As The Magazine's John "Kruk" Broder discovered last night, sometimes it pays to help tourists navigate the Noo Yawk subways.

So I went to see the Sabres take on the Rangers at MSG. The game was over three minutes after it started -- the Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead and then left things up to the greatest goaltender in the world, Dominik Hasek. The Dominator.

After the game I waited around to say hello to the netminder. The reason? This past summer I literally ran into him on the subway, as he was heading to The Bronx to catch a Yankee game with his family. As I remember, I was cranking out Pearl Jam on my walkman and minding my own business when I noticed this guy who looked surprisingly like Hasek. I thought to myself, "No way, man, can't be him on the 4 train ..."

Still, I took off my earphones and quietly said "Dominik?" to see if I'd get a response. And it was him, heading up to see the Bronx Bombers take on the Red Sox with the rest of the Hasek clan. They were looking a little lost.

I helped them off the subway and took them to their seats right behind the third-base line -- the Dommer's view was a little better than mine was from the upper deck. He was very thankful, although I never introduced myself as an ESPN employee. I thought it was cooler being just an average dude on the subway, helping the greatest goalie and his family find his way.

So last night I waited around until Hasek came out of the Buffalo locker room and introduced myself. Looking uninterested, he gathered his personal belongings before saying, "Hello". I then said, "You might not remember me, but I helped you and your family out this past summer on the subway. I just wanted to introduce myself."

His face lit up as he exclaimed, "Of course I remember! That was my first time at Yankee Stadium."

I asked him what he thought of The House That Ruth Built.

"It was beautiful. My family had a great time."

"And the Yanks even won," I threw in.

Hasek smiled and said, "Of course they did."

We shook hands and I wished him the best the rest of the season. Memo to New Yorkers (tourists, too): Always pay attention on the subway. You never know who you might run into.