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Updates:
Fabbri traded to Anaheim with a conditional fourth rounder for Gage Alexander (listed as AHL at this point)
Tarasenko signed for 2 yrs @4.75. - initial thought is basically Fabbri swapped out, Tarasenko brought in. Don’t know the conditions on the draft pick. The question will essentially be is Tarasenko an upgrade from Fabbri?
While “fun facts” are great, an incredible opportunity has been given to this year’s prospect camp attendees.
Pavel Datsyuk has spent time on and off the ice with this group. Among the tips from the newly minted Hall of Famer, how to protect the puck and separate yourself from defenders. If any of the attendees can utilize even a fraction of that knowledge, they will be taking a step in the right direction.
Datsyuk could use his core, quads and, um, rear to essentially hold defenders at bay. Anyone who watched his career has seen opponents actually bounce off of him while trying to deliver a check. The amount of training put into the core and leg strength is supposed to be legendary. Stories of teammates seeing Pav doing squats and saying, “you know we have a game tonight, right?” Pavel’s sense of humor was fantastic as he replied, “what time?”
Apart from his jaw dropping skating and puck work, the Russian Center was deceptively strong. He was also incredibly creative making small plays that could create scoring or shut down offensive attacks. Since the week has been so full of business and debates, it seemed like a good time to insert a couple of my favorite moments watching #13.
The first was a pre season game against Boston. Patrice Bergeron, one of my favorite centers to play the game, had his pocket picked by Pasha (say it 5 times fast) and exclaimed loudly enough to be picked up by rink mic’s, “Are you kidding me?!!!” It was a fun moment and a tip of the cap. Datsyuk seemed to be able to pull off those sneaky steals and send players back to their benches bewildered.
The second was one it took me a few minutes to appreciate. Detroit was working a cycle on the power play and #13 was up at the blue line. A defender (cannot remember who we were playing, but the game is in a box of VHS treasures) tried a hard around that ended up going across the glass. Pav leaned into the boards (the glass still had gaps at that point) and made the boards wave causing the puck to be knocked onto the ice in front of him. It seemed like such a small movement but to be able to have that process in real time was something special.
In the video above, Pavel’s “fun fact” is that he’s still walking. He had some pretty extensive foot surgery late in his NHL career that went from being a quick procedure to a near 4 hour event. Pav had been playing through extensive damage and his unique stance (a bit pigeon toed) combined with his strength just wore his feet out. You can see him walking a bit bow legged and he used that to his advantage.
While it’s been an interesting back and forth regarding jersey retirement, there seems to be little doubt that Datsyuk was a one off. His creativity in the shootout had returning former Blackhawk Patrick Kane leaning far over the boards to watch him. For the new kids, they were able to grow up watching him on Youtube. It sounds like a couple of them couldn’t help going full fan boy when they saw him on the ice. For me personally, it’s been a transport back to an amazing career for one of the best 2 way centers (if not THE best) I’ve ever had the privilege to watch.
If you have favorite moments (maybe someone falling on their rear trying to defend him) please share them. It’s not a bad thing to relive something so special. There won’t be another Datsyuk, and we were incredibly blessed to have him sport the Winged Wheel.
Below are a fun quick video of Danielson and Axel Sandin-Pellikka along with the prospect camp roster.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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