Pavel Datsyuk is a player that doesn’t come along very often. We all love watching the spectacular goal or unbelievable open-ice dangle, but hard backchecking and class (on and off the ice) can be just as important to a powerhouse franchise. Any time you can get a player on your team to be nominated for the Frank Selke Award (best defensive forward) or the Lady Byng Trophy (most gentlemanly), he’s always going to be a tremendous asset to the organization. But if you can find a guy that’s nominated for BOTH, now that’s something special.
Datsyuk was only the 2nd player to win the Lady Byng and Selke in the same season.
Last year when Datsyuk WON the rare combo, I had a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea of a gentlemanly defender. Maybe it’s the name of the Lady Byng Trophy or maybe it’s because Wayne Gretzky won it 5 times, but it has the reputation of being an award for “soft” guys. Pavel Datsyuk is most decidedly not soft. He’ll throw the body around when he needs to, he’ll block shots when his team needs it and he’s the first one over the boards when the Red Wings need a big penalty kill. The difference is he turns the other cheek when the rough stuff starts—he’ll walk away when someone slashes him in the middle of his picturesque dekes.
Datsyuk has owned the Lady Byng trophy lately. He’s won the award 3 years in a row and I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win it again this season. It’s probably something about the name, but I doubt hockey players want to win an award that is called Lady ANYTHING! According to NHL.com, the Lady Byng goes to:
“The player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”
Let me break that down into normal-speak: it goes to the guy that gets it done and isn’t a jerk about it.
The Red Wings have owned the Selke over the last 15 years. Datsyuk won it last year, Kris Draper and Stevie Y won it before him and Sergei Fedorov won it twice. In fact, Fedorov is the only player to win the Selke and the Hart in the same year. So just that Datsyuk was a FINALIST for both awards is pretty amazing in itself.
Even though these guys kill their opponents with their skill, do you see opponents chasing after guys like Martin St. Louis, Zack Parise or Datsyuk? No, because they do it with class. As lame as the award sounds, it’s kind of cool to have an award specifically designed to award class on the ice. Needless to say, I don’t see Sean Avery getting nominated anytime soon.
The Red Wings have owned the Selke over the last 15 years. Datsyuk won it last year, Kris Draper and Stevie Y won it before him and Sergei Fedorov won it twice. In fact, Fedorov is the only player to win the Selke and the Hart in the same year. So just that Datsyuk was a FINALIST for both awards is pretty amazing in itself.
The type of players that USUALLY win the award are guys like Jere Lehtinen, Rod Brind’Amour and John Madden. All of them are good forwards that have the ability to put the puck in the net; but they’ve made their name for themselves as defensive-minded forwards. Just look at the guys that are nominated with the Russian from Detroit—Mike Richards and Ryan Kesler. Both are guys that you’d love to have on your team, but they’re not the kind of dynamic offensive threat that Datsyuk is.
Before last season, the only person to ever pull off the Byng-Selke combo in the same year was Ron Francis. Now, Datsyuk is looking to win both awards in back-to-back seasons. Oh, and throw in a Hart Trophy nomination while you’re at it!
To see someone that has been nominated for the Hart-Byng-Selke trifecta in the same year, you’d have to go back to Joe Sakic’s AMAZING 2001 season. In that season, Sakic won both the Hart and the Lady Byng, while finishing runner-up in the Selke voting. By all measures, it was an amazing season. Looking at the awards that Datsyuk is nominated for this season, you’d think that people would put him at the same superstar status.
Pavel Datsyuk is an anomaly when it comes to the Selke since he’s more in the mold of Sakic—offensive superstar. He started his career as a dangler and learned his craft to become one of the best defensive forwards in the league. Looking back, it’s amazing to see the transformation of a guy that was once known solely for his stick-handling abilities and YouTube shootout goals. Can you imagine Ilya Kovalchuk becoming a respected two-way player anytime soon? That’s what we’re talking about here.
The terms “gentlemanly” and “defense” hardly ever go together. When you think of an effective defensive player, you might think of someone like Chris Pronger. But think about it: while Pronger is effective, but would anyone EVER call him gentlemanly? Usually they’re players that have an edge to their game and have a knack for getting under the opponents skin. They do whatever it takes to slow down the superstars on the other team; whether it’s legal or not.
Next time you watch the Red Wings, take a step back and appreciate Pavel Datsyuk. He’s a classy guy that plays hard on both ends of the rink and can light up an oppositions’ defense like a Christmas tree. If he was Canadian, Don Cherry would be ALL OVER this guy. Instead, he has a lower profile than some of the other stars in the league—but that doesn’t mean that he’s any less talented or any less valuable to his team. If you could clone any player in the league to exemplify the ideal hockey player, he’d be it. I can’t think of a better compliment.
