Dominik Hasek's season is over because of a groin injury. He's determined not to let it end his career.
"I'll be back next season," Hasek said Tuesday.
PHOTO: AFP
The 39-year-old Hasek ended his retirement after one year to return to Detroit this season, but he played in just 14 games before Tuesday's announcement. He was 8-2-3 for the Central Division-leading Red Wings.
Hasek said he doesn't regret coming back.
"No, I never made a mistake," he said. "Unfortunately my groin wasn't strong enough."
One of the NHL's all-time great goaltenders, 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.
He joined the Red Wings before the 2001-2002 season, winning his first Stanley Cup that season.
Hasek skated with his teammates Tuesday, then made his surprising announcement.
"It's very sad, but that's the way it is," he said. "I hoped for two months it would get better every day. But it didn't get better, it got even worse last week."
Rich Winter, Hasek's agent, said the goaltender's desire to win another championship will have him back on the ice next season.
"He came back to Detroit to win a Stanley Cup and I think he wants to come back again to be a part of another run for the Cup," Winter said. "This was not the storybook ending we were all hoping for for Dom, in the final chapter of his career."
Red Wings general manager Ken Holland said Hasek wants an extended period of time to give his groin a chance to heal.
"I think in the summertime he's going to decide whether he wants to officially retire," Holland said from a meeting of GMs in Henderson, Nevada.
The Red Wings are left with the same goalies -- Curtis Joseph and Manny Legace -- they had last year. Detroit had one of the best records in the league last season, but lost to Anaheim in the first round of the playoffs.
"Curtis and Manny can concentrate on playing," Red Wings captain Steve Yzerman said. "We have no distractions."
The season started with a big distraction.
When Hasek retired in 2002, Detroit lured Joseph away from Toronto with a US$24 million, three-year deal to replace Hasek. When Hasek returned and agreed to make US$6 million this season, the Red Wings desperately tried to trade Joseph.
But no one wanted to take Joseph because of the two years and US$16 million left on his contract.
"We're very, very lucky that he's been a real pro through this," Holland said. "And luckily for us that nobody claimed him."
Joseph is 13-2-9 with a 2.48 goals-against average this season. He has kept his family in the Toronto area because he didn't know where he would end up playing this year.
"I don't think there's been a player in the league who's gone through more adversity individually this season," Detroit coach Dave Lewis said. "And I think he's become a stronger person and player because of it."
"Sometimes the [trades] you don't make are the best ones."
Joseph did not make himself available to reporters after practice Tuesday.
Flyers 4, Devils 1
Rookie Antero Niittymaki stopped 35 shots for his third win in as many starts, leading the Philadelphia Flyers over the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Tuesday.
"What this is telling us and the world is that the future of goaltending is very good in Philadelphia," Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said.
Simon Gagne and Danny Markov scored power-play goals, and Michal Handzus and Mark Recchi also scored for Philadelphia, which extended its lead to seven points over New Jersey in the Atlantic Division. The Stanley Cup champion Devils, though, have played three fewer games than the Flyers, who also lead the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers have won three in a row and seven of nine.
Niittymaki, 23, has allowed just three goals since taking over as the starter after Robert Esche went down with a knee injury last week. The Flyers already were without Jeff Hackett (vertigo) when Esche went down.
But Niittymaki might not see much more playing time because Philadelphia acquired veteran goalie Sean Burke from Phoenix on Monday to step in until Esche returns. Hackett retired Monday.
"We played out of our system. We tried to do things that aren't us," Devils coach Pat Burns said. "Niittymaki was good early. He made some big saves."
Sabres 2, Sharks 1
In Buffalo, New York, Daniel Briere scored twice and Martin Biron made 27 saves as Buffalo beat San Jose for its sixth win in the last eight games (6-2-0).
Mike Ricci scored for the Sharks, who have never recorded a point in Buffalo since entering the league in 1991 (0-11-0). San Jose is now 8-3-0-1 in its last 12 games, five points in front of the Dallas Stars for first place in the Pacific Division.
