Datsyuk's Personality Emerges

[Wings_Dynasty 267]

Here is an article from Red Wings Corner. I never read it before so I figured I'd post it.

Datsyuk's personality emerges

DENVER -- "Pavel, when you have the puck, how many people do you see that you can pass to?"

"18,000."

Pavel Datsyuk might be the funniest person in the Detroit Red Wings' locker room. It's an intrinsic part of Datsyuk's personality.

Six years ago when Datsyuk came to North America to play hockey, the Datsyuk we know now was beginning to emerge, but still developing.

He wasn't the fourth leading scorer in the NHL. He wasn't one of three finalists for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. He wasn't on the ice in the final minute of the game. And he wasn't the player tossing out punch lines every day.

Back in 2001, Datsyuk was a 23-year-old far away from home who was trying to establish himself in the world's best hockey league.

"He was a very quiet kid when he first came here," said Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom. "Now he cracks jokes all the time. He's a lot more vocal than he was back then. You saw early on a little bit. every now and then it would come out. But the last few years, it's showing a lot. He's probably a lot more comfortable with the language."

What aided Datsyuk's transition the most was having several Russians in the locker room during the winter of 2001-02. He was constantly around a 40-year-old Igor Larionov. There was Sergei Fedorov and Maxim Kuznetsov.

Datsyuk had people around with whom he could be himself while still figuring out who the North American, English-speaking Pavel Datsyuk would be.

"That helped me a lot," said Datsyuk. "I learned every day, every practice. Lots of players helped, but a big one was Iggy. When I came, I was 23 years old. Now I'm almost 30. I've had a lot more experiences, all kinds. I'm stronger."

"Pavel, you wear the 'A' on your jersey as a team leader. What does that mean to you?"

"A lot. So much that I put an 'A' on all my clothes. I wear an 'A' everywhere."

Datsyuk is in his sixth season in the NHL. He's able to carry on conversations in English without hesitation. He has become one of the biggest stars in the NHL and one of the leaders of the league's most successful franchise of the past 15 years.

Datsyuk's personality has come through as brightly as his on-ice performance.

"When he first got here, he was an unknown," said Kris Draper. "The one thing you realize is that Pav has a great sense of humor. He comes up with some great one-liners. Sometimes we call them two-liners because you have to ask what he said. You don't get it right away. This is the way the Red Wings are. It seems that they find not only good hockey players, but quality people as well. Pav is exactly that. He's a great guy."

"Pavel, you've played before with Ilya Kovalchuk. What tournaments were you in together?"

"World Cup. Olympics. Baltika Cup. You put that in for me. Baltika (maker of a Russian beer). Free promotion for Russian business. Maybe they send me bucks."

Part of Datsyuk's on-ice development was him believing that he had to shoot the puck more often. As a rookie, Datsyuk got just 79 shots on goal in 70 games. This year, he took 264 shots in 82 games.

"We've been on him quite a lot to shoot more," said Lidstrom. "He has been shooting more this year. I think that's paying off for him."

Shots on goal is the first statistic that Datsyuk reads on the official scoresheet after games.

"Everybody told me that I needed to shoot more," said Datsyuk. "They told me I had a good shot, not fast but good. That helped me. Defensemen have to play me for either shooting or passing."

Quick to fire shots on goal. Quick to fire off punch lines.

It's taken a few years, but Detroit fans are finally getting to know Pavel Datsyuk.

[dr_lobster 0]

Thanks for this, good stuff.

I'm always more encouraged to admire players like Datsyuk and Draper knowing that they're such humble, fun people.

[puckhog419 0]

good read, i love the plug for the beer company

[Lollipop 8]

I <3 him.

[Hank Dats 'N Homer 81]

Here is an article from Red Wings Corner. I never read it before so I figured I'd post it.

Datsyuk's personality emerges

DENVER -- "Pavel, when you have the puck, how many people do you see that you can pass to?"

"18,000."

Pavel Datsyuk might be the funniest person in the Detroit Red Wings' locker room. It's an intrinsic part of Datsyuk's personality.

Six years ago when Datsyuk came to North America to play hockey, the Datsyuk we know now was beginning to emerge, but still developing.

He wasn't the fourth leading scorer in the NHL. He wasn't one of three finalists for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. He wasn't on the ice in the final minute of the game. And he wasn't the player tossing out punch lines every day.

Back in 2001, Datsyuk was a 23-year-old far away from home who was trying to establish himself in the world's best hockey league.

"He was a very quiet kid when he first came here," said Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom. "Now he cracks jokes all the time. He's a lot more vocal than he was back then. You saw early on a little bit. every now and then it would come out. But the last few years, it's showing a lot. He's probably a lot more comfortable with the language."

What aided Datsyuk's transition the most was having several Russians in the locker room during the winter of 2001-02. He was constantly around a 40-year-old Igor Larionov. There was Sergei Fedorov and Maxim Kuznetsov.

