st and Sabres legend Dave Andreychuk!) so that when the Expansion Draft came around, they could keep Grant Fuhr protected. The summer before he caught fire, *the Sabres left Dominik Hasek exposed in the Expansion Draft,* but neither the Panthers or Ducks took him. (Incidentally, Darren Puppa would get claimed by the Panthers, who then likewise left him exposed in the 2nd part of the draft, where the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him.) Granted, with the looser expansion draft rules of '93 both Anaheim and Florida did fine in the goaltending department, getting Guy Hebert and John Vanbiesbrouck respectively, but imagine what they could have done with The Dominator in goal.

[@Devidra48]

If the Panthers had gotten Hasek, I think they would've won the cup instead of the Avs no question

[@mcj88]

@@Devidra48 - You may be onto something, Beezer was good but he was definitely no Hasek lol

[@k-nick97]

I went to an event that included a Q&A with Teemu Selanne and someone asked him who the toughest goalie to play against was. His answer: Hasek, because "he had no style." With other goalies, you could at least make an educated guess as to what they might do in a certain situation because their style dictated certain tendencies. With Hasek, you had no idea if he was going to stack the pads, poke check you, stay on his feet, or flop like he got shot, and no matter what he did he almost always stopped the puck. With the game being so immensely skilled, highly-optimized, and meticulously calculated like it is now, I think it's safe to say we'll never see anyone like Hasek again. Truly a special player.

[@fusion8485]

Could you do the 1998 Vincent Lecavalier trade where the lightning and sharks swapped firsts and the lightning gave up Bryan Marchment and David Shaw. This trade has some huge names later in it even though some of the pieces straight from the tree werent the big names in the trades. Just thought it would be a cool idea as it eventually branches into the Erik Karlsson trade and the Joe Thornton trade. Just thought it might be a fun idea

[@danevertt3210]

Holy Jesus some of those saves highlighted in the video are just amazing……some of the best saves ever. As a kid, watching these Sabres games and seeing these saves…….just insane

[@PeteNice29]

Hawks had an inkling of who this guy was. When he took over for Belfour in the Final, he was amazing. Although most would have made the same deal, today teams would have kept them both until one simply became too expensive.

[@Ando2k10]

Yeah, I remember how he'd stymied the Pens in that Cup Final when he came in, in relief of Belfour, who'd been getting shelled by the Pens offense.

[@dmonsef]

@@Ando2k10 I strongly feel had Hasek started that Cup Final series against the Pens, the Hawks would have won the Cup! It was hindsight as no one knew how great Hasek would become until he got his chance with the Sabres. Side note: Some hockey fans probably don't know that Mitch Korn(the goalie whisperer) was the goalie coach who guided Hasek's career into being one of the greatest goalies of all time!

[@Ando2k10]

@@dmonsef Quite probably.

[@ryukiT3]

Really downplayed the fact that he won olympic gold in 98. Czech had two players. Jagr and Hasek. 2 good ones. But they beat out a Canada team with, 99, Lindros, Sakic, fluerry, Yzermen, Roy, etc, etc, Hasek stole that gold medal for a team that had no business being the best in the world. amazing.

[@keesio]

Agreed. Though to be fair, Jagr and Hasek were likely the two best players in the whole NHL that year.

[@SMA2343]

They beat out the Americans, then the Canadians, and then the Russians. Just saying that is insane. Like, Hasek legit one of the best goalies of all time. Like, GOAT level

[@alextanguay5886]

@@SMA2343 and Canada chocked in the shootout 😂 only one good shot lindros hit the cross bar

[@martine.210]

First time I hear about Jochen Hecht here. He played for Adler Mannheim at the beginning of his carreer and his last three seasons. I was at his first game back in germany and we were all so proud.

[@johnthomas5314]

Hecht was one of the Sabres' best all-around players in the 2000's. Deserves more recognition than he gets.

[@dustinbilyk899]

I was 15 when Hecht was with the Oilers, and I remember the newspapers saying he was the future of the organization (we were really struggling financially as a team). I was really sad to see him go! He must be an absolute legend in Germany!

[@martine.210]

@@dustinbilyk899 He is. At that time we didn't have many players in the NHL. Uwe Krupp, Marco Sturm and later Ehrhoff and Seidenberg. Now we have Leon, Mo and Tim Stützle, who btw all played for Mannheim as well.

