This latest Hasek rumour is coming from someone possessing strong affiliations with the team and players:
Dom had been given medical clearance to play in the first round, but held back because he didn't feel 110% better. When he was asked to play in the Buffalo series, he said that he would if he received his bonus money, up front, guaranteed.
Hasek was to pull down an additional 3.5 million USD in bonuses if the team won a Stanley Cup. His salary for the 2005-06 season was 1.52 million USD.
It seems highly suspicious to me, regardless of Hasek's prima donna mentality, that he would waltz up to Muckler and demand a cheque for $3.5 million, before he even strapped on the pads. But who knows?
On the surface, it comes off as pretty damn far fetched. However, my source (oh Jesus, I can't believe I just said that) is extremely reliable.
P.S. The rumour is completely free of any Boo Boo-related influence.
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I hope your source isn't Garrioch!
He claimed in the paper today that he's never seen any Senator player smoking while he's out boozing with them.
I saw McGrattan outside Zaphod's in December, having a butt.
Funny, he didn't want to talk to me when I yelled, "Hey, Grats!!"
Wardo
7:25 p.m.
Argus, check the P.S. I added tonight. By the way, have you seen the dancing Garrioch avatars? High comedy. Email me if you haven't -- I'll send 'em over.
The Universal Cynic
9:41 p.m.
Yes, I noticed the update. I didn't know Hot Stove's newest addition had a nickname!
If Hasek really wanted his money up front, what do you make of this story? I'd heard this before and went digging - it doesn't seem like he'd be crazy about money (if it's true, of course):
http://www.hockeytraderumors.com/article4365.html
Yes! Send me the dancing Garrioch (my email link is on the blog avatar).
I hope they'll make it through the firewall at my job...they'd be a hoot to pass around.
-A
Wardo
10:22 p.m.
Like I said, I think it's pretty far fetched, but the source is reliable. That's the only reason why I wrote it. It seems beyond brazen -- even for Hasek. Frankly, it seems rather insane to me. Such a demand would scar his reputation permanently in the league. On the other hand, this likely was his last year, so what does he care?
Personally, I don't want to believe it. I know that's irrelevant, but it's the way I feel.
The Universal Cynic
10:39 p.m.
"Such a demand would scar his reputation permanently in the league."
I guess, if you don't consider him using the NHL's award ceremoney to announce that it would be "better (for him) if Nolan didn't return", his subsequent front-office manipulation to engineer a trade to Detroit, and his peekaboo now-I'm-retired-now-I'm-not routine with the Wings insufficient to scar his good name...
But yes, it sounds insane. I don't want to believe it either, because I naively hold hockey players to a higher standard. When I see them, I can still imagine them to be a regular guy that I might know in my real life, and I don't want to think of them as money-lusting maniacs willing to hold the Cup hopes of so many hostage for a few dollars. Alright, a lot of dollars.
Is it possible for you to post your Sunday column here that would have been printed had Ottawa won Saturday?
-A
Wardo
10:49 p.m.
Point taken, but to demand 3.5 million up front before he even puts on the pads? That trumps everything, even for Hasek. In spite of everything that came previously, he still found work here in Ottawa. It obviously didn't affect Muckler's questionable thought-process -- loyality only goes so far.
The Universal Cynic
11:04 p.m.