Datsyuk had people around with whom he could be himself while still figuring out who the North American, English-speaking Pavel Datsyuk would be.

"That helped me a lot," said Datsyuk. "I learned every day, every practice. Lots of players helped, but a big one was Iggy. When I came, I was 23 years old. Now I'm almost 30. I've had a lot more experiences, all kinds. I'm stronger."

"Pavel, you wear the 'A' on your jersey as a team leader. What does that mean to you?"

"A lot. So much that I put an 'A' on all my clothes. I wear an 'A' everywhere."

Datsyuk is in his sixth season in the NHL. He's able to carry on conversations in English without hesitation. He has become one of the biggest stars in the NHL and one of the leaders of the league's most successful franchise of the past 15 years.

Datsyuk's personality has come through as brightly as his on-ice performance.

"When he first got here, he was an unknown," said Kris Draper. "The one thing you realize is that Pav has a great sense of humor. He comes up with some great one-liners. Sometimes we call them two-liners because you have to ask what he said. You don't get it right away. This is the way the Red Wings are. It seems that they find not only good hockey players, but quality people as well. Pav is exactly that. He's a great guy."

"Pavel, you've played before with Ilya Kovalchuk. What tournaments were you in together?"

"World Cup. Olympics. Baltika Cup. You put that in for me. Baltika (maker of a Russian beer). Free promotion for Russian business. Maybe they send me bucks."

Part of Datsyuk's on-ice development was him believing that he had to shoot the puck more often. As a rookie, Datsyuk got just 79 shots on goal in 70 games. This year, he took 264 shots in 82 games.

"We've been on him quite a lot to shoot more," said Lidstrom. "He has been shooting more this year. I think that's paying off for him."

Shots on goal is the first statistic that Datsyuk reads on the official scoresheet after games.

"Everybody told me that I needed to shoot more," said Datsyuk. "They told me I had a good shot, not fast but good. That helped me. Defensemen have to play me for either shooting or passing."

Quick to fire shots on goal. Quick to fire off punch lines.

It's taken a few years, but Detroit fans are finally getting to know Pavel Datsyuk.

Haha good post. I love hearing that kind of stuff. However, i think he would have to repeat himself more than twice for people to actually pick up everything he says...his english is still very bad haha.

[seeinred 1,488]

We could seriously have an entire forum dedicated to awesome quotes by Russian hockey players, namely Datsyuk and Ovechkin.

There's the great paintball one from Datsyuk, and one of my favorite exchanges from Ovie went something like this.

Ovechkin:Russian machine never break

Fedorov:Breaks, breaks

Ovechkin:I know, it just sounds cool.

[superstarsingh 23]

Great post!

[C-Dub 0]

Datsyuk is absolutely awesome. I was really impressed with his playoff run last year but this year he's just unstoppable and he does it with such class and smarts. He's an absolute joy to watch working on both ends of the ice and just doing things offensively that few players in the world can pull off.

[Hiei 192]

Just for You Datsyuk.

Order me up a case of Baltika brews....Send the profits to Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit, MI.

[MabusIncarnate 5,359]

I met Datsyuk about two years ago when JLA gave myself, a friend of mine, and his grandmother locker room access to meet Ozzie. He was an absolute gentleman, always had a smile on his face, and was a pleasure to be around. I hold a strong respect for athletes that are good people on and off of their field of play, and Pavel is among some of the best. I've been one of the lucky ones to have been able to meet most of the team that I love, in 97 or 98 I was able to meet the entire team in New Jersey as they were all standing outside of the arena after practice, it was pouring rain and they were in front all waiting for the bus. I literally almost fainted when I got to meet Stevie Y, most of them were gentleman, signed some autographs for me while they waited. In the same day I got to meet some Devils too, Brodeur and ironically Rafalski. Raf was an absolute ****** bag, we were waiting for the rain to die down just like everyone else, and he called security over and said "get these children out of my sight, they don't stand here with us." I was 19 with a buddy of mine that was in his late 20's. Brodeur had approached us offering to sign something, we didn't say a word to Raf, he was just being a dick. Sure enough, we got drenched running back to our car when security sent us on our way.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

haha datsyuk is the man, i just rewatched where he plays keep away with trevor thompson....

trevor: pav what is your secret?

pasha: well i just try keep puck from defenseman.

[HkyTwn 5]

I love reading all of his quotes. He's fantastic and really funny!

[Reds4Life 51]

lol so funny

[gcom007 1,465]

Raf was an absolute ****** bag, we were waiting for the rain to die down just like everyone else, and he called security over and said "get these children out of my sight, they don't stand here with us." I was 19 with a buddy of mine that was in his late 20's. Brodeur had approached us offering to sign something, we didn't say a word to Raf, he was just being a dick. Sure enough, we got drenched running back to our car when security sent us on our way.

