2009-2010 Player Profiles: Pavel Datsyuk...

OK, it’s that time of year. Hockey’s so close that you can almost taste it. By my count, there are 21 days remaining before the Wings kick off their season in Sweden (which is still entirely too many, but at least we can see the light at the end of the tunnel). In order to pass the time, I’ll be posting a player profile every day until then (in alphabetical order, because I’m one of those people). I want to make it very clear that these are not predictions, because I do not, under any circumstance, make predictions. They’re simply my thoughts on each player’s performances last season, and my hopes and expectations for them this time around. Today's subject:

Pavel Datsyuk

2008-2009 Regular Season: 81 GP, 32-65-97, +/- 34, 22 PIM
2009 Playoffs: 16 GP, 1-8-9, +/- 5, 9 PIM

Season Highlight: Nicknaming himself Dangle Dangle during his classic interview with Mickey Redmond.
Season Lowlight: Missing 7 games during the last two rounds of the playoffs.

Let’s see, last season Datsyuk won the Selke and Lady Byng Trophies, and was a finalist for the Hart. Oh, and he posted a team-high 97 points and +34, all while taking fewer penalties than any full-season Wing but Brian Rafalski. Not to mention the fact that he had a blog half named after him. All in all, I’d say that’s not too shabby. The playoffs were a bit of a different story, as he only managed 6 points, but I suspected that he was injured for a long time before he finally went down with his foot injury. I don’t believe that the team ever said exactly when he developed his charley horse, but I choose to believe that it played a factor from early on. Despite his lack of production, he created tons of scoring chances, and there were times when it seemed like he couldn’t have bought a goal at the Dollar Store. His return to the lineup for Game 5 of the Finals provided the Wings with a burst of energy, but alas, it didn’t carry over into the next two games.

This season, I’m looking for Datsyuk to finally reach that elusive 100 point mark. He’s finished with 97 two years in a row now, and I’d like to see him step up and hit triple digits. You can almost count on him challenging for the Selke and Lady Byng once again, and quite possibly the Hart. He’s starting to finally get the national recognition that we here in Hockeytown know he deserves, and that will only increase with time. He’s one of the most captivating players in the NHL right now, and you’re almost guaranteed at least one “How did he DO that!” moment per game from Dangle Dangle.

What he needs to do to make me happy: Give more interviews. Bonus points if he discusses dangling every time.

Are We Seriously Still Talking About This?...

For cryin' out loud, can we just move on already? It's been a little over a week now, and the Handshake Incident is still being discussed. Snapshots has a link to yet another media "analysis" of it. I mean, really, there's nothing else we can talk about? There's nothing else Nick Lidstrom could've been asked about at the NHL Awards show? Nothing?

I realize that I'm only continuing the discussion by contributing it, but there's a certain amount that I can take in silence, and once that level is reached, I have to have my say about it.

The general consensus is that this whole thing was started when Kris Draper called Crosby out for not shaking Lidstrom's hand after the game. One of the Pittsburgh writers described him as having "piggybacked his way to four championships," which is a funny way to describe a former Selke winner who's been a heart and soul guy on the most dominant team in the NHL for 16 years now. Granted, under any other circumstance, I don't think Draper would've spoken out that way, but the fact remains that he wasn't the one who started this whole nightmare. It was Crosby, out on the ice at Joe Louis Arena, not participating in half of the handshake line.

The standard Crosby defense from the adoring media is that he's just a young kid reveling in his first Stanley Cup. That's wonderful, but he's still the captain of the Penguins. I'm one year older than Crosby, but you don't see me tossing my relative youth around as an excuse for all of my failures. You can either be an overwhelmed kid who got lost in the shuffle, or you can be a man who displays leadership worthy of wearing the C. You can't have it both ways if you want to earn any respect in this world.

Also, you'd think that a guy who's been followed around by media for years would realize when he's about to put his skate in his mouth. His quotes about the expectation to participate in the handshake line being "unreasonable" and having the "right to celebrate" did nothing to erase his league-wide (outside of Pittsburgh and Gary Bettman's office) as being a petulant child. Who knows? Maybe he's really a nice guy. Maybe he spends all of his free time helping little old ladies cross the street with their groceries. But the fact remains that all he had to do is say something to the effect of, "I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean to insult anyone. I got caught up in the moment and I know I was a little bit late to the handshake line. I certainly didn't mean to disrespect one of our great hockey traditions," and it all would've gone away. Just like when Chris Chelios had to apologize for not shaking the Ducks' hands in '07 (and for the record, I was pretty angry at him when he left the ice like that.)

It clearly was neither the end of the world nor a career-defining moment for Crosby, so at this point, why should anyone care? Nobody in their right mind is going to say, "Gee, I really liked that Crosby guy until he skipped half of a handshake line." For the rest, and I think majority, of us out there, it's just one more incident to file away with in our mental Why Crosby's A Classless and Miserable Excuse for A Captain files. Believe me, if this didn't sway you, the Handshake sure won't.

Honestly, the worst part of all of this is the fact that it's resulted in Draper, Lidstrom, and Henrik Zetterberg, who also made an uncharacteristically blunt comment, getting dragged through the mud by almost everyone. I'm pretty sure nobody before now has accused any of those three guys of anything remotely controversial. Let's face it, this guy had to use Terminator effects and grope his chest to make a Nick Lidstrom interview interesting. (Watch Lidstrom's face at the end of this interview. I don't think he even knows what to do.) Mostly I suspect they all just want this to go away. But if there's one thing reporters love, it's controversy and scandal, so you can be pretty sure that this is going to be rehashed over and over again until it makes you want to kick babies.

Like a Bad Blind Date...

I've never in my life watched the NHL Award show. People who know me find this strange because I spend almost every waking moment pouring over any NHL-related news that I can get my hands on. So you would think that I would love to see the players in a different setting and completely out of their element. Mostly though, it just comes across as awkward. Kind of like when Luc Robitaille had a cameo on Bones this year. I couldn't bring myself to look away and all I could do was sit there with a horrified grimace on my face.

So I prefer to stick with my annual Unofficial Awards, which this year managed to land me on both A2Y and Puck Daddy. I'm not ashamed to admit that this was the highlight of my day yesterday. Mostly I'm just amazed that anyone is reading my ranting and raving. So thanks, I guess.

As everyone not living under a rock knows by now, Dangle Dangle took home the Lady Byng and the Selke. I only watched the video of his awards and Vladdie's entrance, so I can't say for sure that his acceptance speeches were the best ones of the night, but I'm willing to bet they were. Why? Just because.

There weren't any real shockers on the night. The awards fell pretty much as I thought they would. I was disappointed that Lidstrom didn't win the Norris, but I wasn't remotely surprised. I had figured that one would be a toss up between Chara and Green, and I'm kind of glad that it fell to Chara. At least he appears to be a defenseman. Maybe next year Green will challenge Datsyuk for the Selke. I'm pretty sure Dangle Dangle would still win, though.

The highlight of the night was Vladdie's appearance. That and the Winter Classic are possibly the only two things the NHL did right this year. I still remember sitting in front of the TV watching the coverage of the limo accident with tears in my eyes. He's one of those guys who everybody except apparently Penguins fans can rally around. It makes me proud to say that he was/is a Red Wing.