He really should be in the HOF, no one ever played the game like he did and it doesnt look like anyone ever will either.
EatingFurniture
MADE ME JUMP UP, LETS GO!
Not the news I was refreshing for, but the news I needed to see.
My favorite player of all time by a long shot. I fucking love you Magic Man!
Salamangra
A lot of young pups around here never got to see him play. Lemme tell you, there will never ever be another Datsyuk. Truly a once in a millennium player.
SimplySolace
Fuck yeah! Congrats Pavel! One of, if not my favorite player of all time
silvio_dante
The only good news from the day.
JulianVanderbilt
So glad he got in on 1st ballot and wasn’t forced to wait because of « the Russian factor. »
mcgrupp44
![gif](giphy|14loV6Yilb8Rws|downsized)
yathrowaday
Absolutely deserved on sporting merits.
May there one day be a free and unoccupied Ukraine… and a free Russia, too.
tacticalAlmonds
Deserved. The most talented and complete player I’ve ever seen play the game.
antomeie
Hell yeah! Now I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll get to see him in the HoF Legends game.
WaylonLemmyJohnny
Well deserved. Not just because of how flashy and offensively talented he was, but because I dont think there has even been so complete a player as he was. I cant think of too many guys as valuable at both ends of the ice as Pavel Datsyuk was.
LGRW_Sparty88
Well deserved, congrats Pavel.
rustytiredchicken69
Good, but Z?
pyl_time
So how many HoFers is that from that 02 team now? 11 plus coach & GM?
AdamErne
Zetterberg now
oprapiid
oh this is wonderful! he’s actually the reason I became a Red Wings fan in the first place, kid me was just so blown away by everything he did and just decided to be a red wings fan from then on. well deserved!
daile1bm
I always think back to the video package after the ’08 finals, of players talking about their favorite hockey player growing up. Everyone was rattling off the names you’d think you’d hear, but Chelios comes out with Dick Butkus, Chicago Bears bruising linebacker.
Well, I grew up a football player and have admired many CFB and NFL players all my life. But my favorite athlete of all time is Pavel Datsyuk. The guy was just something else to watch, and his impact on the way the game is played can never be appreciated enough. A class act all the way, who mastered all aspects of the game. Dude could probably been a vezina contending goalie if he really wanted lol.
When asked who his favorite player was, Datsyuk replied « I no have favrit player »
I was a grown man throughout Datsyuk’s career and he consistently made me giggle like a school girl.
DeludedRaven
So deserving of this. Magic Man is a much deserved 1st ballot Hall of Famer.
frostymoose2
Yesterday, just in the spirit of the Stanley Cup finals, I watched a 14 minute video of just Datsyuk takeaways. Nothing but beautiful and impossible takeaways for 14 minutes, most of them being direct goals after. How is that possible.
OctoWings13
Absolute legend.
CSquared5396
Not sure how I feel about Weber being inducted too…
Never forgive him for slamming Zetterberg’s head into the glass
nbyone
2002 Team gets its 10th player in the HOF. 11 counting Bowman.
Motown27
Way to go Magic Man!
Thanks to Dr. Rahmani he’ll be able to see his picture up in the HOF.
DangerDaveOG
From obscurity as a 6th round pick to the Hall of Fame. Was a pleasure to watch his entire career. Will forever be my favorite player.
neverinamillionyr
He took Sergei’s ability to make defenders look foolish and kicked up a notch or two.
ennuiinmotion
Remember that time he deked through the entire opposing team from one end of the ice to the other? Was that against Nashville?
AdvocateorAbdicate
Fuck I miss him. No Diddy.
JiffTheJester
Much deserved. Guy was unreal to watch.
poodletown
There may be no other athlete in the past or the future who had the combination of creativity and mentoring that Datsyuk had. He was an elite talent when he joined the Red Wings, but he got better.
He learned how to pass to the covered winger. Brett Hull, Brendan Shannahan and Luc Robitaille taught him this. He learned how to backcheck from the likes of Chelios and Lidstrom, among others. He learned how to pass and stickhandle from Larionov and Fedorov. He learned how to lead by example, and to think 3 steps ahead from Yzerman. He became an elite forechecker along with Zetterberg, knowing how to anticipate the play and knowing that he was covered if he missed. And Bowman had him doing everything in his rookie season.
