Datsyuk 'made my career' on his way to Hall of Fame, Zetterberg says

Henrik Zetterberg joined the Detroit Red Wings in 2002-03, one season after Pavel Datsyuk. They played together for 13 seasons, making the Stanley Cup Playoffs each season and winning the Cup in 2008. Friends off the ice, partners on the power play, often linemates, they became known as the “Eurotwins.”

They factored on the same goal 286 times in the regular season and 45 times in the playoffs. Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio (560 in the regular season and 50 in the playoffs) and Howe and Ted Lindsay (379 in the regular season and 46 in the playoffs) are the only duos to factor into more goals in Red Wings history.

Ahead of Datsyuk’s Hockey Hall of Fame induction Monday, Zetterberg shares his thoughts on Datsyuk in a special testimonial for NHL.com:

My son, Love, is 9 now. When we watch highlights from back in the day, I say things like, “Oh, my God, look at that pass from 'Pav.' ” When you were in it, you didn’t think about it that much, but when you really think of it, he made my career. He was one of the most skilled two-way players who ever played. He was so strong on the puck. Unbelievable defense, but highlight-reel offense.

My rookie season, I was a 22-year-old from Sweden. Pav was a 24-year-old from Russia who had just won the Cup as a rookie. We were young guys on a team of full of future Hall of Famers. We were comfortable speaking English with each other. It was probably never perfect, but we found a way to communicate. It’s the same even now. I throw him a text. It takes me a while to figure it out. Like, what is he trying to say now? It’s sort of English, but always with humor. He’s a funny guy.

We connected right away. I couldn’t have been in a better spot than playing with Pav. We enjoyed playing kind of the same way, and he gave me confidence. He gave me the belief that I could play the way I wanted to, play my game.

Early on, we skated with Brett Hull on a line nicknamed “Two Kids and an Old Goat.” We had one of the best snipers in the world, who was always open, by the way. We heard that a lot. I think “Hully” enjoyed playing with us. Pav and I weren’t really shooters. I remember on the power play, Hully was just circling. I passed it, or Pav passed it. Hully really took care of us, too, not just on the ice but off the ice. He really made sure that we were part of the group.

We didn’t have to be stars at first. We got to learn how to do it the right way from so many leaders -- Steve Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, Chris Chelios, Brendan Shanahan, Igor Larionov. They knew how to win. There was never panic. We had fun. We had a lot of fun. But after games, you went into the weight room and did your stuff. When I look back on it, we were so spoiled being there, and for me, playing with Pav.

We wanted to play together all the time, because we loved to play together, but we understood when we didn’t play together too. It gave the team a one-two punch. Whenever we were reunited, we didn’t miss a beat. The reason is, we thought the game the same. As soon as he said something, I was like, “Yep.” As soon as I said something, he was like, “Yep.” We didn’t have go over stuff for long. It just clicked.

You can pick out Pav walking among 400 people 100 yards away. His body is built for skating, always low. He was a really hard worker. I couldn’t do the old-school, heavy stuff he did in the gym, squats and jumping. He’d do it before a game. I’d be like, “What are you doing, Pavel?” He’d say, “My legs need to go. I’m slow.” I’d be like, “Well, that will make you even slower.” But it worked for him.

Pav loved to play keep-away. He could be one of the best ever at protecting the puck. He almost teased the defensemen. He showed them the puck, and all of a sudden, he’d just hit away their stick. That was Pav. For us to do that after basically every practice, it was something that I think helped me a lot. I think he beat me every time.

If you held his stick, it was like a log. It was like, “How can he play with this?” He almost had a double curve. It went that way and then that way. You couldn’t shoot with it. Impossible. But he could. His wrister was one of the hardest on the team. His backhand was insane, but that’s because he had a righty curve as a lefty. Like, he cheated.

He never cheated for offense, though. He never chased points. He could have won the scoring title if he wanted to, I think. No one else had the moves like his, and he was so creative. Daniel and Henrik Sedin get credit for the drop pass on the power play, but it was us. I know Henrik and Daniel, and they said, “We saw that. You guys did it.” He came up with it. He always came to me like, “What do you think about this, Hank? How about if I shoot it right behind the goal, right there in that spot. It will bounce out on the other side.”

The cool thing with Pav was, when he was fooling around in practice, we knew, “OK, give it four or five games, he’ll do it in a game.” Remember the famous breakaway goal he scored on Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco on Nov. 12, 2003?

He did that in practice a couple of weeks before. No one knew at the time he was going to do it, but as soon as he did it, we were like, “Oh, yeah, there it is.” But that’s something that he kind of just probably thought about in his head, like, “This could work, and it would be fun.”