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Datsyukian-Deke

Datsyuk Announcement to Officially Leave NHL

By Datsyukian-Deke, in General

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sibiriak    84

sibiriak
Posted

Aaron Ward ‏@NHL_AaronWard 3m3 minutes ago

Pavel Datsyuk contract with SKA St. Petersburg #KHL is a 2 year/ 500M Ruble ($7.6M US) total deal.Expected to be signed end of this week.

So much for wanting to be closer to his daughter. It's about 2000 mi from St Petersburg to Ekaterinburg, where his daughter lives. Might as well fly there from Detroit. I don't begrudge Pavel his desire to play in Russia, but please stop using tearjerking excuses (want to be closer to his family) and just tell the truth: "I can't play in the NHL as well as I used to, so I'm going to an easier league, and will make more money there." 7.6 mil/yr with 13% taxes >> $7.5 mil/yr with 40%+ taxes

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PavelValerievichDatsyuk    1,935

PavelValerievichDatsyuk
Posted

Yeah, it is 3.8 mill per year.

He was going to make 5 mill next year here, plus he lost the 2 mill off last years contract. So, he's down 3.2 mill due this decision. Why people want to think the worst of this guy is beyond me.

So much for wanting to be closer to his daughter. It's about 2000 mi from St Petersburg to Ekaterinburg, where his daughter lives. Might as well fly there from Detroit. I don't begrudge Pavel his desire to play in Russia, but please stop using tearjerking excuses (want to be closer to his family) and just tell the truth: "I can't play in the NHL as well as I used to, so I'm going to an easier league, and will make more money there." 7.6 mil/yr with 13% taxes >> $7.5 mil/yr with 40%+ taxes

I don't know how you know where his daughter lives, but he actually has 2 daughters; one with his current wife and one with the ex-wife according to wikipedia. Maybe the current family lives near St Petersburg. But it doesn't really matter. He'll be travelling with the team all over Russia for the league and I'm sure will be close to Ekaterinburg often. Or he has a 2 hour flight.

Even though I'm sure you meant the "might as well fly from Detroit" comment as exaggeration, it is completely ridiculous. It would be one of those almost day-long flights and hence Datsyuk probably only saw his daughter in the couple months during the offseason and being in Russia he'll be able to see her much more often even if they don't live in the same town. Or maybe it wasn't just to be with the 1 daughter - he has said "to be with family" certain times. It was just the Albom article that made it sound like it was about the teenaged daughter. Anyway, the specifics are really not our business - I don't see and reason not to respect him and trust the explanation he gave.

Plus his early departure has given us a great opportunity to improve the team. While I would have loved to watch him for another year, this could be better for the franchise. I see no reason for bitterness or cynicism on this.

NerveDamage, krsmith17, DatsyukianDekes and 1 other reacted to this

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Jacksoni    418

Jacksoni
Posted

Another prediction that came true, I must be psychic. Or perhaps it was by far the most likely outcome. I have another prediction coming up regarding Brendan Smith, but I will ponder it some more and post it in it's appropriate thread.

Can't see how this is any closer to his family than Detroit was in regards to accessibility unless they move there. I am closer to him than his hometown is. jacksoni-Pavel is about 430 miles as the crow flies.

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toby91_ca    620

toby91_ca
Posted (edited)

My only concern in all of this is leaving before the end of the contract. When he signed, he knew if he left before the end of the deal, the team would still be stuck with the cap hit (I know they got around it by trading him, but that's not the point). If he was going to leave after 2 years, why did he sign a 3 year deal....he actually pushed for a 5 year deal. That's the part that bothers me, why didn't he take the Lidstrom route?

I'm guessing there are stronger reasons than we are aware of that came up recently drawing him back to Russia, but not sure about that.

I'm not going to hate on the guy over this, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't matter the way he left.

Edit: maybe he spoke with Holland and was assured the team would have no problem trading the contract, etc. before he made his final decision. That being the case, I'd have a totally different view, but if that was the case, I'm sure we'd know about it.

Edited by toby91_ca

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kickazz    5,459

kickazz
Posted (edited)

2 year contract huh?

So he will probably play one year, retire, and go play in Sweden then?

To be closer to his friend Lidstrom, who he rarely gets to see anymore.

----

Jokes aside I think the KHL team was stupid to not go year by year.

Datsyuk is injury prone, bad knee an a bad ankle there's no guarantee he'll even play half of a season.

Will be hilarious if that team gets screwed with his contract too.

Edited by kickazz
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Jacksoni    418

Jacksoni
Posted

My only concern in all of this is leaving before the end of the contract. When he signed, he knew if he left before the end of the deal, the team would still be stuck with the cap hit (I know they got around it by trading him, but that's not the point). If he was going to leave after 2 years, why did he sign a 3 year deal....he actually pushed for a 5 year deal. That's the part that bothers me, why didn't he take the Lidstrom route?