There might never be another player with his potential to have the opportunity to learn and practice with as much talent as Datsyuk had.
35 Comments
So was this what Steve was cooking?
He really should be in the HOF, no one ever played the game like he did and it doesnt look like anyone ever will either.
MADE ME JUMP UP, LETS GO!
Not the news I was refreshing for, but the news I needed to see.
My favorite player of all time by a long shot. I fucking love you Magic Man!
A lot of young pups around here never got to see him play. Lemme tell you, there will never ever be another Datsyuk. Truly a once in a millennium player.
Fuck yeah! Congrats Pavel! One of, if not my favorite player of all time
The only good news from the day.
So glad he got in on 1st ballot and wasn’t forced to wait because of « the Russian factor. »
![gif](giphy|14loV6Yilb8Rws|downsized)
Absolutely deserved on sporting merits.
May there one day be a free and unoccupied Ukraine… and a free Russia, too.
Deserved. The most talented and complete player I’ve ever seen play the game.
Hell yeah! Now I’m crossing my fingers that we’ll get to see him in the HoF Legends game.
Well deserved. Not just because of how flashy and offensively talented he was, but because I dont think there has even been so complete a player as he was. I cant think of too many guys as valuable at both ends of the ice as Pavel Datsyuk was.
Well deserved, congrats Pavel.
Good, but Z?
So how many HoFers is that from that 02 team now? 11 plus coach & GM?
Zetterberg now
oh this is wonderful! he’s actually the reason I became a Red Wings fan in the first place, kid me was just so blown away by everything he did and just decided to be a red wings fan from then on. well deserved!
I always think back to the video package after the ’08 finals, of players talking about their favorite hockey player growing up. Everyone was rattling off the names you’d think you’d hear, but Chelios comes out with Dick Butkus, Chicago Bears bruising linebacker.
Well, I grew up a football player and have admired many CFB and NFL players all my life. But my favorite athlete of all time is Pavel Datsyuk. The guy was just something else to watch, and his impact on the way the game is played can never be appreciated enough. A class act all the way, who mastered all aspects of the game. Dude could probably been a vezina contending goalie if he really wanted lol.
When asked who his favorite player was, Datsyuk replied « I no have favrit player »
[video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnE7obede_A)
So that brings the total number of Hall of Famers on the 2002 team up to 10. Literally half the lineup.
Here is a video compilation of him stripping players off the puck.How I wish we could clone him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fe4UZs0Uos
I was a grown man throughout Datsyuk’s career and he consistently made me giggle like a school girl.
So deserving of this. Magic Man is a much deserved 1st ballot Hall of Famer.
Yesterday, just in the spirit of the Stanley Cup finals, I watched a 14 minute video of just Datsyuk takeaways. Nothing but beautiful and impossible takeaways for 14 minutes, most of them being direct goals after. How is that possible.
Absolute legend.
Not sure how I feel about Weber being inducted too…
Never forgive him for slamming Zetterberg’s head into the glass
2002 Team gets its 10th player in the HOF. 11 counting Bowman.
Way to go Magic Man!
Thanks to Dr. Rahmani he’ll be able to see his picture up in the HOF.
From obscurity as a 6th round pick to the Hall of Fame. Was a pleasure to watch his entire career. Will forever be my favorite player.
He took Sergei’s ability to make defenders look foolish and kicked up a notch or two.
Remember that time he deked through the entire opposing team from one end of the ice to the other? Was that against Nashville?
Fuck I miss him. No Diddy.
Much deserved. Guy was unreal to watch.
There may be no other athlete in the past or the future who had the combination of creativity and mentoring that Datsyuk had. He was an elite talent when he joined the Red Wings, but he got better.
He learned how to pass to the covered winger. Brett Hull, Brendan Shannahan and Luc Robitaille taught him this. He learned how to backcheck from the likes of Chelios and Lidstrom, among others. He learned how to pass and stickhandle from Larionov and Fedorov. He learned how to lead by example, and to think 3 steps ahead from Yzerman. He became an elite forechecker along with Zetterberg, knowing how to anticipate the play and knowing that he was covered if he missed. And Bowman had him doing everything in his rookie season.
There might never be another player with his potential to have the opportunity to learn and practice with as much talent as Datsyuk had.
Certainly deserved.
Raise #13 to the rafters
Edit And #91 while you’re at it