[@sirekumasutra7022]

@@martine.210 also technically Kolzig.

[@jasonrenaldo8920]

I grew up watching the Dominator. I played pick-up hockey with friends and tried to emulate his playing style. I love the guy. Those Buffalo years, they had a solid defense. (good not great) It was the offense that royally sucked. If they had a capable offense that put up 4-5 goals per game, I feel they would have won... A... Stanley Cup one of those years. When he did win the cup with Detroit, it was bittersweet. I was happy for him to finally have a Cup added to his resume and sad it wasn't with the Sabres.

[@JetEarlewood]

As a Hasek fan I was really happy when he won Gold and beat Canada

[@adampratt1925]

Two Hall of Famers who couldn't win a Cup in Buffalo but did win in Detroit? Scotty Bowman and Dominik Hasek.

[@zerocool6687]

I absolutely love this series… one of my greatest regrets in life is inviting a troubled friend to move in as a roommate in hopes I could help clean him up. That didn’t happen, he drug me down and in the process kind of destroyed my love for this game. Hockey was out thing, I was a massive fan that read everything, watched everything… hockey was 80/90% of my free time. Because of that relationship and me trying to separate me from that life, hockey became a casualty… I don’t get a deep into it as I once did and that’s sad. So watching these? Takes me back to the walking encyclopedia years… in fact, when you first downplayed Daze I was like “man, in his day he was expected to be a very big deal…” but you caught that anyway lol. Keep up the great work on these… lots of memories and lots of fun

[@00DLR00]

Hey Steve, I gotta mention a key detail you seemed to have missed. They also had Jim Waite on their roster, a first-round pick in 1987, and they didn't want to lose him in the Senators/Lightning expansion draft. They also didn't want to lose Hasek for nothing, one would have to be made available to fulfil their goalie requirement; otherwise, Hasek would have been exempt because he was just a second-year pro. The trade was to get around expansion draft requirements, and that's why it looks so uneven. As far as I understand it, the Sabres didn't want to lose Ruutu for nothing, nor did the Jets with Beauregard. It was kind of a 3-way deal...I think. Sources for that stuff are really spotty, but I believe it was supposed to be reversed (for the most part) after the draft. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but Hasek was an expansion draft casualty (kind of).

[@rdooley14]

Definitely a huge part of this trade.

[@paolabelan8211]

It’s always good to have a new Steve’s video! Thank you for this trade tree!

[@JustJimmy-24]

Hey Steve, I have a few trade tree ideas: Martin St. Louis from TBL to NYR Scott Hartnell from NSH to PHI James Neal from DAL to PIT Andrej Sekera from BUF to CAR Thomas Vanek from BUF to NYI

[@DeathStorm6990]

Add the Mike Richards trade from phi to la.... it just like the Carter trade is still alive

[@Taubogason.40]

Is the Vanek one really so interesting? :O

[@ianstephenson9721]

@@Taubogason.40 Speaking as an Isles fan: We got a fun 40-something games, then flipped him for peanuts at the deadline. The Sabres got Moulson and a 2015 first, which they traded for Lehner.

[@cranehook4715]

Add in the Vanek trade from Van to CBJ

[@johnnyedelhoff5866]

@@cranehook4715 that would be a short video

[@adamgouge9363]

This one is great! Right in the heart of my childhood obsession with the NHL. I remember that triple OT game 6 with Buffo and Dallas like it was yesterday. I was taping it while watching it, using VHS and the tape ended at the end of the 2nd OT so didn't record the goal.

[@adampratt1925]

I was at Game 6 in Buffalo and it is the most pain I have ever felt. Like, in my bones.

[@zunkersgaming]

A bit of irony, the goalie that Hasek and the Sabres lost too in the finals? Ed Belfour with Dallas.

[@bobjones3069]

they lost to the refs. lol. ask any sabres fan

[@zunkersgaming]

@@bobjones3069 dude I am a Sabres fan, I know. It wasn't a goal. I was pointing out a interesting fact.

[@johnthomas5314]

Belfour and Hull were two of my favorite players when I first got into hockey in the early 90's. So it was strange seeing them both on that Stars team. They were stacked though. That was the first time in four years the Eastern team managed to win a game in the Final (Avs in 96', Wings in 97' and 98' all swept).