I'm guessing there are stronger reasons than we are aware of that came up recently drawing him back to Russia, but not sure about that.

I'm not going to hate on the guy over this, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't matter the way he left.

Edit: maybe he spoke with Holland and was assured the team would have no problem trading the contract, etc. before he made his final decision. That being the case, I'd have a totally different view, but if that was the case, I'm sure we'd know about it.

Got your point. You need to watch this for your questions to illuminated. The subject starts right away in the beginning:

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sibiriak    84

sibiriak
Posted

Yeah, it is 3.8 mill per year.

He was going to make 5 mill next year here, plus he lost the 2 mill off last years contract. So, he's down 3.2 mill due this decision. Why people want to think the worst of this guy is beyond me.

I don't know how you know where his daughter lives, but he actually has 2 daughters; one with his current wife and one with the ex-wife according to wikipedia. Maybe the current family lives near St Petersburg. But it doesn't really matter. He'll be travelling with the team all over Russia for the league and I'm sure will be close to Ekaterinburg often. Or he has a 2 hour flight.

Even though I'm sure you meant the "might as well fly from Detroit" comment as exaggeration, it is completely ridiculous. It would be one of those almost day-long flights and hence Datsyuk probably only saw his daughter in the couple months during the offseason and being in Russia he'll be able to see her much more often even if they don't live in the same town. Or maybe it wasn't just to be with the 1 daughter - he has said "to be with family" certain times. It was just the Albom article that made it sound like it was about the teenaged daughter. Anyway, the specifics are really not our business - I don't see and reason not to respect him and trust the explanation he gave.

Plus his early departure has given us a great opportunity to improve the team. While I would have loved to watch him for another year, this could be better for the franchise. I see no reason for bitterness or cynicism on this.

I am not bitter, as I said, I don't begrudge him this, but why insult our intelligence with " wanting to be closer to family stuff"? Many times he said that he is concerned about his daughter becoming a teenager without him being there for her. This can only mean his first daughter, that lives in Russia with his first wife, in both of their hometown - Ekaterinburg, in the Urals region. SKA St Petersburg and Automobilist Ekaterinburg are in different conferences, and SKA will not be playing Automobilist in Ekaterinburg more then once a year, unless both team make it to Gagarin Cup finals, which is very unlikely in the latter case. I doubt Pavel would be able to fly even 2 hours away in the middle of the season. So the only extra time he would get with his daughter will be that 1 visit to E-burg, and also perhaps after the end of the season (KHL season is shorter), but Pavel will definitely be on team Russia for the World Championships next Spring, so he'll be busy until late May anyway, even if SKA doesn't go far in the playoffs. Because of all this, I believe that he will gain at best 2-3 days per year more with his older daughter than if he stayed in Detroit. If he really wanted to be with his daughter, he would be playing for his hometown team, but it couldn't possibly pay him a third of what SKA will. Therefor it is all about the money and lower competition, and has little to do with family. Again, if Pavel wants to play in Russia, fine. Just don't bring family stuff into this, especially if it is so transparently not the deciding factor..

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Echolalia    2,961

Echolalia
Posted

I am not bitter, as I said, I don't begrudge him this, but why insult our intelligence with " wanting to be closer to family stuff"? Many times he said that he is concerned about his daughter becoming a teenager without him being there for her. This can only mean his first daughter, that lives in Russia with his first wife, in both of their hometown - Ekaterinburg, in the Urals region. SKA St Petersburg and Automobilist Ekaterinburg are in different conferences, and SKA will not be playing Automobilist in Ekaterinburg more then once a year, unless both team make it to Gagarin Cup finals, which is very unlikely in the latter case. I doubt Pavel would be able to fly even 2 hours away in the middle of the season. So the only extra time he would get with his daughter will be that 1 visit to E-burg, and also perhaps after the end of the season (KHL season is shorter), but Pavel will definitely be on team Russia for the World Championships next Spring, so he'll be busy until late May anyway, even if SKA doesn't go far in the playoffs. Because of all this, I believe that he will gain at best 2-3 days per year more with his older daughter than if he stayed in Detroit. If he really wanted to be with his daughter, he would be playing for his hometown team, but it couldn't possibly pay him a third of what SKA will. Therefor it is all about the money and lower competition, and has little to do with family. Again, if Pavel wants to play in Russia, fine. Just don't bring family stuff into this, especially if it is so transparently not the deciding factor..

How do you know where his daughter lives? Also I think you're underestimating the family thing. At the very least their time zones are closer together so something as simple as calling or facetiming is now possible, whereas when he was in Detroit they were on opposite schedules. Also a two hour flight is no biggie for those periods when they have a couple days off between games/practices, or if Datsyuk is out for a period of time with an injury.

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sibiriak    84

sibiriak
Posted (edited)

How do you know where his daughter lives? Also I think you're underestimating the family thing. At the very least their time zones are closer together so something as simple as calling or facetiming is now possible, whereas when he was in Detroit they were on opposite schedules. Also a two hour flight is no biggie for those periods when they have a couple days off between games/practices, or if Datsyuk is out for a period of time with an injury.

