Datsyuk prefers to pass the puck
Bruce MacLeod of the Macomb Daily had a nice article about how Pavel Datsyuk would prefer to pass the puck than shoot it. In fact, Datsyuk scored only his third goal of the season tonight against the St. Louis Blues. He already has 14 assists in the first 18 games. Datsyuk has taken 58 shots on goal before today’s game. Teammate Henrik Zetterberg, who leads the team in shots, has 96. It makes sense that Hank has 10 more goals than Datsyuk.
Pavel Datsyuk doesn’t like noise. He doesn’t like yelling and he doesn’t like hockey sticks smacked like beaver tails on the ice. Not while the game is on.
Johan Franzen found that out early. After a shift on Datsyuk’s line, the Russian made sure to speak with Franzen on the Detroit Red Wings’ bench.
“Don’t yell,” said Datsyuk quietly. “‘I know where you are.”
Datsyuk doesn’t want his teammates to yell for the puck because he wants the opponents to forget about that player and then when he does pass to his teammate, that player is wide open.
“I like passing,” said Datsyuk. “When somebody scores in an open net after my pass is the best. If somebody says, ‘Would you rather score or have somebody score off your pass?’ … I’d say pass.”
Related Posts
Leave a Reply