[@bobjones3069]

@@zunkersgaming I'm a sabres fan also. And I was making a joke. See the "lol" part

[@zunkersgaming]

@@bobjones3069 fair point. I assumed you didn't think I was Sabres fan, which would have been a fair assumption. Even with lol, not always easy to tell when people are joking on here. But none the less, go Sabres!!!

[@TheBigshotItalian]

I think the Saad/Panarin trade(s) tree would an awesome video. We all know how much Steve loves talking about Brandon Saad in trade trees

[@johnstanton7118]

Man Hecht was such a big part of the conference final run teams in 06-07!

[@danevertt3210]

I didn’t hate the guy but we use to call him Chokin’ Yochen

[@terminator6950]

As some people have some people have probably said in this comment section. Dominik Hasek is the best goalie of all-time simply because no goaltender ever had a stint of dominance like he did. From 1994-2002 6 Vezina Trophies 2 Hart Trophies 2 Lester B. Pearson Awards and a Stanley Cup. Otherworldly dominance. Edit: Oh yeah, he also won the William Jennings Award twice, 1994 and 2001. And don’t forget that Olympic Gold he won in Nagano in 1998 with the Czech Republic. And I ain’t even out of High School or live in Buffalo, and I know this

[@BondandBourne]

I really like these videos since it gives you an insight to team structure and how much value there is in every single player

[@skeenybarbar]

Fun side note to the trade: Christian Ruuttu played for the Sabres for many years & was originally traded from Buffalo to Winnipeg in the Beauregard trade. He was then traded to Chicago for Beauregard.

[@KiLLKiNDLY]

Another banger of video!! Love the trade tree series, and mostly commenting for the algorithm

[@shiv3510]

Do the Trevor Linden trade tree. It's crazy you haven't done a trade tree that involves Linden, Bertuzzi, The Sedins, Luongo, Markstrom

[@Drscience31415]

I think Producer Drew said it’s going to be the finale. You’ll have a few weeks

[@Aarona97]

That would be a awesome video !!

[@thestig1611]

It only ended recently. I think. It might STILL be going.

[@shiv3510]

@@thestig1611 It's not I'm pretty sure it ended after Markstrom signed with Calgary

[@ianstephenson9721]

As an Islanders fan, I may hang myself the day that one comes out

[@ronpeacock9939]

I have always had a hard time feeling bad for the Hawks on this deal... the one position that having 2 really good ones is bad... is Goalie.. and hindsight now says they had 2 HOF goalies early in their careers on the same team... but you can't use both at the same time.. so they moved Dom for Daze, who they could use with Belfour in the net... So though they may have chosen the wrong one... they still had a damn good one in a HOF'er too.. (of course, Belfour was moved and was on that Stars team that beat Hasek in the finals, but that's their fault)

[@jamesmckay6682]

Great trade tree! I saw the Dominator play in '94, the most electrifying performance I've ever seen

[@mrjarhead]

I remembered Danny Paille as a member of the Guelph Storm because my uncle (Shawn Camp) coached him to an OHL championship. Dustin Brown, Marty St.Pierre, Ryan Callahan, and Cam Janssen were also a part of that roster lol. Good times growing up in that company as a 9/10-year-old

[@UnleashthePhury]

Hasek’s style flowed from the two pad stack. It’s the most effective move a goalie has in one-on-one situations or when he has to cover a great distance laterally. He used it against 3/5 shooters vs Canada in 1998. Somehow, nobody has figured this out in the 20 years since Hasek’s peak.

[@chrisbelos2834]

Dryden was 258 wins 57 loss 74 ties in 389 games. Losing 57 out of 389 is 14.6% of all games played. So if you had Dryden in nets in the 70's, you had a 85.6% chance of not losing and a 66.3% chances of winning. Just amazing. For reference : if you had Hasek in nets, you had a 69.9% chance of not losing (223 loss in 735 games) if you had Brodeur in nets, you had a 68.7% chance of not losing (397 loss in 1266 games)

[@adampratt1925]

Dryden also had the entirety of the Hall of Fame playing in front of him during any given season, so, ya know, he didn't have the hardest goaltending gig in the league. I don't say that to diminish his accomplishments, just that he was on a stacked team with plenty of firepower. Hasek had very little in front of him in the way of firepower, and when you see what he did on a Detroit team that *did* put up 3-4 goals/night, it was all the proof you needed that the Buffalo front office failed to open their wallet during the Cup window Hasek opened wide for them.

