Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk didn't really support the idea of sending NHL players to the 2022 Beijing Olympics - mainly because of a haunting memory involving Dominik Hasek in 2006.
"You don’t want your players to go over there and get hurt," Melnyk told Postmedia's Bruce Garrioch. "It’s a nightmare, I’ve lived it, and it cost us the chance of winning a Stanley Cup.
"I don’t want to get caught again because doing it once was enough."
The Senators were one of the NHL's most dominant teams during the 2005-06 season, with a 41-year-old Hasek in the crease. During the first half of the campaign, he recorded a stellar .925 save percentage and 2.09 goals against average in 43 contests.
The club allowed Hasek to suit up for the Czech Republic at the 2006 Turin Olympics. While playing for his country, he suffered an adductor muscle tear less than 10 minutes into his first game of the tournament.
Hasek remained sidelined for the remainder of the season while Ray Emery took over as the team's starter. Ottawa finished first in the Eastern Conference but bowed out of the playoffs in the second round.
"The thing that happened, that we all feared, actually happened (with Hasek getting hurt)," Melnyk said. "You don’t have a lot of chances to win a Stanley Cup. That was our year, and that was our chance, and it was taken away from us."
Hasek went on to sign with the Detroit Red Wings during the offseason, concluding his only campaign with the Senators. The club made it to the Stanley Cup Final the following year but lost to the Anaheim Ducks.
