Pavel Datsyuk appreciation thread

[Bench]

i made this a few years ago

Seriously? One of my favorite Wings images ever! Do you have a full scale uncompressed version? I'd love to make a print with your permission.

 

[ap3x]

Same here. It's awesome!

 

[Number1RedWingsFan52]

We'll miss you Pasha, But family comes first. You will always be the Magic Man in our hearts.

 

[kook10]

Seriously? One of my favorite Wings images ever! Do you have a full scale uncompressed version? I'd love to make a print with your permission.

I'll have to check some old hard drives to see if I still have it, but if I do, of course! I did a St. Niklas one too which would be appropriate for printing as well.

edited :

here you go -
http://postimg.org/image/qu8q6xsf9/full/

here is the lids one too (although it was not quite as big as I remembered-the source image must have been small)
http://postimg.org/image/roai9rurt/

 

[Yemack]

Disappointed but wish him the best. He gave nothing but the best for the Wings.

 

[WxIxNxGxSxFxAxNx26]

Have to say when i got the notification this morning i was sad the rest of the day at work. Datsyuk is my favorite player ever. Just an absolute great two-way player. Watching Dats has always been a pure firework show. Just beautiful. It will not be the same with him not on the team thats for sure. He 100%, no doubt, needs to be up in the rafters. Loyal to the Wings all the way to the end.

Win or lose... Wings til' i die.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Best player I've seen

 

[silkyjohnson50]

I won't even look in the other Datsyuk thread, because this is the only one that matters to me. I loved watching this man play so much. He's the player I'll be telling my future grandkids about.

I feel both happy and sad right now, but it'll probably hit me when the season officially ends and he steps off the ice one last time.

I'll just re-post what I said in the main board thread asking how he'll be remembered:

I've been watching hockey for quite a long time now. As a youngster, Yzerman and Messier were the players I pretended to be while stickhandling and shooting a pair of balled up socks around my living room much to my mother's chagrin. But then a young Russian joined the Red Wings and in the blink of an eye, I became a Sergei Fedorov fanatic. Everything about him was perfect to me: His effortless skating, his powerful shot, his ability to just seemingly take over at will, and then he started sporting the Nike's with the flow coming out of his helmet: "He's a beauty." From his 94 Hart season to the magic with the Russian 5 to the back-to-back Cups, I didn't think it was possible I'd ever love another athlete the same. But then Pavel Datsyuk happened. As a Wing nut who rarely misses a single game thanks to all of the success of growing up watching all of the 90s Detroit teams, I've been able to watch with a very good understanding of the game since his very first NHL shift...

The 01-02 Red Wings were as hyped as any team could be and the anticipation for that season was unbelievable. The addition of Hasek, Hull, and Robitaille to a core of proven winners with Bowman behind the bench was too good to be true. There was instantly talks about all of the future HOFers that was on the roster. Little did anyone know that another HOF career was just about to begin.

Despite all of the big name stars on that 01-02 team, one thing immediately stood out: This new, young Russian who I knew next to nothing about except for the fact that he took over fellow Russian Slava Kozlov's #13 jersey was doing things that I had never seen before. He was small and weak and shy and passive; not nearly the player that would later develop. But the skill and uniqueness flashed immediately.

When Fedorov left Detroit after one more season, I figured that it would be heartbreaking for me to watch hockey again. Pavel Datsyuk made it easy to move on.

I could go in depth about each season of his career, his transformation into one of the all time great 2-way players, and every single aspect of his game, but I'll keep it simple: the highlight reel goals and assists you see on YouTube don't even begin to do justice. Not in the slightest. Because there was rarely a game that went by where Datsyuk didn't do something that made you shake your head in laughter and amazement and say "are you f-bombing kidding me" or "what in the world did he just do this time?" And it was even rarer if he didn't cause this reaction multiple times throughout a game. He made watching hockey a whole new experience for me. He's the most exciting and unique player that I've had the privilege of watching and I'm so fortunate that I got to see almost every minute of it at an old enough age to truly appreciate it. I don't believe watching hockey will be the same for me when he leaves, but I'm okay with that now. Because I got to watch Pavel Datsyuk: my favorite athlete and my favorite form of entertainment of all time. And that's how I'll remember him.

 

[Mijatovic]

Datsyuk was the first player I started watching when I got into hockey. I didnt know that all players weren't like the Magic Man and he was special. I can honestly say watching Datsyuk was 100% the reason I chose to be a Red Wings fan and I am sad I didnt get to enjoy the early years of his career.

He is and remains my favourite Red Wings player.

 

[Bench]

I'll have to check some old hard drives to see if I still have it, but if I do, of course! I did a St. Niklas one too which would be appropriate for printing as well.

edited :

here you go -
http://postimg.org/image/qu8q6xsf9/full/

here is the lids one too (although it was not quite as big as I remembered-the source image must have been small)
http://postimg.org/image/roai9rurt/

Thank you so much!! This is perfect. I love sports stuff that doesn't look like sports stuff. To anyone who isn't a hockey fan they'll think the Datsyuk one is some old magician print and that's so slick. Hats off man.

 

[danincanada]

I won't even look in the other Datsyuk thread, because this is the only one that matters to me. I loved watching this man play so much. He's the player I'll be telling my future grandkids about.

I feel both happy and sad right now, but it'll probably hit me when the season officially ends and he steps off the ice one last time.