[@damedcamera]

Love the trade trees!! Thank you for another good one.

[@JPMadden]

As a passionate young Bruins fan who hopes were frequently crushed by Patrick Roy's Canadiens of the late '80s and early '90s, I would choose him for best-ever goalie. But by the numbers, it probably should be Hasek. Ken Dryden's numbers were amazing, but so were all of them for the Canadiens teams of the '70s (their goal differential was plus-216 in '76-'77, 387-171).

[@Peqqy]

Well i always ranked my best goalies like this: Who would i pick in their prime? Hasek because i think he was the only one in his prime who would be simply unplayable to play against. He had a 70 save shutout in a playoff game, carried Czechs to international glory even though they weren't the best team in the tournament and other incredible things that i just think no other goalie could have accomplished in their prime. Who would i put in net for a game 7 of the stanley cup finals? Roy because to me he had the ability to play at his absolute best when the pressure was high and his team had to win a match. He was the ultimate competitor which was one of the reasons he won so many trophies. And then who would i pick if i wanted to draft a rock solid goalie for the next 15-20 years? That'd be Brodeur because he had the ability to play at a high level for a very long time. He perhaps didn't have the prime ability of Hasek or Roy, but his longetivity deserves a remark. All three are legends of thd game though.

[@glenncross4987]

Whoever is editing deserves a raise. Or a cookie at least

[@danielhodgetts7042]

Love the early 90s stuff. One trade from then that would be awesome to explore is the Rick Tocchet-Mark Recchi Trade between the Penguins and Flyers. A couple hall of famers that you forget played with the Pens and a couple of long time Flyers that are acquired because of Recchi.

[@paulybeefs8588]

Hold on, Rick Tocchet and Mark Recchi are two different people?!! I'm not from Pensylvania so I guess I never noticed that until just now.

[@johnnyedelhoff5866]

Rick Tocchet isn't in the HoF

[@danielhodgetts7042]

@@johnnyedelhoff5866 Should have been more clear, there are two hall of famers the pens acquire in the tree after trading tocchet away that each only played 1 season with the Penguins

[@johnnyedelhoff5866]

@@danielhodgetts7042 yeah, Zubov and Robitaille

[@johnnyedelhoff5866]

@@danielhodgetts7042 I checked out the trade tree and it even led to the Pens trading up at the 2003 Entry Draft and select Fleury

[@Bradass92]

As a hockey fan who grew up in the 90s in Chicago, seeing Eric Daze’s name made my face light up.

[@SnarkyDude]

Everyone here will be talking about the trade tree itself but... what about some love for the editing and aesthetics of the video production! 10/10, good stuff!

[@ericwalborn7325]

Christian ruuttu, acquired by the Blackhawks from the jets in exchange for Stephane Beauregard, after being acquired by the jets two months earlier (with future considerations) in a trade with buffalo for Stephane Beauregard

[@jaret217]

Honestly a big fail that this wasn't highlighted in the video because that was the really really weird part of all of this. Undoing the Ruutu trade seemed to be what kicked this whole thing off.

[@jacklinhart4086]

Eric Daze is literally Tage Thompson

[@Ryukasan1]

I think the last goalie after Hasek to get such a streak of success is actually Carey Price. Won Olympic goal in 2014, won the Hart, Jennings, Vezina and Lindsay in 2015 and won World championship Gold in 2016.

[@canuck20]

It's worth noting that Mike Keenan knew what he had in Hasek, so much so, that he wanted to trade Belfour in a package to Quebec to acquire Eric Lindros. Clearly, the Blackhawks brass knew that had to two of the top goaltenders in the league.

[@jessepressler208]

Let's not forget, the goalie on that Dallas Stars team who beat Hasek and the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals was...Eddie "The Eagle" Belfour.

[@bobjones3069]

Yes. With a good enough team and the clear help of horrible officiating an average goalie team can beat the greatest player to ever play the game

[@ianzang2178]

@@bobjones3069 Excuse me what? An average goalie? Did you not watch that Final?

[@jessepressler208]

@@bobjones3069 Belfour was a 1st ballot hall of fame goalie who was the best goalie in the 1990's not named Patrick Roy or Hasek himself. And don't even say Brodeur because his best years didn't come until the turn of the decade and millenia.

