Throughout his NHL career, Dominik Hasek would show bursts of intense anger that sometimes got in the way of his stellar play. On May 1, 1997, Hasek made headlines for all the wrong reasons, when he was suspended by the NHL for three playoff games and fined $10,000 for violently grabbing Buffalo Evening News columnist Jim Kelley, who had been highly critical of him. The dispute dated back to Game 3 of Buffalo's first-round playoff series at Ottawa, when Hasek, who had pain in his right knee, had removed himself from the game with 4:27 remaining in the second period of a 1-1 tie. After the game, won by Buffalo 3-2 with Steve Shields in goal, the Sabres team doctor said Hasek had only a mild sprain of his MCL. Kelley took that information and wrote a column questioning whether Hasek was mentally stable. Kelley also said that he had information that Hasek and coach Ted Nolan were not getting along at all. He claimed that Hasek had been in an "agitated state" for several weeks and had gone AWOL from the team before a scheduled breakfast meeting. A local radio sports-talk personality added fuel to the fire by claiming that Hasek had quit on the team during Game 3.