Datsyuk up for Selke again

[MCleveland89 122]

For future hall-of-famer Nicklas Lidstrom there isn’t any other player who exemplifies the true definition of the Selke Trophy like Pavel Datsyuk.

“It takes a lot of hard work,” Lidstrom said. “When you’re back-checking, you’re skating hard to catch the guy, and Pav’s so good at not letting the guy know that he’s right behind him.”

On Tuesday, the Red Wings learned that Datsyuk is a finalist for the Selke – awarded annually to the best defensive forward – for the third straight season. He has won the award the last two years.

Datsyuk will learn if he’s won for a third straight time at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas on June 23.

The category that best lends credence to the award is takeaways, something Datsyuk has turned into an art form. Over the last four seasons, he is the only player to finish each season among the league’s top five puck thieves. Datsyuk was first in three of the seasons, with 2008-09 being the lone exception when he was second to Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin by five steals.

Again this season, Datsyuk led the league with 132 takeaways – 49 more than Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler, who finished second in the category. Kesler, a Livonia, Mich., native, and Pittsburgh's Jordan Staal are also Selke finalists.

Asked if anyone is better at what Datsyuk does on the ice, Lidstrom said, “That would be Hank”, referring to the other half of the Wings’ Euro Twins, Henrik Zetterberg.

“But seriously,” Lidstrom continued, “I think both of them are so strong defensively. They get a lot of recognition for their offense, but Pav has won in the past and he’s very good defensively. Hank does the same thing. He’s very responsible defensively, and has the offensive skills to be a top player in the league.”

If Datsyuk wins the Selke again, he’ll become the first player win three in a row since Montreal’s Bob Gainey won four straight, beginning with the inaugural award in 1978.

Over the last 15 seasons, the Selke has been award to a Red Wings’ player 40 percent of the time, with Kris Draper (2004), Steve Yzerman (2000) and Sergei Fedorov (1994, ’96) also taking home the prize.

While a language barrier often makes communication, even with teammates, difficult, forward Darren Helm said that he learns from just watching Datsyuk.

“Every day, every game, he does something,” Helm said. “His skill with his stick and his ability to take pucks off of players, the moves that he makes with the puck, are just so unbelievable.

“There are a couple of times where I’m like, ‘Wow!’ ”

The Wings are so accustom to seeing Datsyuk’s on-ice magic, that singling out a particular play isn’t easy. There are just far too many, Lidstrom said.

“I think we’ve gotten used to it now, but his takeaways are what you think of,” he said. “He just as a knack of finding the puck, back-checking hard and lifting a guy’s stick.

“Most players slash or go after a player. They give the puck-carrier a chance to know that they’re behind them. Pav doesn’t do that. He waits until the last second when he can take the puck. He’s the best at it in the league.”

DetroitRedWings.com

[dat's sick 1,002]

Go Pavel!

Kesler has a lot of hype and they might be looking to give it to someone else after Pav has won 2 straight, but I fully believe that out of those 3, Datsyuk it the most deserving winner.

[Lidstrom for life 20]

Way to go Pavel! I have a question, I know +/- isn't the most reliable stat ever but how is Kesler, who finished the season +1 a candidate for this? Stall and Datsyuk finished a + 19 and 17 respectively, neither of which is outstanding but they were both 1st on their team among forwards. Kesler, on the other hand, had only the 10th(!) best plus minus among forwards on his team. I am in no way trying to discredit Kesler I am really curious about this as I have not seen Vancouver play very much this year I don't know much about him.

[Doc Holliday 1,888]

Way to go Pavel! I have a question, I know +/- isn't the most reliable stat ever but how is Kesler, who finished the season +1 a candidate for this? Stall and Datsyuk finished a + 19 and 17 respectively, neither of which is outstanding but they were both 1st on their team among forwards. Kesler, on the other hand, had only the 10th(!) best plus minus among forwards on his team. I am in no way trying to discredit Kesler I am really curious about this as I have not seen Vancouver play very much this year I don't know much about him.

Kesler was a minus player at one point in the season.

Datsyuk also has a very low amount of time on the PK compared to his competitors as well.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Aren't the amount of shorthanded goals taken strongly into consideration?