[@johnnyedelhoff5866]

Yeah but that Dallas Team had guys like Brett Hull, Sergei Zubov, Mike Modano, Joe Nieuwendyk and Jere Lehtinen. Buffalo on the other hand hat Michael Peca and Miroslav Satan

[@ariccua6101]

His daughter was on Eurovision this year for Czechia in the same arena Hasek played in 2006.

[@rdooley14]

The fact that Ed Belfour ended up beating Hasek and his Sabres, but not with the Blackhawks, in the Stanley Cup Finals is such an interesting part of the trade. Until those Red Wings Cups, Belfour technically had more success even though Hasek was far and above the better goalie.

[@TheMajorr86]

It would be nice if at the end during the wrap up, you added in some key stats like games played or trips through the playoffs.

[@waxpackbriefcase3673]

Greatest goalie of all time Hasek was born to be a goalie. Excellent analysis really enjoyed the video.

[@marzix427]

As a Hawks fan... Daze and Amonte were the 2 stars when I first started paying attention to hockey and he was really good, but a huge amount of injuries. Old man Wirtz broke that early 90s and screwed the Hawks over until the very late 2000s.

[@timomajere]

WooHoo. You made the connection with Daze! The kid needed recognition. He gave his body to the game and it tossed him aside after it was done with him. a Sad story.

[@jerryjanik480]

Steve as a Buffalo sports fan did the Buffalo Bills going to 4th Street Super Bowls then we had the Dominator 93 - 2001 it was the greatest time to be a sports fan in Buffalo growing up

[@KJB716]

Not one of the best, BUT THE BEST goalie ever!!

[@devilsfan36]

Brodeur - "Hold my beer."

[@JayGeeForty]

Keep in mind a couple of things, on why Hasek was traded. 1. He didn't play his first North American game until AFTER the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1989. 2. The Blackhawks had a 3-headed monster with Belfour, Hasek, and more recently drafted, Jimmy Waite (Rd 1 Pk 8, 1987). Not knowing of those 3, one would become The Diminator, or that Czechoslovakia would split, they chose to err on the side of reason, and keep the younger, higher drafted Waite. 3. And probably the most likely reason....the Hawks head coach Mike Keenan. Who consequently was the coach for Team Canada in the 1987 Canada Cup. That said, he probably began to develop his opinion of Hasek's ability during that tournament.

[@williamfreil1267]

I love the Trade Trees. This one was fascinating.

[@radim5714]

By the way, he played 72 games in 97-98, 67 in 96-97 and 00-01, and couple more 60+ game seasons.

[@dereklasker5350]

The two arguments I use when I’m convincing someone that Hasek is the goat: 1. He carried very mediocre Sabres teams to multiple playoff runs (see 1999 most notably, that team doesn’t make playoffs without him much less the final) 2. Roy and Brodeur are the most common goalies people name as contenders for the goat title, yet when all of them were at their peaks, it was Hasek that was winning the Vezinas

[@markvando6075]

What was happening with Mediocre teams, with less talent in the 90s due to expansion was the overuse of the Neutral Trap. Teams that had virtually zero scoring ability used defence to win games 2-1, 1-0. Especially in the Eastern conference. Teams in the west during the 90s were more run and gun. Outscore your 5-1, 4-2. Teams like Detroit, Dallas and Colorado were talented and didn't need solely on the defensive abilities to compete.

[@dereklasker5350]

@@markvando6075 still the Sabres didn’t have the defensive personnel to keep up with teams like New Jersey who pretty much perfected the style, hence Brodeur just had to know how to play the puck and they were set. The Sabres were not as good at the style and after losing LaFontaine and Mogilny, their best two players on offense were Miro Satan and Michael Peca. I think those teams were mediocre even by league standards at the time

[@markvando6075]

@@dereklasker5350 It was a team defense, collapsing in front of the next and minimizing the scoring chances. Look at the 98 Czech team. They held on by collapsing in front of Hasek. Biding their time for a shootout.

[@brandonloewen5155]

Probably my favourite trade tree of all time. This just goes to show goaltenders are unpredictable and giving the right circumstances, scenery, and players in front of him… anything is POSSIBLE!!!

