Behind the Jersey: No. 13

We all remember Pavel Datsyuk embarrass Dallas Stars’ goalie, Marty Turco, with a quick deke resulting in a gorgeous goal. While Pavel had a very strong rookie season, this season seems to be his breakout season- the season where everyone around the league stops and takes notice of his talents. “Pavel has taken over the team. He has taken the responsibility and run with it. Every time he’s on the ice, he’s dangerous,” head coach Dave Lewis said. In 1998, Datsyuk was selected as the Red Wings’ eighth choice in the sixth round of the draft, making him the 171st overall pick. Hakan Andersson, the Wings European scout was the first person to spot Pavel and the Wings assistant general manager, Jim Nill, drafted Datsyuk. “Pavel had very good skills, but was very small and weak. When we drafted him he was 5'8" and about 145 pounds soaking wet. We liked his skills, but did not know if he would every grow enough and/or get strong enough to play in the NHL. As we can all see now he did develop,” Nill said. After signing with the Red Wings organization, Datsyuk became only the third Red Wing to wear the No. 13. As a rookie, Datsyuk played 70 games with 35 points, including one game winner goal. His first NHL season ended with a Stanley Cup win, not too bad for a rookie. Pavel traveled with the Stanley Cup to Yekaterinburg, Russia taking it the greatest distance ever traveled by the Cup with any player. The next season, Datsyuk only played 64 games due to a knee injury and finished the season with 51 points. He later represented the Russian National Team during the 2003 World Championships in Finland. When Sergei Federov decided to leave Detroit for the warmer climate in Anaheim, Datsyuk took advantage of the extra ice time available to him. “Sergei’s not here anymore. Now you’re the man,” Brett Hull said. As his stats prove thus far this year, Pavel hasn’t let his teammate, Brett Hull, down. Last season, Igor Larionov helped young Pavel adjust to the life of a professional hockey player and life in North America. “He listens and learns. He wants to be a good player, and he wants to learn how to become a player like that. He’s willing to wait for his chance and he’s patient. He’s going to be a good player for many years,” Larionov said. Since Larionov left for the New Jersey Devils, Hull has taken over as the mentor figure to Datsyuk. “But Brett’s a shooter and wants the puck, and Pavel’s a playmaker, so you put two and two together ... sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But this works, it really works,” Lewis said. Hull encourages Pavel to keep up the great effort and performance, but not to be content with that. “I keep telling him, ‘Don’t get satisfied. Keep working. You could lead this league in scoring,” Hull said. Leading the team with 23 goals, Datsyuk has dazzled fans and teammates alike with a 23.9 shooting percentage, second in the NHL. In the month of December, he was named the NHL Offensive Player of the Month and on January 22 he was invited to participate in the All-Star game this season in Minnesota. Even opposing teams sing their praises about Pavel: “Those aren't normal skills. Not when he makes you shake your head in amazement time after time with the moves he makes. He is clearly a very special player,” St. Louis Blues center Doug Weight. Datsyuk isn’t the only young Red Wing player having a breakout season this year. Henrik Zetterberg, one of Datsyuk’s closest friends on the team, has been named the next Steve Yzerman. Both individuals are more of a quiet type with a deep passion for hockey. “We are good friends. We’re kind of the same age (Zetterberg is two years older than Datsyuk), and we are sort of the same kind of people. On the road, we were roommates early in the season. We spent a lot of time together doing things, all sort of things, mostly movies. We go to the movies a lot, just hang around,” Zetterberg said. But the Wings organization isn’t complaining about the success of their young stars. “Pavel has exceeded our expectations, when we brought him over to play 2 years ago we knew he could play in the NHL, but we did not expect him to reach this level of stardom so quickly,” Nill said. The coaches have been pleased with the performance of their talented young players. "We've had Datsyuk and Zetterberg come right in here and make our team without spending a day in the minors - and that's with a lineup that experts say has eight or ten future Hall of Famers. You know something, I'd take another two or three kids like that,” Lewis said. Along with his improvement on the ice, Datsyuk’s English is seeing better days. In previous seasons, former Wings defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov filled in as an interpreter for Pavel when reporters interviewed him. Now he feels much more confident with interviews, even television ones, after taking an English class. “Datsyuk took an English class, but simply being around the locker room and watching television has helped him pick up the language better,” Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News said. Sources: The Detroit News Sports Illustrated NHL.com The Oakland Press My Interview w/ Mr. Jim Nill