Classmate from Japan cheers on Hasek
ELI course started a friendship that spans ocean

By MARA McGINNIS
News Services Editor

For Keiji Okubo of Japan, it really is a small world after all.

While studying at UB a few years ago, Okubo, a hockey fan and Sabres season ticket holder, found himself seated next to Dominik Hasek in a listening course offered by the English Language Institute (ELI).

It just happened to be 1994-during the National Hockey League lockout-and the Sabres goalie decided to brush up on his English speaking-and-listening skills and enrolled in the ELI's Intensive English Program.

At first Okubo wasn't aware of the identity of his Czech classmate, who he says used to sit with him in the back of the class.

"We would talk about our studies, families and countries, but never about hockey," recalls Okubo, who also was taking courses in the School of Management. Finally, John Fitzer, assistant director of the ELI and instructor of the class, noticed that the two had become friends and revealed Hasek's identity to Okubo, who was pleasantly surprised.

"Dominik had come into the program after the semester had already started," explains Kathy Curtis, associate director of the ELI. "Since the two had become friends, we felt that Keiji could help guide Dominik along in the program.

"Dominik was very low-key about being a hockey player," remembers Curtis. "He would introduce himself by saying, 'Hi, I am Dominik. I am from the Czech Republic and I work in Buffalo.'"

By the end of the program's listening course, Okubo had become a close friend and loyal fan of Hasek's.

The classmates have sustained their friendship, despite the distance between them. Okubo, a Tokyo-based employee of the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), now checks the scores of the Sabres games on the Internet and faxes messages to Hasek. When it started to look like the Sabres might make it to the Stanley Cup finals, Okubo sent Hasek a message saying, "Keep tickets for me if you make it!"

Hasek honored the request and Okubo and his wife, Etsuko, traveled from Japan to Buffalo, where they attended the third game of the Stanley Cup finals, visited the Hasek family in their East Amherst home and enjoyed a visit to ELI.

"Dominik told Keiji before that, if the Sabres proceed to the Stanley Cup finals, Keiji must come to Buffalo, to give support," explains Mrs. Okubo, who also is an employee of MITI.

Okubo found the game in Marine Midland Arena much different from those he used to attend in the Aud. "It was a feeling totally different from the regular season," he says. "Everybody was so excited."

The Okubos also cheered Hasek on to a gold medal for the Czech Republic last year at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, where they also enjoyed a brief visit with Hasek and his wife, Alena.

During their recent visit to the Haseks' home, the Okubos watched footage of the celebration in the Czech Republic following the Olympics and exchanged gifts with the Haseks. Hasek presented the Japanese couple with some souvenirs: a jar of Hasek hot sauce, bottled Vermont Pure "Dominator Water" and a Hasek teddy bear.

Curtis says it is not uncommon that students in the Intensive English Program develop strong relationships.

"We have helped people meet their spouses and their best friends," says Curtis. "What is remarkable about the relationship between Keiji and Dominik is that they have maintained their friendship, despite the demands of each of their careers."

Through the years, notes Curtis, other players and players' wives have taken courses at the ELI, including Alexander Mogilny, who studied there when he played for the Sabres, as well as Alena Hasek and Luda Zhitnik, wife of Sabres defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, who have participated in the institute's intensive English or evening programs