The Stastny brothers, Jaromir Jagr, Dominik Hasek and several other hockey legends are in an embarrassing situation to say the least. The closure of the Czech Hockey Hall of Fame is forcing these sports legends to pack up their old artifacts to take home.
In footage posted via his Twitter account by journalist Zdekek Janda, Hasek can be seen gathering together several personal items that bear witness to his glorious past, to pile them in shopping baskets.
Just to clarify perhaps for someone abroad…
Legendary goalkeeper Dominik Hasek @hasek_dominik has just collected his artifacts from the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in Prague.
Due to economic problems, the Hall of Fame is now closed. And (hopefully) renewed somewhere else. pic.twitter.com/Fll66rNjIU— Zdenek Janda (@zdenek_janda) May 31, 2023
The former goaltender’s tousled but spectacular style notably led his country to a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. The “Dominator” also helped the Detroit Red Wings win the Stanley Cup twice, in 2002 and 2008.
He also won the Vézina Trophy, awarded to the NHL’s top goaltender, six times from 1993 to 2001.
Vezina Trophy, dresy, brusle, hokejky..Prsten za SC..
Vsechno if @hasek_dominik Musel sbalit a ve třech nákupních vozicich odvézt do aut..
Ne nadarmo se rika: Kdo si neváží historie, neváží si sám sebe…
Pry ekonom duvody… Ale pred domácím MS?
Těžko se něco takového obnoví..😓 pic.twitter.com/RHVk8tTDvN— Zdenek Janda (@zdenek_janda) May 31, 2023
In addition to Hasek, several big hockey names were in the hall, including former Nordiques players Marian and Peter Stastny. These are Slovaks originally from Bratislava who represented Czechoslovakia on the international stage before defecting to Quebec.
There had been rumors about the difficulties of the Prague temple for some time, and economic reasons forced its official closure.
Currently, the exhibits can be found at the O2 Arena in the same city. Eventually, a new building could be built to house the Czech Ice Hockey Hall of Fame, but there’s nothing official about that.
Jaromir Jagr, Martin Straka, Robert Reichel, Robert Lang, Milan Hejduk, Roman Hamrlik and Martin Rucinsky are some of the other players who have been accepted into the NHL after good times.