"Look at the excitement this signing has created. How can this not work? This isn't going to fail. This is going to work because Dominik Hasek wants it work. I know there are people who are questioning this move, but there are people who question everything. They're just looking for something." Those were the comments of Muckler at the July 6th press conference to announce Hasek's 2-yr signing that pays him a base salary of $2 million in 2004-2005 and with playoff performance bonuses the contract could raise to $5.5 million if Ottawa wins the Cup. The second year pays a base salary of $3 million and could reach $6.1 million if the Sens make it all the way. Financially the risk of the Hasek signing is not in question, not when the bulk of salary is based on playoff performance, the only real measure of success the city of Ottawa accepts. A lack of playoff success was in fact the deciding factor that drove incumbent coach Jacques Martin out of town. Still, I can't help but think that Muckler's comments at the press conference were made to sell Senators players and fans on the choice. I mean you can understand his motivation for only preaching the positives of Hasek. Muckler is of course the same man who traded for and essentially discovered Hasek while he was GM of the Buffalo Sabres.

	Muckler's signing of Hasek follows an all too familiar pattern.

Muckler took over as Sabres general manager in 1993 and made an immediate impact by trading for goalie Grant Fuhr. Fuhr had been playing for Toronto and prior to that had been part of the Oilers' glory days. Of course Muckler was also part of those glory days as assistant coach and eventual head coach, so of course he knew Fuhr very well. But the goalie Muckler traded for was not the same one he knew from his Edmonton days. The Fuhr he acquired re-aggravated old knee problems and was forced to the sidelines with surgery. With the no. 1 starter down a door opened for relative unknown back-up Dominik Hasek. Hasek seized the opportunity and Muckler traded Fuhr less than two years after he initially acquired him. See the pattern? Muckler banks on a goalie past his prime that he had previous success with. It didn't work with Fuhr, so why does Muckler have so much faith this will work with Hasek? On the positive side, Fuhr's downfall in Buffalo created an opportunity for Hasek to shine. Maybe if Hasek fails Martin Prusek will get his chance to shine. I mean he's already got Hasek's look down.

After the disappointment of another early playoff exodus John Muckler stated that the dressing room problems needed to be addressed. So explain to me how bringing in a player like Hasek who has alienated previous dressing rooms with his quirky behavoiur is supposed to improve things? What, Shayne Corson wasn't available? It will take some time for the roster to get used to having Hasek on the team and everything that entails. Despite the rumours Hasek's Olympic gold medal was in fact awarded for hockey and not diving, I can see why there is confusion. Let me put it this way: Hasek is to diving as Mike Milbury is to bad trades. His new Senators' teammates need to get used to the diving because the unwritten rule in hockey states: if someone touches your goalie, you make sure they won't want to try it again. It'll be interesting to ask guys like Chris Neil, Zdeno Chara and Mike Fisher after a full season with Hasek how much they appreciate having to risk injury and battle for guy who is simply crying wolf time after time. I would think forcing your teammates to stick up for you under false pretenses would be a quick way to lose their respect and trust but maybe that's just me.

	Yzerman described Hasek's season shutdown as "strange".

The most mysterious thing when it comes to Hasek is his threshold for pain. He simply follows his own agenda when it comes to diagnosing injuries. Case in point, during the Sabres-Senators 1996 playoff series Hasek took a light bump in his crease and crashed to the ice. He picked himself up without assistance, skated off to the training room and didn't return for the rest of the playoffs, citing a knee injury. What's strange is that Hasek was medically cleared to play after the Sabres beat the Sens in that opening round playoff series. Hasek simply refused to play in the 2nd round because of strained relations with then coach Ted Nolan. Fast-forward to the 2004 and Hasek once again seemingly just quit on his team in the same fashion. Hasek was told to take a month off to rest and heal a groin injury that had been plaguing him throughout the year. After a month's rest Hasek took in practice and afterwards skated off on his own accord and declared his season was over without another medical consultation. The 2003-2004 season was supposed to be Hasek's triumphant return to Hockeytown to reprise his role as goaltending saviour. Maybe it was seeing Curtis Joseph fail in the position he succeeded in that drove him out of retirement and return to Detroit. Goalies are a unique bunch relying on confidence and ego to rule their posts. Perhaps on the rare occasions where Hasek's play doesn't meet his hype he takes the easy way out and relies on an injury to preserve the mystique that he has built over so many years. It's his way of ensuring that the successful legacy remains intact.

Barring a miraculous diversion from the current path of the current CBA agreement ending and subsequent lockout, Sens fans and neutral observers may have to wait a little longer to see how this partnership plays out. But if history is any indicator the wait will certainly be worth it.