[@quills7820]

You guys should do the Brent Burns Trade Tree from the Wild. At the 2011 NHL Draft a big trade happend between the Minnesota Wild and the San Jose Sharks. Brent Burns was headed to San Jose with a 2012 2nd Round Pick, the return that was going back to Minnesota was: a 2011 1st Round Pick, Devin Setoguchi, and Charlie Coyle. I won't do anymore but I can tell you that there's a prospect that ends up here and holy crap this guy is a stud.

[@TheMrCC21]

Dominik Hasek was playing in the CSSSR when he was drafted to the NHL. He played in the CSSSR form 1980 to 1989. It was Indianapolis Ice that he played for in the IHL in the 1990-1991 season. He played a handful of games during that same season in the NHL. 1991-1992 season, he split his time between the Blackhawks and the Ice. He was 23 when he made his NHL debut. Lots of people make their NHL debuts well into their twenties. Some don't even get that far. 23 is not old. Connie Madigan has the record for the oldest NHL debut. He was 38 when he debuted for St. Louis in January 1973. It was because of injuries that season that led to Madigan being brought up to the NHL. Going back to Hasek. If he wasn't traded, we might not have seen the greatness that became of him. There is nobody who who used the ice, the net, and his body like he did. We will never see someone like that again.

[@kelseywalker2342]

I loved hasek, crazy watching him single-handedly pull the Czechs to gold in 98

[@SeanP7195]

For what it’s worth I always liked Hasek at Chicago and there was some talk of keeping him and getting rid of Belfour because he kept getting drunk and getting into fights off the ice. Also, Daze terrorized my Red Wings for several seasons back then. I remember when Hasek came to Detroit. Man, would he spoil you. Every goalie after that no matter what looked so average. Hasek was that super hot chick you hooked up with at a frat party. You’re grateful it happened, but damn, you’d like it some more.

[@komododragon5846]

What year did the earliest trade tree by your rules start such that it is still unfolding as of the upload of this video? I remember 1988 Gretzky trade is still going now. Any from the original 6 era? Would be cool video idea maybe.

[@Krokodilius]

_the tragic tale of how chicago had 2 solid ass goalies and kept neither._

[@nietzschescodes]

the trio of goalies was Puppa-Hasek-Draper, then the Sabres traded Puppa, Andreychuk and a 1st for Fuhr. Sabres got fleeced (and they already had Hasek). So Fuhr became the 1G until he got injured...

[@adawofford2732]

So glad to see some Hasek love. I never liked the Sabres, but I always loved Hasek. And I always thought his choice of helmet was so punk rock; im kidding but serious at the same time.

[@ManaMan25]

As a life long Sabres fan, I THANK YOU for making this video. Dominik Hasek is still the greatest goalie I have ever seen in my life. This warmed my heart seeing my Sabres have been hot garbage for the last 15 years. Also, thank you for acknowledging that HULL WAS IN THE FREAKIN CREASE! I mean yeah, if the refs get the call right, we still go to Dallas and lose Game 7; but COME ON! Even Leafs fans stick up for Sabres fans on this!

[@HT-jj5sx]

13308 games as a Sabre is what Steve said, it's actually right around 500 counting playoffs, I'm really curious what the number 13308 refers to though. That'd be roughly 162 seasons of playing each game, I did some math and couldn't figure it out (thought maybe he meant minutes, saves or shots against but none of those lined up). STEVE, WHAT IS THAT NUMBER!?!?!?

[@zunkersgaming]

I'm pretty sure he meant saves.

[@johnthomas5314]

I'm guessing he meant total saves as a Sabre.

[@ramadabong]

Thank you Steve

[@waynejones5635]

Hasek was the best goalie in the NHL ever .. hands down. Period. I believe if the Sabres were a more rounded team with some scoring punch back in the day they would have won some Cups along that stretch.

[@ipogodracolich958]

Favorite dangle trade tree. Great job

[@paulybeefs8588]

in 20 years, Steve is going to do this exact same video for fit throwing Belfour, I mean Binnington, and incredible late bloomer Has.. Husso who became a league leading starter who was traded for a draft pick. You heard it here first.

[@gabrielc249]

That isn't entirely fair. The Blues did not have the cap space to sign Husso. To get a draft pick for the rights of a guy you weren't going sign is pretty good.

[@JarradBruessel32]

Husso struggled in the 2nd half of the season once given a starting role and also was trash in the playoffs.

