Babcock needs to wake the hell up. These past dozen games since Pavel has had garbage playing with him, you can tell just by looking at him that he is frustrated and just not happy. If you want any chance of convincing him to sign an extra year or two even, then as a coach you need to start treating him like you should always have been treating him! Pavel Datsyuk should be playing with a goal scorer not pylons. Brunner and/ or Hank NEEDS to be playing with Pavel at all times so that they get going offensively and so Pavel enjoys the game. If one enjoys the game, they just might be inclined to stick around a bit longer. Imo, Pavel has not had a good line ever since Hossa left this team and Kenny and Babcock have not helped.
I wouldn't immediately say that because you have absolutely NO knowledge of how Pasha feels. I've seen him numerous times on the bench with a smile on his face, joking around with Abby, and generally looking like he has a lot of fun. We as fans simply don't know what the hell goes on daily. We don't. We don't know the conversations Babcock has with the players, we don't know how the locker room is. For all we know, Babcock could be perfectly explaining himself to Pasha why he has the linemates he has, and Pasha is more than okay with that. He knows he can handle a team by himself, he knows he can individually have enough skill and effort to carry a line, unfortunately he hasn't been able to do so. Some players get motivated when they are looked upon, other's can't. We simply just don't know what the hell is going on so we can't say stuff like this. This article, all of it, is just here say. Some of the closest people to the franchise and travel with the organization have said they personally think he will be signing on for years to come, Larry Murphy thinks he's going for four years, but that's simply just not going to happen in my eyes. I'm just saying, the guys who ACTUALLY spend time with the team, players, and all the supporting cast have been saying they see an extension, as all the fans who have absolutely no place with the team except rooting them on says, "HES NOT HAVING ANY FUN HES GOING BACK TO RUSSIA." Okay, well, i'm going to side with the opinion that actually has connections within the locker room, not a bunch of kids and adults that talk hockey over the internet.
