Hašek Returns: Vienna Welcomes Dominator After Injury

He didn’t even go out for ice skating and spent the first period on the changing table in civilian clothes alongside coach Slavomír Lener. But everything changed the struggle of goalkeeper Michal Neuvirth. The goalkeeper with NHL experience, who ended his career due to chronic health problems at the age of thirty-one, was injured in Vienna during the very first operation. With great difficulty, he caught up with the first part, and from the second he already stood in the goal of Hašek.

“I didn’t expect it, I took Michal’s equipment, luckily he has similar measurements to me, and I was able to take his skates as well. It wasn’t easy to jump into a heated match. But I had great fun when you have such players around you, it’s a fairy tale. It was a fantastic party,” smiled Hašek, with whom Milan Hejduk, Patrik Eliáš, Vladimír Růžička and Jiří Hrdina figured in the team of Czech icons.

Hašek made several impressive saves right from the start and entertained the stands of the packed Vienna stadium, where dozens of Czech fans found their way. The champion from Nagano not only earned ovations and chants from them several times in the match.

“It’s nice that people remember the successes of the national team, even if it was in a foreign country, so it surprised me a little. I appreciate it. The applause was not intended only for me, but for both teams, good hockey was played,” said Hašek, whose team lost 8:9 in overtime, but subsequently won in extra time. The match was played with four players on both sides for 3 x 15 minutes.

Hašek’s performance was all the more impressive because the famous 60-year-old no longer catches even for fun with friends without an audience. After all, he did not even aim for the goal two years ago in February during a spectacular exhibition in Prague’s O2 arena on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the triumph in Nagano.

The last time Hašek made an exception was less than six years ago, when he stood in the goal in Jihlava as part of the celebration of the sixtieth birthday of his former teammate Oldřich Válek.

“When I go to play hockey, it’s only as a defender. It’s a complete difference to be in the goal and it was a surprise even for me that there were still some movements. But let’s be honest, it’s not what it used to be twenty years ago,” smiled Hašek.

However, the native of Pardubice did not expect that he would have a problem getting out of bed the next day. “I’m in pretty good shape. I ski, ride a bike, play hockey as a defender,” concluded Hašek, who was the focus of most attention and was the last to get into the cabin after the game.