[@FlappySR23]

You guys are making me nervous

[@paulybeefs8588]

@@JarradBruessel32 Hasek had 0 wins and 2 losses with an .866 sav in his 6 Chicago playoff games. Husso had 2 wins and 5 losses with an .890 sav in his 7 St. Louis playoff games. Thanks for pointing out how Husso struggled in his early playoff performances with his first team. Really shows how similar his career trajectory just might be to Hasek's.

[@paulybeefs8588]

@@gabrielc249 Not fair to who? The Blues had perfectly good reasons to trade Husso instead of signing him. The Hawks had perfectly good reasons to trade Hasek instead of signing him. It's 30 years later. The value of the dollar and NHL contracts in general are in a completely different world. The cap didn't even exist in 1992. If you interpreted my comment to mean that Husso's career will be the exact same as Hasek's, down to the financial aspects and monetary decisions of each of the teams they play for, I'd kindly ask you to guard your expectations and think of the comparison in a little bit broader terms. 😂

[@powwowken2760]

As a former goalie myself Dominic Hasek just outright pisses me off. In terms of goaltending he does literally everything wrong yet still makes it work, 90% of his saves seem like flukes but he just keeps doing what he's doing and keeps on succeeding just because he's that much better than everybody else.

[@johnthomas5314]

Incredible athleticism more than compensated for his lack of fundamentals. And he never quit on a play, would try to make any save until he did, or the puck was actually in.

[@brettlanigan]

Don’t worry as a defenceman it pisses me off too

[@rockybalboa1847]

Goaltender... that explains that ... learn to spell his name

[@TheCrazyCloon]

There is no "wrong way" to tend goal.

[@ShantyIrishman]

Credit to Buffalo for seeing something in Hasek in limited action, and he’d have made the nhl way earlier if it weren’t for the USSR.

[@johnwillett3439]

“One of the Greatest?” More like the greatest goalie to ever play in the NHL. Run the numbers and or watch him, he was the best goalie to play in the NHL.

[@steve11263]

Its really not even debatable

[@Leo.Labine]

Dryden is still the only person to win a Conn Smyth before winning the Calder. Different era tho, so hard to tell. Otherwise : Hasek>Roy>Brodeur

[@markvando6075]

Greatest snow angel. Hasek was weak from the hash marks out. And the stupid look he gave when got would get beat cleanly and start looking around like he never saw the puck. 70% of all goals are scored along the ice. Guess where hasek laid down?

[@steve11263]

@@markvando6075 still the goat

[@markvando6075]

@@steve11263 Top 5. Roy is the Goat.

[@canucks8294PatRiot]

And these same 2 goalies faced off in the 99 Cup Final. Ed Belfour and Hasek. And I never remembered Ruuttu with Winnipeg

[@nathanjohnson2382]

Chicago had Belfour and made the finals before Hasek was traded. Expansion was coming up so he wasn’t going to stay for long likely. Especially after Hasek in game 4 of those finals

[@nicklariviere4101]

Tbh I only knew Daze from my favourite NHL video game: NHL 2004. He was actually on team Canada in that game.

[@BaronBytes]

I remember the Blackhawks switching goalies in the 91-92 playoffs just to have timeouts. They knew they had a good one in Hasek, they were just the only ones who knew. Doesn't make getting value in a trade easy when no one believe they are getting something worth the price asked.

[@buffalobill9793]

As a lifelong Sabers fan since their inception I want to thank the Chicago Blackhawks for trading the Dominator to Buffalo. He would go on to surpass my childhood hero Gilbert Perreault as my favourite Buffalo Saber of all time. The fact that in front of Hasek the Sabers were not even a playoff team made watching just about every Sabers game edge of your seat nail-biting hair pulling excitement. The Sabers would get outshot 40 something to 20 something and win 2-1. When they went to the cup finals they had Hasek to thank because without him they wouldn't have even beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. Great trade by Sabers management to land Hasek. Pathetic job by Sabers management of putting together a good team in front of him. I wonder how many of his wins came in games the Sabers were outshot. All of them? He gets my vote as best Saber of all time, most exciting Saber of all time and not just best Sabers goalie but best goalie period of all time. I think the fact the Sabers were so pathetic in front of him made him even so much more fun to watch. I suspect if he had played for the New Jersey Devils and seen only 5 shots per period he would not have been nearly as exciting or effective as he was in Buffalo where he was seemingly always under a constant barrage of pucks.

