Hašek is back ... again and again

Forty-four-year-old hockey goalie Dominik Hašek has come out of retirement - again. He will play with HC Pardubice in the Czech Extraliga next season, one year after quitting professional hockey following his second Stanley Cup win with the Detroit Red Wings.

"I took a year off. I relaxed a bit, settled down with my family here, and I'm now enthusiastic about playing again," Hašek said April 21. In order to demonstrate his enthusiasm, Hašek said he was even eyeing joining the Czech team at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "It'll stand as an outstanding challenge for me," he said.

Hašek's comeback is his third, and skews the definition of retirement altogether. In the summer of 1999, Hašek announced that the following season would be his last. A lengthy injury that kept him from playing for most of the season made him change his mind. Later, after winning his first Stanley Cup in 2002, he again ended his career, citing lack of motivation as a reason.

After lifting his second Stanley Cup above his head last season, Hašek said he would never again play in the NHL. He said he wanted to relocate from Detroit to Prague and to develop his clothing company Dominator. The company went down only weeks after Hašek's return. The retired goalie repeatedly admitted that he could return to competitive hockey.

"I never said I had quit hockey for good last summer. I only said I would never play in the NHL again," he explained.

In the Extraliga, he will be playing against six sons of retired players who he faced in the early stage of his career. Hašek insists, however, that his age will not be a problem.

"No one cares on the ice how old I am. They'll be trying to get the puck past me, and I'll do my best to stop them. That's it."

Hašek's comeback comes just in time for HC Pardubice. Due to the overall economic slowdown, the organization's revenues have dropped by one-third. The club's general manager, Zbyněk Kusý, believes Hašek's return could help boost advance sales of season tickets.

Delayed comeback

Arsenal soccer midfielder and Czech national team captain Tomáš Rosický will not return this season from his lengthy hamstring injury, Arsenal's manager Arsene Wenger said. The 26-year-old has not played since he hobbled off during an FA Cup match against Newcastle in January 2008. Periodic reports this year said his tendon injury had healed, and predicted a return to the pitch. A scheduled March return was delayed reportedly because of a minor groin problem. Rosický told Arsenal TV in late March that he was ready to resume playing soon. However, Wenger now says the Czech will miss the rest of the season.

New coach

As the national team eagerly awaits the return of its captain, the search for a new head coach is under way to take over for the ousted Petr Rada. Czech Football Association (ČMFS) Vice President Jaroslav Vacek said April 23 that he spoke with Israeli Avram Grant, who last season guided English Premiership side Chelsea to the Champions League's finals, about a possible stint as head of the Czech team. Grant, who in the past guided the Israeli team before working as an assistant coach and later head coach at Chelsea, has been unemployed since being dismissed by Chelsea last summer.

"We need a coach and manager as usual in England," Vacek said.

ČMFS is eyeing a high-profile coach. Rada was dismissed from the team because of poor results and after a series of party scandals by some of the team's top  players.

Vacek said a decision on Grant will be made by the end of April.

"Mr. Grant has expressed preliminary interest, and it's now up to us to make the decision," Vacek said.

František Bouc can be reached at
fbouc@praguepost.com