Detroit Red Wings
One Red Wings Legend Calls Another The Greatest
Lidstrom cites Hasek as best of all-time

Detroit Red Wings seven-time Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom was the greatest defenseman of his generation. If you are ready to debate that statement, you are what we like to call wrong.
Maybe you can debate the greatest goaltender of Lidstrom’s NHL generation. Some might vote for Patrick Roy. Others will lean toward Martin Brodeur.
Lidstrom has his choice in this debate and it’s none of the above.
His ballot is cast towards his old Red Wings teammate Dominik Hasek.
“Yes. Dom is the best goalie I’ve ever been on a team with,” Lidstrom told Czech website isport.cz. “I have to say, he had an incredible competitive spirit. And he had a unique style.
“All he cared about was stopping the puck. He subordinated everything to that.”
Hasek recently celebrated his 60th birthday.
Happy Birthday to Dominik Hasek, the greatest goaltender of all time and flipper of Marian Gaborik. #LGRW pic.twitter.com/WNyh4fH2SX
— Winged Wheel Podcast (@WingedWheelPod) January 29, 2023
Certainly, Hasek, like Lidstrom a Hockey Hall of Famer, has the hardware to back up his place in the goalie GOAT debate. With the Buffalo Sabres, The Dominator won six Vezina Trophies and two Hart Trophies. Coming to the Red Wings in 2001, he’d win a pair of Stanley Cups with Detroit.
Red Wings Hasek Was Ultra Competitive
What stands out the most in Lidstrom’s mind when he recollects playing in front of Hasek was the latter’s competitive streak.
“Really great competitiveness, Lidstrom said, noting how hard it was to get a puck past Hasek during a Red Wings practice.
“Terribly challenging. It goes back to . . . how competitive he was. He didn’t want to let go of the puck and he hated it when he gave up a goal. He was always furious when he let go of a goal.”
Dziś 60 lat kończy "Dominator" z Czech czyli Dominik Hasek. @NHLwPL pic.twitter.com/2JgCp6WFvY
— Przemo K (@PrzemokL) January 29, 2025
On game day, Lidstrom would marvel at the way Hasek could turn himself into a human pretzel in order to get some part of his anatomy in the way of the puck.
“Once he did a fish jump after the puck,” Lidstrom said. “Another time he lay on his back, threw his legs out. We could see him in all sorts of positions.
“The opponent might have thought he had beaten him, but suddenly his hand, leg, whatever, came out of nowhere . . . I don’t think anyone else had caught it like that.”
Clearly, though, there was method in Hasek’s madness.
“He was different,” Lidstrom said. “Most goalies would kneel down, try to hold on a lot. But that wasn’t his case. He had his own style. Unique, inimitable.
“He was able to read situations ahead and quickly assess the best way to catch the puck. Like other goalies, he had excellent positioning, but he read the game better. He was anticipatory. He could guess where the shot was coming from and where it was going to go. And then came his famous saves.”
Off the ice, the Hasek Lidstrom recalls was a much different fellow.
“A fun person who was great fun off the ice,” Lidstrom said. “And a friend. Those are the main things that come to mind.
“We’re still in touch with Dom, even though it’s not on a regular basis anymore.”