[@phreakzilla8514]

Dominic Hasek also had a Stanley Cup winning goal scored against him as a Blackhawk. Thank you, Ron Francis.

[@ThatCerberusGuy]

As a quick aside as a Hurricanes fan, that 2002 Red Wings team is the perfect example for why there needed to be a salary cap. They had freaking Brett Hull and Luc Robataille on their *FOURTH* line. Granted, they were both like 40, but still... on their *FOURTH* line. I'm amazed the Canes even pushed them to 5 games and didn't get swept 🤣

[@patmanbnl]

You mentioned the Net Detective Jim Carey getting one of those Vezinas that Hasek should have won. Would love a Jim Carey trade tree as I think that was also the trade where the Caps got Adam Oates.

[@Mattcruzedc]

Ed Belfour is my favourite player of all time. If he’s the one moved, he might not have had the career he did. He didn’t win any cups with Chicago, but the Blackhawks made the right move keeping him over Hasek, cause he wasn’t going to play for Chicago as much as he did in Buffalo and Detroit

[@CorbinFiber]

Now that we have the Hasek trade tree, I really want to see the Raycroft/Rask trade tree. The bruins side is small but there’s so much stuff to cover on the leafs side. Also thanks Leafs for our best goalie xx

[@thylacine519]

Steve would quit if he had to do that trade but we all want to see it

[@stentorofsparta3576]

When I saw the title, I assumed the video was about Chad Johnson.

[@FUmfKOODA]

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[@jvtherrien]

Mannnn I love this; Hasek is my favorite athlete of all time, and I don't think anything will ever change that, save for MAYBE if Josh Allen can help deliver the Buffalo Bills a Super Bowl, then they'll be on equal footing

[@HatTrkPatrk]

The similiarities between this trade and what Sergei Bobrovsky was able to accomplish after the Flyers traded him away (ironically because they too had a goalie they were sure would just be #1 going forward)... Uncanny

[@RJ-wk1yf]

Fun (but unrelated to the tree) fact: I have a Bobby hull Blackhawks jersey given to me by my great uncle from when he was in Canada decades ago and met Ed Belfour 😅

[@bringbatteries]

"Be careful when you trade away your back-up." See also: Miikka Kiprusoff

[@vennefrancis8849]

Loved your trade tree

[@TheKyykky]

About this trade. I think Ruuttu is the most underrated Finnish player ever. Him or skriko. I just remember hating Ruuttu for his shenanigans while playing for Hifk in the 94-95 lockout season.

[@letsgo54376]

Are you sure he played 13,308 games for the Sabres? Cause that's like over 160 seasons

[@crackcorn0404]

Funny thing is that when Hasek lost to Dallas in the Stanley Cup Finals, Ed Belfour was at the other end of the ice. Weird how things work out.

[@itslordvantor]

One of the biggest trades of all time - Esposito et all to Boston - is always flippantly called a lopsided trade in Boston's favour. But in the very long run the balance moves towards Chicago's favour. Pit Martin, the best part of the trade in Chicago's favour, is eventually traded to Vancouver for a draft pick that turns into Murray Bannerman, who played and sometimes starred for the Hawks through the late 90s. I'm curious about the long term benefits for both teams - GIVEN Boston wins the trade up to 1975, but who wins it if you look at the whole thing? (I guess Boston turning Ken Hodge into Rick Middleton counterbalances Martin for Bannerman.) Anyway - it would be neat to the see the whole thing dissected...

[@andysorensen1737]

You can’t fault the Hawks for making the trade. You CAN fault them for the return.

[@Doshee33]

You should do the Brent Burns to SJ trade since he got shipped recently

[@trident3888]

Hasek's trade to the wings was a respect trade. sending him to a team that could and did win the cup. return was ok but was about sending Hasek to win

[@heycroweproductions]

Fun fact the Thrashers ended the 5 game (nhl record) shutout streak in Phoenix

[@badm0t0rf1ng3r]

Kind a minor gripe, but the guy who was robbed in 96 was Osgood, not Hasek. Hasek had the worst season of his dominant run, still managed to lead the league in save % and gaa, but had kind of an awful win/loss record, not that should be the end all be all. Osgood went something obscene like 39-6, he was a finalist. He should have won. And I'm not a Homer I swear.