Datsyuk far from 'awful'

by Chris Kober | Hockeytalk.biz

NOVEMBER 22, 2011 -- Smooth, quick, shifty, smart, dazzling and dangerous are just some of the words that come to mind when thinking about Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings. After having been held without a point in three straight games however, he used another word to describe himself to the Detroit Free Press: Awful.

Datsyuk (left) was far from awful in the subsequent three games, scoring two goals and five points against the Sharks, Kings and Ducks to close out a four game road trip. His goals weren’t classic Datsyuk type goals resulting from his seemingly effortless speed and otherworldly hands, as both came off rebounds, but they exemplify the work ethic he has put into his game recently and throughout his career.

“It was great to see him get rewarded,” said team Captain Nicklas Lidstrom after Datsyuk’s two goal game in Los Angeles, “He’s had a lot of chances but the puck hasn’t gone in for him and finally today he got some bounces but he’s working hard. So it’s great to see how that hard work is really paying off for him.”

Still Datsyuk’s focus is not on himself.

“Who care about personal, it’s more team about,” Datsyuk said. “We win, we play together we keep going. Maybe after we think about personal, but hockey’s a team game. No personal.”

But as with most World-Class superstars a personal slump can correlate to collective struggles. Head Coach Mike Babcock sees Datsyuk’s lack of production as a microcosm of the team as a whole. The talent is there and with enough hard work goals and games will eventually break in their favor.

“The story of our year,” Babcock explained, “Is, we’ve played a lot of good hockey and we’ve found ways to make enough mistakes that we haven’t been able to win enough. You can’t continually get 38 shots a game and give up 22 or 24 or whatever and not win. Eventually it’s going to happen for you.

“It’s not like we haven’t worked,” he continued, “But the results aren’t coming. So we can all get down and yell and scream or be mad at each other, but to me that’s a waste of time.”

Babcock hopes that that air of positivity, as well as a breakthrough like Saturday night against Los Angeles will be enough to spark Datsyuk going forward.

“He’s a goal scorer,” said Babcock. “He wants to score; he wants to feel good about himself”

One of the great things about Datsyuk though, is that even when frustrated by not producing offensively, as his line mate Todd Bertuzzi suggested he might be, he can still contribute to the team in many other ways.

He naturally logs a lot of minutes on the power play but contributes shorthanded as well. And while he is best known for what Ken Daniels refers to as the “Datsyukian Deke,” he also won three consecutive Selke Trophies from 2008 to 2010 as the NHL’s best defensive forward.

“He does everything out there,” said Bertuzzi, “That’s the thing, he works hard defensively and for me and Mule [Johan Franzen] I think it’s just a matter of trying to give him a little bit of a break out there; trying to hold onto the puck a little bit and give him some time to gather himself and get him the puck in those spots [where he can score].”

Through 19 games, he may be on pace for a career low in goals (17) but he leads the Red Wings’ centers in faceoff percentage with 55.9% and he tops the league in takeaways with 29. Seeing as the Red Wings’ entire game plan revolves around controlling the puck, starting the majority of shifts with it and stealing it back are almost as big a part of his game as finishing.

The late Ruslan Salei, a former Red Wing, once said: “Everybody likes to play puck possession game if you can. It’s always easier to play with the puck than chasing it, and it’s obviously more fun.”

Maybe now that he’s back on a scoring streak and his team has put together back to back wins Datsyuk can resume having fun.

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