Pavel Datsyuk

Olympic medal record
Men's Ice Hockey

Pavel Datsyuk (Павел Дацюк, Pavel Dacjuk) (born July 20 1978, in Sverdlovsk, USSR (now Yekaterinburg, Russia)) is a Russian-born professional ice hockey player.

Playing career

Datsyuk was never considered an elite player because of his size. He stayed with local teams throughout his youth, and was passed over in the 1996 and 1997 NHL Entry Drafts. He was finally picked in 1998 NHL Entry Draft, in the sixth round as 171st overall, by the Detroit Red Wings. He was the Wings' 8th choice in that draft and while they liked his skills, they were not certain he would ever grow enough and become strong enough to play in the NHL. As it turns out, he did grow and gain the necessary strength and the Wings decided to bring him to North America. He arrived in Detroit for the 2001-2002 NHL season.

Pre-NHL career

He played for the Moscow Dynamo for the 1997-1998 and 1999-2000 seasons before moving up to the Russian Super League's Ak Bars Kazan for the 2000-2001 season. His numbers were not exceptionally impressive in the RSL (9 goals, 17 assists for 26 points through 42 games) but the Wings saw enough in him to bring him to the NHL the next season. It is said that he bases his game on and idolizes Pavol Demitra and has even tried to emulate some of his moves, but it is known that Datsyuk is a fraud in this regard, mainly due in part to his pizza slice head.

NHL career

Hopes were high for the 2001-2002 season in Detroit after a blockbuster summer that saw the acquisition of future Hall of Fame shoo-ins Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Dominik Hasek. A team that already had a number of Hall of Fame-caliber players, Detroit looked to be a lock for the Stanley Cup. Datsyuk came to the city at the start of all this and it turned out to be the best possible situation for him. He had mentors including Soviet legend Igor Larionov and loud-mouthed Hull teaching him different aspects of the game and had a solid lineup backing him up in case of mistakes. He was put on a line with Hull and Boyd Devereaux and had a productive first year, scoring 11 goals and notching 24 assists for a total of 35 points through 70 games. The League saw many examples of Pavel's brilliant puck handling skills, passing ability and accurate shot through the season and he built a name for himself as a player who could make just about any defender look like a complete fool. The length and difficulty of the NHL season got to him eventually, causing him to sit out a clump of games at the end of the year in preparation for the playoffs. He contributed three goals and three assists to the Wings' Stanley Cup run and ended up being part of the Wings' third championship team in five years.

Expectations were high for Datsyuk's second season, particularly with the addition of another highly touted prospect to the team, Henrik Zetterberg. He did not disappoint. Zetterberg replaced Devereaux on the Datsyuk-Hull line and the famous version of the "Two Kids and an Old Goat Line" was born. He only played 64 games due to a knee injury but ended up with 51 points on the year. His playoff performance was a bit disappointing that year but the same could be said about the entire Red Wings team. They were swept by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the first round and Datsyuk was held pointless by the brilliant goaltending of Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

The departure of Sergei Fedorov in the 2003 off-season made room for Datsyuk to rise to prominence on the Wings. He took full advantage of his extra ice time and basically became the Wings' number one center. He no longer had Larionov as a mentor since he had left for the New Jersey Devils but his departure allowed for Hull to have a larger influence on Pavel's play. Larionov, who always was in a passing mindset, honed one part of Datsyuk's game while Hull, always a shoot-first kind of player, taught Pavel to shoot the puck more. This made him a much more complete player and is the reason he scored 30 goals to go along with his 38 assists through 75 games in the 2003-2004 season. He amazed the hockey world with the goal he scored on Marty Turco on November 12, 2003. He ended up being selected to play in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game and entered the ranks of legitimate scorers in the NHL. In the playoffs, he had no goals and 6 assists through 12 games before the Wings were eliminated in the second round.

He was a restricted free agent during the 2004-05 off-season but could not reach a deal with the Wings despite repeated statements by his agent indicating his desire to stay in Detroit. He chose not to go into salary arbitration and played with HC Dynamo Moscow during the 2004-05 lockout. On September 19 2005, after protracted negotiations, Datsyuk agreed to a two-year deal with the Red Wings for a total of $7.8 million (USD).

Datsyuk continued his stellar play with the return of the NHL in the 2005-06 NHL season, scoring 28 goals and adding 59 assists for a career-high 87 points. He continued to embarass elite goaltenders, in particular scoring a jaw-dropping goal against Nashville goalie Tomas Vokoun in a shootout. His brilliant play combined with his sportsmanlike play (he recorded just 22 penalty minutes the entire season) won him the Lady Byng Trophy. He also earned himself a spot on the Russian team for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Datsyuk wears number 13 and has nicknames ranging from "Pavs" to "Dats" to "Moves."

Awards

NHL Offensive Player of the Month - December 2003
Played in NHL All-Star Game - 2004
Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - 2006

Career statistics

			Regular Season					Playoffs
Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1996-97	Dynamo Yekaterinburg	Rus	18	2	2	4	4	--	--	--	--	--
1997-98	Dynamo Yekaterinburg	Rus	24	3	5	8	4	--	--	--	--	--
1998-99	Dynamo Yekaterinburg	Rus	22	12	15	27	12	9	3	7	10	10
1999-00	Ak Bars Kazan	Rus	15	1	3	4	4	-	-	-	-	-
2000-01	Ak Bars Kazan	Rus	42	9	17	26	10	4	0	1	1	2
2001-02	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	70	11	24	35	4	21	3	3	6	2
2002-03	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	64	12	39	51	16	4	0	0	0	0
2003-04	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	75	30	38	68	35	12	0	6	6	2
2004-05	HC Dynamo Moscow	Rus	47	15	17	32	16	10	6	3	9	4
2005-06	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	75	28	59	87	22
Rus Totals			168	42	60	102	50	23	9	11	20	16
NHL Totals			284	81	160	241	77	37	3	9	12	4

Stats as of 21 April 2006

International play

Played for Russia in:

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2002	Russia	Oly	6	1	2	3	0
2003	Russia	WC	7	1	4	5	0
2004	Russia	WCH	4	1	0	1	0
2005	Russia	WC	9	3	4	7	0
2006	Russia	Oly	8	1	7	8	10
Senior int'l totals			34	7	17	24	10

External links

Preceded by Brad Richards	Lady Byng Memorial Trophy Winner 2006	Succeeded by incumbent