Datsyuk named alternate captain
After signing a big contract right before last season’s playoffs and then making it a good deal with his play in the postseason, Pavel Datsyuk has been named one of the team’s alternate captains. Kris Draper and Henrik Zetterberg are the other two players to wear the “A” on their jersey. Since only two players are allowed each game to wear the “A,” the team will have to develop a rotation system.
“We’re going to name him one of our assistant captains because we think he’s a big part of our leadership group,” coach Mike Babcock said. “We want Datsyuk to understand that.”
The final offensive roster spot has not been decided upon yet. Igor Grigorenko has picked up his play of late between his game winning shootout goal against Tampa Bay on Thursday and his little fight on Saturday against Toronto so I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Grigorenko nab that final spot despite his less than great training camp.
“Instead of rushing, we’ve got a day to think about everything and go through it one more time and then we’ll make those decisions” this morning, Babcock said. Igor Grigorenko, Matt Ellis, Mark Hartigan and Aaron Downey are the four men left standing, of which Grigorenko is the most talented; it’s just his subpar conditioning that counts against him. The Wings are pondering whether he’s better off practicing in Detroit or playing in Grand Rapids. “We need to project, is he an NHL player, and in a short time, how do we give him the best opportunity to show us what he can do?”
Derek Meech earned the final defensive roster spot and I wrote more about that over at Winging It In Motown.
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2 Responses to “Datsyuk named alternate captain”
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October 1st, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Is there any truth to the rumor that Datsyuk turned down wearing the A saying, “I don’t want. It look stupid on that side of jersey.”?
October 1st, 2007 at 5:33 pm
Haha. It does look really weird to see the A and C on the other side.