Wow, loosely knowing Rafalski and knowing people that have known him for quite a long time (he went to our little private school and he was in the same circle of friends that my older friends were in...) I find that rather hard to believe. Maybe a smidge exaggerated, one-sided or out of context? Or maybe just made up...? Not trying to just accuse anyone of lying, but I'm just saying, it sounds a little off to me...

[Stan Leycup X 0]

Why would you ask him to shoot more? Do you ever see him give away the puck? Do you ever see him misfire on a pass? Sheesh, Nick. The guy always gets the puck on the boards and somehow fires it right on the tape to a teammate.

[nkuehnl 0]

I met Datsyuk about two years ago when JLA gave myself, a friend of mine, and his grandmother locker room access to meet Ozzie. He was an absolute gentleman, always had a smile on his face, and was a pleasure to be around. I hold a strong respect for athletes that are good people on and off of their field of play, and Pavel is among some of the best. I've been one of the lucky ones to have been able to meet most of the team that I love, in 97 or 98 I was able to meet the entire team in New Jersey as they were all standing outside of the arena after practice, it was pouring rain and they were in front all waiting for the bus. I literally almost fainted when I got to meet Stevie Y, most of them were gentleman, signed some autographs for me while they waited. In the same day I got to meet some Devils too, Brodeur and ironically Rafalski. Raf was an absolute ****** bag, we were waiting for the rain to die down just like everyone else, and he called security over and said "get these children out of my sight, they don't stand here with us." I was 19 with a buddy of mine that was in his late 20's. Brodeur had approached us offering to sign something, we didn't say a word to Raf, he was just being a dick. Sure enough, we got drenched running back to our car when security sent us on our way.

I don't think you met Rafalski as he wasn't with the Devils until the '99-'00 season.

[stud_defenseman 1]

I would be a little hesitant in calling someone an "absolute ****** bag" only after running into them briefly. I don't know his personality at all, but maybe he was just having a bad day.

[rick zombo 3,739]

We could seriously have an entire forum dedicated to awesome quotes by Russian hockey players, namely Datsyuk and Ovechkin.

There's the great paintball one from Datsyuk, and one of my favorite exchanges from Ovie went something like this.

Ovechkin:Russian machine never break

Fedorov:Breaks, breaks

Ovechkin:I know, it just sounds cool.

Paintball quote? Tell me tell me!

[seeinred 1,488]

Paintball quote? Tell me tell me!

I'm sure you've seen it since a few people have it in their sigs here. I guess "paintball quote" wasn't the best way to describe it.

It's this one though: "I with Homer and Fill. We special KGB group, me and Homey and Fill. We have European style, jump in and everybody shoot. Ask later, who still alive."

[sharomyga 6]

Dats is awesome!

[gcom007 1,465]

I don't think you met Rafalski as he wasn't with the Devils until the '99-'00 season.

Good pick up there...like I said, it sounded pretty fishy to me in general.

[WingsZR2 1]

see below

[GoWings1905 2,694]

Pavel has been outstanding. The best player on the ice almost every playoff game so far. It's good to see him becoming more comfortable with his teammates and the media.

[PenaltyShot 96 521]

Thanks for posting that article, I always enjoy the quotes that reveal their humorous side. We should make a thread for quotes like that from any player. I've heard AO has some good ones, and Homer is usually golden (see the Sasha thread haha) that would be a fun thread.

[This Is Bida 0]

Ever since Pavel emerged as a top player with the Wings, something about him drew me into watching him in particular while on the ice. I think most of it had to do with the fact that when I was little I tried to play his same style of hockey. I was always the smaller kid out there so I'd have to be quicker than others, I loved to make those quick moves and was always brought up that a strong play followed by an assist is far more important than some guy dunking all your hard work into an open side of the net. At 24 I still play hockey, mostly roller now, so now more than ever I try to watch Pav and imitate his play. To me, maybe except for AO, I see no one as fun to watch in the league as Pav.

And while I watch these playoff games, it sickens me to see so many empty seats at the Joe, especially in the lower bowl area. And regardless of the economy and ticket prices, I feel very strongly that people in Detroit have no one to relate to like they did when it was Yzerman and Shanahans team. Now people hear names like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Krowwall, etc and I truely think it turns some people off to the game (which is why I wish they could get some more N.A. players on the squad, but thats a total different story).

So when I read an article like this is rather upsets me that people only see Dats as a russian on the Wings, when thats the type of player we really should be idolizing around here. To have a superstar in Pav, yet he's able to keep himself so humble is something that should be adored by Wings fans. It's really ashame this article couldn't have made it to the Free Press or Detroit News.

To me, Pav is a true example of what every hockey player should strive to be.

(ok, that might've been a little bit too much man love for this thread... lol)