"Dominik Hasek knows the feeling. That's what keeps him coming back after all these years. He's 46 years old and just finished his 28th professional season over three decades. Remember his son, Michael, just a little boy when Hasek arrived? He's 21 years old now, an upperclassman at Michigan State. Hasek was a quirky cat throughout his career in Buffalo, but there was no disputing his obsession with winning a championship. It's why he played this year in the Kontinental Hockey League before losing in the first round of the playoffs. He plans to return to the KHL next season if he can sign with a team that can contend for a title. The guy lives for this time of year. Look no further than Hasek for an example of one player making a difference. In 1999, he carried a team that finished in seventh place in the conference to the Stanley Cup finals. Hasek was back in his No. 39 sweater Saturday, receiving a standing ovation in HSBC Arena before a ceremonial faceoff prior to the game against Atlanta. Heck, listening to him during a brief news conference with the pregame music cranking outside the door, you half expected the Dominator to chase Ryan Miller out of the Buffalo crease. And after Miller gave up two goals he would usually stop in his sleep, you couldn't help but wonder if Hasek could still help them. "To get closer to the playoffs and be on the edge, and believe you can make it, you never know," Hasek said. "The teams are so close right now. It's not like it used to be. It seems like a team from eighth place can do it all the way. I think the Sabres are in great position. They must be motivated." The Sabres sure looked motivated in an 8-2 victory over the Thrashers, one of the teams chasing Buffalo in the Eastern Conference. Today marks the first day of spring, and games are tumbling off the NHL schedule. It has been a long and trying season, but the Sabres managed to wedge themselves into a heated playoff race. The pressure has been mounting. Buffalo couldn't have asked for a better response than the one it had Saturday. The Sabres did what Hasek did. They dominated. They won more races, had much better goaltending, battled harder around the net, were more desperate and more opportunistic than Les Thrash. Jason Pominville scored 24 seconds into the game, snapping home Tim Connolly's perfect pass to the bottom of the right circle. The Sabres had a 3-1 lead after the first period after Mark Mancari and Rob Niedermayer deflected shots from the point, a 5-2 advantage after Tyler Ennis' dandy goal in the second period." Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article371620.ece