I'll just re-post what I said in the main board thread asking how he'll be remembered:

I have an extremely similar story except substitute Messier with Mario for me. As a kid I was a fan of both the Wings and Penguins but switched to only the Wings by '93 or so. I quickly became a huge fan of Fedorov cause it was mesmerizing to watch him skate and dominate 200' of ice.

Fedorov and Datsyuk are my two favourite players of all-time and I don't have anyone to fill that void with Pavel leaving. It's a sad day for me but I hope he goes out with a bang. Now I really wish I could have caught a game at the Joe this year even though he's not quite the same player he once was due to the ankle and age.

You're a class act and a brilliant athlete Pavel. All the best to you in Russia.

 

[Cyborg Yzerberg]

Pavs is in my top 5 favorite players ever. I was sad to see Stevie go, I was sad to see Shanny go, I was sad to see Nick go, I'm going to real sad to see Pavs go.

 

[Bench]

Pavs is in my top 5 favorite players ever. I was sad to see Stevie go, I was sad to see Shanny go, I was sad to see Nick go, I'm going to real sad to see Pavs go.

Next stop, Zetterberg. Then you and I really feel the hurt. Pavel and Hank are the last of the elite old guard. Maybe you could throw Kronwall in there. Fundamentally, watching these guys fade and retire is the end of the glory era of the Wings. It's difficult as a sports fan on a few levels, but Pavel's play is so remarkably distinct and enjoyable, it stings all the more.

He wasn't just great, he was often magical.

 

[Retire91]

Its hard to put into words what he meant for the team, the fans, and the NHL. He is one of the most routinely consistent game breaking players I have seen. But what made it special was the creativity and obvious joy he put into his play. He did the kind of things that kids skating on the pond in Dec-Jan come up with in their imagination. He took things hockey players never thought could be done in an NHL game and documented them on the scoreboard and immortalized them in highlight reals. To combine that with league leading defensive play is just such a rare package. The team and the NHL will not be the same without him. Hats off to the magic man.

I am trying to find an online blog, its a series that features NHL players talking about other NHL players and what is unique about their elite play. It was a goal tender and he talked about Daytsuk and why he is so hard to play against as a goalie. I can't remember the name or enough context of the article to find it but it was a great insider tribute to his skill.

Let's not forget his underrated physical side

 

[lilidk]

Wish you the best Pavel , you are my all time favorite player

 

[Hammettf2b]

My second fav Wing behind Feds. What a pleasure to watch him play all these years!!!

 

[Laser Rayzor]

He wasn't the best Wings player I've seen in my life, but I think he was the first player where I was really able to understand how dominant he was. I still remember that series against Phoenix maybe 5-6 years back where he was just crazy dominant. A real one man show. He didn't score a ton that series, but his effect on possession was monstrous. Phoenix was playing total defense, but Datsyuk would just walk right through them.

Funny you mention that as I was just watching the highlights from that series not too long ago:



How lucky we were to have him this long, they'll never be another.

 

[TopShelfYzerman]

Datsyuk was the craftiest and slickest player Ive seen grace the ice. He seemed to demand respect. I loved how opponents gave him time and space because they both respected him and feared their egos being shattered unlike the young, naive Couture. My favorite Datsyuk clip is the Shootout against Vokoun. Ive literally watched it 100 times. There is simply not one person who deked a goalies jockstrap off more than Datsyuk did to Vokoun that night and make it look so effortless.

I grew up idolizing Yzerman under the tutelage of Bowman. I remember I wrote a 'hero' paper on Yzerman in 8th grade back in 97' or 98'. It would be rather hard to surpass my childhood hero. Over the past dozen years, Datsyuk has become that replacement. He was the one I stayed up past midnight to watch. The one I always brought up in conversation about highlight reels the very next day. To me he embodied my passion for the Wings almost to the point where I was a fan of Datsyuk first and foremost, then the Wings. As I stand today I can say that Datsyuk has become the new Yzerman or my favorite wing/player ever.

 

[Hadoop]

Always a little sad to watch the handshake when you know it's the end of the line for one of your favourite Red Wings.

Happy trails to The Magic Man in his homeland. There may well never be another player quite like him.

 

[ap3x]

Sucks to him see him playing like that in his last series. But it is up to ourselves to not remember him for that. Let's remember him for the golden times and the magic moments he granted us to experience. Take care, Pasha. Thanks for everything, thanks for seeing one of the most impressive players wearing the winged wheel. All the best for the future.

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Creativity in the nhl just went bye

 

[DATS-O-MATIC]

Pavel Datsyuk Appreciation thread...Thanks for the memories!

just noticed the other bumped thread, MOD delete.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA-HzaeCvaE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMU2-xLUjok

 

[SantosHalper]

The man. The Myth. The Legend. Thank you Pavel Datsyuk!!! We see you at the alumni games in the future. Magic Man #13

 

[TheMule93]

Its too bad most of the highlights from his peak (05-09) are absurdly low quality

At least he won not just one cup, but two. Its always a shame to see greats retire without winning one.

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Its too bad most of the highlights from his peak (05-09) are absurdly low quality

Youngsters and your quality.

I remember a night in 03-04 after a game in Dallas where I recorded (with a VHS tape) the nightly highlights on Fox Sports and ESPN of Datsyuk scoring on the "Datsyuk" for the very first time.