Hasek Wins MVP, Top Goalie Award
Dominik Hasek, who sparked the Czech Republic to an Olympic gold medal in February and helped Buffalo to the Eastern Conference finals, repeated as most valuable player and top goalie in the NHL Thursday night as the league held its annual awards banquet.
Hasek
He completed a hat trick by repeating as the Pearson trophy winner, an MVP award voted upon by his fellow players. The media votes on the Hart trophy, the 26 NHL general managers on the Vezina, and members of the players union on the Pearson.
"It was a good year, but I believe I can play better," said Hasek, 33, who had a 33-23-13 record during the regular season, with 13 shutouts, a 2.09 goals-against average, and a .932 save percentage.
Despite the awards and the Olympic gold medal, Hasek said the season wasn't complete "because the Sabres did not go far enough in the playoffs. It was a great season for me, but you can never be pleased unless you win the last game."
Buffalo was eliminated in six games by the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference finals.
Pat Burns of Boston became the first in league history to be named coach of the year with three teams, after winning the Adams trophy with Montreal in 1989 and Toronto in 1993.
"To win it three different times with three Original Six teams is something I'm very proud of," Burns said. "There's a lot of people to thank along the way."
Also, Rob Blake of Los Angeles won the Norris Trophy as top defenseman, Sergei Samsonov of Boston the Calder as rookie of the year, Jere Lehtinen of Dallas the Frank J. Selke Trophy as top defensive forward and Ron Francis of Pittsburgh the Lady Byng as most gentlemanly player. He also won it in 1995.
Jamie McLennan, the St. Louis Blues backup goalie, won the Bill Masterton Trophy for perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. McLennan, 26, overcame a life-threatening bout of bacterial meningitis two years ago. He had to learn how to walk again, yet made it back to the NHL.
"My muscles were so beaten up that I couldn't walk for a while," he said. "It was pretty scary."
"I didn't have a contract, I had this illness, and I lost 20 pounds. I finally got over it, and I owe so much to the Blues."
Kelly Chase of St. Louis won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership on and off the ice. Chase's signature charitable effort is the Gateway Special Hockey Program, allowing children and young adults born with developmental disabilities such as Down's Syndrome and autism to participate in organized hockey.
The league's all-star firs team was made up of Hasek in goal, Blake and Nicklas Lidstrom of Detroit on defense, and Colorado's Peter Forsberg, Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr and Philadelphia's John LeClair up front.
© 1998 SportsLine USA, Inc. All rights reserved