Hasek, Czechs on top of hockey world.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

He is no longer the greatest goaltender on the planet or even the dominant puck stopper from his native Czech Republic. But Buffalo's Dominik Hasek is a proud man who isn't ready to hand over the keys to his kingdom to his upstart countrymen just yet.

Last season, Hasek put retirement on hold after a serious groin injury locked him in the Buffalo Sabres' training room for three months and kept him out of the crease, where he has made a handsome living turning heads by turning aside rubber with acrobatics never before seen on the ice.

For the fourth consecutive year, fans voted Hasek the starting goalie for the World Team in this Sunday's NHL All-Star game in Denver. His backup will be Philadelphia's Roman Cechmanek, a fellow Czech whose breakthrough season (17-7-4, 2.07 goals-against average) has kept the Flyers ahead of the Sabres in the Eastern Conference and stirred talk about a changing of the guard for next February's Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Besides Cechmanek, the Czechs could tap Roman Turek, the St. Louis netminder who is struggling a bit this season after a 1999-00 campaign in which he allowed the fewest goals and had the most shutouts in the NHL.

Although he hasn't acknowledged it, Hasek might be playing in his last all-star game. Hasek, 36, has already stated that the longer he stays in the United States, the harder his son Michael's adjustment would be to life in the Czech Republic, where Hasek wants to return when he retires.

But the two-time MVP and five-time Vezina Trophy winner as the league's top goaltender isn't interested in turning the season into a farewell tour. Moreover, Hasek has left open the possibility of playing in the Olympics when the NHL shuts down again to allow its professionals to represent their countries.

The New Jersey Devils may own the Stanley Cup, but the Czech Republic_a country of only 10.2 million_has taken over the hockey world. Hasek led his nation to the gold medal at the `98 Games in Nagano, Japan. Since then, the Czechs have won the gold medal in the last two world championships, and the world junior championship recently in Moscow.