Remember he won multiple championships in Czechoslovakia, named the country's best player (Golden Stick) three times before his NHL career. More importantly, he was:
- the tourney all star in the 1987 world championships;
- the tourney all star in the 1989 world championships;
- the media* all star in the 1990 world championships;
* the media vote and the IIHF tourney official vote are usually the same, but the tourney vote went to Irbe of the gold-medal Soviet team whereas the media thought Hasek was the best of the tourney.
Hasek also faced 40 shots in the regulation round of the 1987 Canada Cup in a TIE with eventual tourney winner Canada, the goals against assisted by Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier and Bourque. That is at least a noteworthy accomplishment, to get a tie against arguably the most talented line-up ever.
Hasek has playoff chops. In fact, he thrived on pressure. The more shots he faced, the more into the game he got. If ge had been a Soviet, then went to a loaded NHL team (before Detroit at age 37, where he had 6 playoff shutouts and all 16 wins for his only cup)... he could have had a much more hyped career and more playoff team achievements.