If he's out with injury he could fly wherever he wanted from Detroit too. Time difference is not a big deal. It's 8 or 9 hours b/w Detroit and E-burg (depending on the season), so he can call after the game at 11pm and it would be 8am there, or he can call in the morning, 9am and it would be 6 in the evening there. Not onerous at all for either party. Again, I have nothing against Datsyuk playing in Russia, I just think he need not have brought his daughter into this. No reason for it. Pavel is my favorite player all time, and I have seen Kharlamov, Maltsev, Bobby Hull, Guy Lefleur, Larry Robinson play. I just lost a bit of respect for Pavel over this, I thought he was a real stand up guy, but money talks even to the best of us, I guess,

Edited by sibiriak

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NerveDamage    4,176

NerveDamage
Posted

If he's out with injury he could fly wherever he wanted from Detroit too. Time difference is not a big deal. It's 8 or 9 hours b/w Detroit and E-burg (depending on the season), so he can call after the game at 11pm and it would be 8am there, or he can call in the morning, 9am and it would be 6 in the evening there. Not onerous at all for either party. Again, I have nothing against Datsyuk playing in Russia, I just think he need not have brought his daughter into this. No reason for it. Pavel is my favorite player all time, and I have seen Kharlamov, Maltsev, Bobby Hull, Guy Lefleur, Larry Robinson play. I just lost a bit of respect for Pavel over this, I thought he was a real stand up guy, but money talks even to the best of us, I guess,

because jet lag is for pansies right? So you'd rather have his salary hit instead of freeing up that money to pursue other forwards?

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Echolalia    2,961

Echolalia
Posted

If he's out with injury he could fly wherever he wanted from Detroit too. Time difference is not a big deal. It's 8 or 9 hours b/w Detroit and E-burg (depending on the season), so he can call after the game at 11pm and it would be 9am there, or he can call in the morning, 8am and it would be 6 in the evening there. Not onerous at all for either party. Again, I have nothing against Datsyuk playing in Russia, I just think he need not have brought his daughter into this. No reason for it. Pavel is my favorite player all time, and I have seen Kharlamov, Maltsev, Bobby Hull, Guy Lefleur, Larry Robinson play. I just lost a bit of respect for Pavel over this, I thought he was a real stand up guy, but money talks even to the best of us, I guess,

Time difference is a huge deal. I don't know how often you've had to sit in a plane for 18 hours and then deal with the subsequent jet lag, but its def not worth it for a few days (and couple thousand bucks on a plane ticket). I would also absolutely hate being limited to speaking with my loved ones to either 11pm or 8am (11pm here likely would be when she's in school, and 8am here he's likely getting ready or already at practice, so who knows if even those are an option). You keep saying that you have nothing against Dats, but you're really coming off as a bitter fan, especially when you say things like "oh just call your daughter at 11pm here/9am there. Its not onerous at all."

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kickazz    5,459

kickazz
Posted (edited)

I think the daughter not being around situation is a SMALL part of it. I don't think it's as big as we think it is or as big as he might have made it out to be.

I think the BIG issue was that Datsyuk missed Russia. He missed his home. He was home sick. Datsyuk has ALWAYS been loyal to his country and has ALWAYS talked about going back home EVEN when his daughter lived here in the late 2000s.

He almost went back to Russia after his original contract was up if I'm not mistaken. This was when he was still married to his first wife and his daughter was going to school in Michigan.

I don't have an issue with any of this by the way. A man's home is valuable to him and I get it. There's no way I would go play hockey in Russia for 14 years and NOT miss Michigan. I'd probably be home sick in about a week lol.

But all in all I still cannot pretend like it was okay for him to sign a 3 year extension and one month into it try to get out of it. That's some bulls*** and you all know it.

Thankfully it's worked out and we were able to move the contract. He made some mistakes, he knows it, he felt bad and guilty about it and it's totally okay. He didn't make excuses for himself and neither should we. Datsyuk isn't perfect, he is Houdini. He's the magician. He's not the Perfect Human. He's not Niklas Lidstrom :P

Edited by kickazz

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sibiriak    84

sibiriak
Posted

because jet lag is for pansies right? So you'd rather have his salary hit instead of freeing up that money to pursue other forwards?

I thought that the hypothetical here was that Datsyuk was out with an injury and went to see his family in Russia? Meaning out for more than a day or 2? In that case, you fly there, sleep for 6-8 hours and you are fine the next day. Spend a week in Russia, fly back, repeat. I have done it myself, it is not a big deal if you are going for more than a few days. I don't care about the salary cap hit at all. I doubt we will get Stamkos, and if we don't, then we are not going to get anyone better than Datsyuk would have been, even at his age. So it's a wash for me - having Datsyuk for one more year or getting tier 2 FA or 2 instead.

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