I don't remember Pavel having many of those, but I'm not sure how many the other guys had.

[dat's sick 1,002]

Way to go Pavel! I have a question, I know +/- isn't the most reliable stat ever but how is Kesler, who finished the season +1 a candidate for this? Stall and Datsyuk finished a + 19 and 17 respectively, neither of which is outstanding but they were both 1st on their team among forwards. Kesler, on the other hand, had only the 10th(!) best plus minus among forwards on his team. I am in no way trying to discredit Kesler I am really curious about this as I have not seen Vancouver play very much this year I don't know much about him.

Yep, and that is on the 2nd best team in the leage 5-on-5.

It's also worth mentioning that while Kesler plays more on the PK than Pavel, Vancouver's PK is below average.

Aren't the amount of shorthanded goals taken strongly into consideration?

I don't remember Pavel having many of those, but I'm not sure how many the other guys had.

Pavel didn't have any, but Kesler only had 1 and Staal 2.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

i bet they'll give it to kesler or staal. i think pavel is the most deserving of it. his defensive play has been consistently great all year.

[xtrememachine1 795]

Numbers wise, Datsyuk should win it, but it'll probably go to Bettman's favorites and Staal will get it.

[Sprsquirt7 45]

Datsyuk is the best candidate, I wrote about it in the other thread a bit. Having that many take aways above the second place person is just rediculous. The major differences are the +/- and the short handed TOI. In my opinion +/- is more important than shorthanded TOI.

I wonder if the people voting will take into consideration the teams that these players played for and what they actually went through. Datsyuk had a glorified grand rapids team for quite a few months and Kesler played with the #2 scoring team in the NHL, who never really struggled as a team. If that is taken into consideration it would make a huge difference in the sway of voters.

[jollymania 162]

it is a joke that staal was nominated

[titanium2 867]

it is a joke that staal was nominated

How so?

[ChitownWingsfan 54]

Hawks fans here seem to be a bit riled that Toews isn't a finalist.

[redwingcapt 52]

Will he win this year?

his +/- is sub par from years before

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=526313

Edited April 20, 2010 by redwingcapt

[RedArmy 4]

isn't Kessler only +1 all season, that doesn't seem like a good figure for a top defensive forwards...

[Guest Lidstromboli]

is +/- the only argument people can come up with against Kesler?

[dat's sick 1,002]

is +/- the only argument people can come up with against Kesler?

Less takeaways, less goals..

[Guest Lidstromboli]

more points

more pk time

Edited April 20, 2010 by Lidstromboli

[dat's sick 1,002]

more points

more pk time

Only 5 points more on a better team that had less injuries.

More PK time, helping the Canucks PK to 18th in the league.

[Phazon 24]

who cares about this award as long as he suck in the playoffs

[titanium2 867]

Hawks fans here seem to be a bit riled that Toews isn't a finalist.

I would be too if I were primarily a Hawks fan.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

Stall was nominated because he hasn't won any individual awards yet, while Malkin and Crosby have.

[Guest Lidstromboli]

Only 5 points more on a better team that had less injuries.

More PK time, helping the Canucks PK to 18th in the league.

american

[titanium2 867]

american

Hahaha.

They don't want to see Datsyuk give another accented thank you speech?

[titanium2 867]

Interesting quote:

“He deserves that,” Zetterberg said today, as the Wings prepared to overturn a 2-1 deficit to the Coyotes headed into tonight’s Game 4. “He is a real good defensive player. It would be fun to see him win it again. He’s amazed me. When you sit on the bench, you just start laughing sometimes because he is doing stuff that you’re not supposed to do out there.”

http://www.freep.com/article/20100420/SPORTS05/100420047/1354/sports/Datsyuk-listed-as-Selke-finalist

Doing stuff that you're not supposed to do? Like what?

[55fan 5,133]

Interesting quote:

Doing stuff that you're not supposed to do? Like what?

I think he means "physically impossible" or something like that. At least that follows what I've heard in other interviews with him and other Swede teammates talking about Datsyuk. Sammy and Kronner have also said things like "he's not supposed to do that" meaning it's super-human.