They don’t make them like Pavel Datsyuk anymore. The Russian is undoubtedly one of hockey’s top players of all time, and he has a lot of statistics to back it up.
Datsyuk was drafted in the 6th round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, which has to be considered one of the steals in NHL history.
Datsyuk played his first NHL game three years later, but it wasn’t until after the 2004-05 lockout that Datsyuk started to prove what an incredible player he was.
Pavel Datsyuk’s incredible career
He retired after 953 NHL games, where he recorded 918 points, winning two Stanley Cups and several individual trophies. Datsyuk was most known for his amazing stickhandling and creativity with the puck.
He even earned the nickname the ’Magic Man’ for what he could do with the puck, but he also had fantastic defensive abilities.
He won the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the NHL’s top defensive forward in three consecutive years from 2008 to 2010, and he was unique in that way: a player who always gave his everything in defense but who also had world-class creativity going forward.
Datsyuk was named one of the ”100 greatest NHL Players” in history in 2017, but in one area, he’s probably one of the best of all time, and that’s shootouts.
Datsyuk’s incredible stickhandling made him an elite shootout goalscorer, and this weekend, a hockey fan decided to do a compilation of Datsyuk’s best shootout goals from his NHL career and posted the video on Reddit/hockey.
Pavel Datsyuk incredible shootout goals
The video went viral, with everyone absolutely loving every second of it, giving a reminder of just how talented Datsyuk actually was. In the comment section, fans just couldn’t stop praising Datsyuk and his awesome shootout goals.
”Let’s not forget he was also one of the best defensive forwards in the league, too. It is pretty rare to see a 2-way player with hands like these,” one said.
”I could watch this all day. Favourite non Canuck player of all time,” another said.
”Best hands in hockey,” a third added.
