Hasek Under Investigation Again

Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek will be investigated again for an incident that occurred in during an inline hockey game in the Czech Republic last spring.

In May, Hasek, then playing as a defender for Bonfire Strida, was accused of checking SK Pardubice’s Martin Sila to the ground. Reportedly, Hasek then sat on Sila and hit him on the neck with his stick. Sila was hospitalized for three days following the incident.

A lengthy investigation led police to recommend that Hasek be charged with inflicting bodily harm.

Prosecutor Lenka Strnadova determined in her own investigation that there was no evidence that Hasek caused bodily harm to Sila during the May 18 match in Hasek’s hometown of Pardubice.

“Criminal charges will not be pressed,” Strnadova told The Associated Press.

Strnadova did not reveal what evidence, or lack thereof, led her to make this decision.

A new investigation has now been started by the Czech Attorney General, who cancelled Strnadova’s ruling.

“The reason for that is that not all facts and circumstances were properly investigated,” spokesman Pavel Macur said.

“I think it’s nonsense. … If Hasek was not involved it would have been over a long time ago,” Hasek’s angry attorney, Pavel Jelinek, told the CTK news agency.

Hasek was suspended from the Czech inline league for one year after the incident. Shortly after that, he announced his return to the NHL, ending his one-year retirement.

The news comes just one day after Hasek played his worst game of the NHL season, allowing four goals on thirteen shots to the St. Louis Blues and being pulled from the net before the game’s midway point.

Curtis Joseph, who Hasek replaced as starting netminder for the Red Wings upon his return, will make his first start of the season tonight in Nashville.