Red Wings players share memories of Datsyuk prior to Hall induction

DETROIT -- On June 23, the day before Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final, Ken Holland had breakfast at the Edmonton Oilers hotel with Pavel Datsyuk.

Holland was the Detroit Red Wings GM when they selected Datsyuk in the sixth round (No. 171) of the 1998 NHL Draft and for all of Datsyuk's 14 seasons with the Red Wings from 2001-16.

Now he was the GM of the Oilers, who were preparing to play the Florida Panthers in a winner-take-all situation. He texted star center Leon Draisaitl.

"Leon came right down and got a picture with Pavel Datsyuk," Holland said. "That was his idol growing up."

Many players feel that way about Datsyuk, who will enter the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto on Monday with Colin Campbell, Natalie Darwitz, David Poile, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber and Krissy Wendell. When the Class of 2024 was announced June 25, Roenick called Datsyuk one of his idols.

Patrick Kane said he would watch Detroit games on television while playing for London of the Ontario Hockey League in 2006-07, paying special attention to Datsyuk if there was a shootout.

Kane entered the NHL with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007-08, when Datsyuk was voted the winner of the Selke Trophy as the League's best defensive forward for the first of three straight seasons. He remembers Datsyuk stripping him at the blue line late in a period and scoring on a breakaway.

"I think he was the first guy I played against that was scary to play against without being so physical," said Kane, who now plays for Detroit. "There were times you could have complete control of the puck, think you have all the time in the world, and he finds a way to get behind you and strip it from you. It was an unbelievable talent. He was the best at it."

Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor grew up in the Detroit area studying Datsyuk on YouTube.

"I was digging deep on clips," Connor said. "Just the way he thought the game and his stick play. It was like he was trying to come up with something new every shift."

Connor faced Datsyuk at the 2016 IIHF World Championship in Russia, when he played for the United States and Datsyuk played for Russia. He got to say a brief hello after the game.

"It meant a lot to me," Connor said. "It was funny. He had an assist on a goal. It was just typical, the way he stripped the puck. I think he stripped a [defenseman] down low and fed it to the slot for a one-timer for somebody, and that stuck out to me at that moment."

The Red Wings have multiple players who grew up in the Detroit area watching Datsyuk, whose picture hangs in the dressing room with those of the team's other all-time greats.

Defenseman Jeff Petry said his dad, Dan, got him a green No. 26 Datsyuk jersey from the 2004 NHL All-Star Game in Minnesota. It remains in his collection. Petry was 17 then. Datsyuk, who wore No. 13 for Detroit, was making his first of three NHL All-Star Game appearances.

When Petry played for the Oilers early in his NHL career, he skated with Datsyuk in informal practices at Joe Louis Arena before the season.

"One thing I remember is thinking, 'I'm going to get the puck,'" Petry said. "He whacks your stick, and then yours goes six inches away from the puck. That gives him that little window to pick it up and go.

"You see all the highlights, and then when you're actually, like, on the ice with him and seeing that, it was really special what he could do. He was a guy who could make you look silly, and he did."

Any particular play?

"There was one," Petry said. "It was in Edmonton. I don't remember what year it was. I came down the wing, and he kind of went inside out and took a shot from above the … Yeah, he got me."

Petry laughed.

"I didn't make his top 10," he said.

Forwards Andrew Copp and Alex DeBrincat each said Datsyuk was one of his favorite players.

DeBrincat said he definitely had a Datsyuk jersey and maybe a poster too.

"I've tried his shootout moves a couple times," DeBrincat said. "It doesn't work as good."

DeBrincat laughed.

"I think it was so fun to watch him growing up," he said. "It's hard to take things from his game, because he was so unique in that way. … You watch him over and over again, and it becomes normal. But then there's still, like, those plays that you're like, 'What? What happened? That's sick.'"

Captain Dylan Larkin studied Datsyuk from the stands as a kid.

"Any time we got tickets a game to the Joe to watch him, I'd always watch Datsyuk without the puck, watch how hard he works," he said. "That's when you could really appreciate it, when you were a fan and at the game, just the little things he did."

Larkin got to play with Datsyuk in 2015-16, when he was a rookie and Datsyuk was at the end of his NHL career. He remembers Datsyuk's famous keep-away games after practice.

"I remember being able to jump in one time and just how hard it was -- how gassed you were, how heavy his stick was, his little tricks that he would do," Larkin said with a laugh. "He would push on your shin pads. You'd fall over. Just little things. He had just such strong hands.

"And I was tired. He did, like, four or five guys before that, so he had his whole routine. After morning skates, he'd do it with, like, four guys, and we had to play that night. He just loved the game."