Maple Leafs 4, Lightning 4, OT
In Tampa Bay, Florida, Gary Roberts scored with 44.4 seconds left in the third period as Toronto beat Tampa Bay.
Roberts connected from the low slot, completing a two-goal third-period comeback by the Maple Leafs.
The Lightning had taken a 4-2 lead when Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards scored 50 seconds apart early in the period.
Owen Nolan got the Maple Leafs within 4-3 on a power play at 5:09.
Martin St. Louis had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who had lost nine straight to the Maple Leafs. Tampa Bay is 7-1-1 over the past nine games overall.
Mats Sundin and Robert Reichel also scored for Toronto, which is 6-2-1 in its last nine games.
Senators 3, Blues 1
In Ottawa, Marian Hossa scored two of Ottawa's three first-period goals as Ottowa beat St. Louis.
Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson scored his 25th goal 1:34 in and Josh Langfeld assisted on both of Hossa's goals later in the period.
The Senators, who had lost four of five, ended a season-high three-game losing streak.
Mike Danton scored midway through the third period for St. Louis, which ended an eight-game winless streak last Thursday with a 2-1 victory in Calgary. The Blues have just three points in their last 10 games (1-8-1).
Panthers 2, Canadiens 1
In Sunrise, Florida, Viktor Kozlov set a Florida record with two goals in seven seconds in the second period to beat Montreal in interim coach John Torchetti's debut.
Torchetti coached his first NHL game after taking over for Rick Dudley, who stepped down Monday to concentrate on his general manager duties.
Kozlov's two goals broke the team record of two in 50 seconds by Scott Mellanby on Jan. 25, 1997.
Kozlov also helped the Panthers set a franchise record for fastest two goals by the team. The record was eight seconds, set against Buffalo on March 15, 2002.
Bruins 6, Penguins 3
In Pittsburgh, Boston beat Pittsburgh, who have now lost a club-record 12 consecutive games and have tied an NHL record with an 11th straight home loss.
Dan McGillis got his first goal in nearly two months and Joe Thornton had a goal and two assists as Boston won its sixth in a row. All-star forward Glen Murray sat out with an unspecified illness.
Ryan Malone scored twice, but the Penguins still broke the club-record losing streak set by their 1982-1983 team -- 11 straight row Jan. 22-Feb. 10, 1983.
Pittsburgh will set the league record if it loses Monday night at home to Toronto. Before then, the Penguins play at Florida on Thursday and St. Louis on Saturday.
Kings 3, Wild 1
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Trent Klatt scored midway though the third period to break a tie.
Eric Belanger scored his 11th goal for the Kings and Ian Laperriere added an empty-netter with less than 26 seconds left in the third period, but Los Angeles' defense was even more impressive.
Goalie Roman Cechmanek had plenty of help from his teammates, who swarmed around the net and made every shot difficult for the Wild, who had scored eight goals in two straight victories before the All-Star break.
Flames 5, Thrashers 2
In Calgary Dean McAmmond and Jarome Iginla each scored twice as Atlanta lost to Calgary to stretch its winless streak reached nine games.
With the score 2-2, McAmmond scored the winner with 6:41 remaining in regulation.
Iginla made it 4-2 when he converted Craig Conroy's pass, and Iginla wrapped up the scoring with his 26th into an empty net with 4 seconds left.
Ilya Kovalchuk scored both goals for Atlanta (21-28-6-2), which began a seven-game road trip. The Thrashers have lost five in a row.
Islanders 1, Avalanche 1
In Denver, Colorado, Philippe Sauve had two acrobatic saves in overtime, and Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro was equally effective, making a sprawling save off Steve Konowalchuk in the extra period as New York drew with Colorado.
DiPietro finished with 36 saves and Sauve 35.
Colorado's Paul Kariya and New York's Mariusz Czerkawski had the lone goals, both in the second period.
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