[bigboydan]

i bet everyone that bet ottawa to win the cup this year is crying.

OTTAWA (Ticker) - The Czech Republic couldn't win a gold medal without goaltender Dominik Hasek. Now the Ottawa Senators will have to play without the six-time Vezina Trophy winner.

Hasek suffered a strained adductor muscle in the first period of the Czechs' preliminary-round opener against Germany on February 15 at the Winter Olympics and will be sidelined indefinitely.

A two-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP, Hasek helped the Czechs to the gold medal in the 1998 Nagano Games. But with Tomas Vokoun and Milan Hnilicka in goal, the Czechs settled for the bronze medal in the Olympics.

Now the Senators will have to go with rookie goaltender Ray Emery in Hasek's absence. Emery is 9-4-1 with a 3.13 goals-against average and .888 save percentage in 15 games this season.

On Monday, Ottawa recalled goaltender Billy Thompson from Binghamton of the American Hockey League to back up Emery.

Acquired in a trade from the Florida Panthers for goaltender Jani Hurme in September 2002, Thompson is 8-16-2 this season with a 3.91 goals-against average.

In 43 games with the Senators this season, Hasek owns a 28-10-4 record with five shutouts, a 2.09 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. He is second in the league in GAA and shutouts and is one behind Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames and Marty Turco of the Dallas Stars for the lead in victories.

[onlooker]

Not good for Ottawa backers.

Think the lines will be adjusted right away, or do you think the lines will still be inflated on Ottawa games? Should be interesting to see.

They still have that agressive offense and still can score at will but could have a hard time stopping the other squads.

[spanky]

ottawa fans must love the olympic hockey!