Pavel Datsyuk will be honored at Detroit Red Wings Hall of Fame night

The Little Caesars Arena concourse is littered with statues of Red Wings legends. Currently, there are three; however, from the glory days of winning three Stanley Cups in the span of six years we’ve seen the likes of Hall of Famers such as Steve Yzerman, Brenden Shanahan, Sergei Fedorov, Dominic Hasek, Brett Hull, and Nicklas Lidstrom (among others) play major roles in the success of the franchise, I think it’s safe to say there are going to be more someday. Could Pavel Datsyuk be one of them?

This Thursday is Hall of Fame Night at Little Caesars Arena starring Detroit Red Wings great Pavel Datsyuk

On November 11th, 2024, one of everybody’s favorite players, Pavel Datsyuk was inducted into the hockey Hall of Fame. He will be honored at Little Caesars Arena in what is sure to be one of the marquee events of the season this Thursday, November 21st prior to the Red Wings 7:00pm game vs. the New York Islanders. According to an article written by Alex Leroux on NHL.com:

Photo opportunities for fans include the Stanley Cup, Lady Byng Memorial Trophy and Datsyuk’s manhole cover on the Little Caesars Arena Via concourse. The heritage display features historic photos and items, including Datsyuk’s helmet from his rookie season, a game-used stick, game-used skates, a game-used jersey from his final season with the Red Wings and more.

There will also be a speech and a ceremonial puck drop at center ice starting at 6:40 pm. Tickets are available here.

In an era where the hockey community is eager to place every top player in the Hall of Fame, this is one that is deserved because of the way he shaped an entire generation of hockey players who came after him. Today we see players all over the NHL displaying some of the same types of skills undoubtedly inspired by Pavel Datsyuk.

Drafted 171st overall in the sixth round of the 1998 entry draft, Pavel Datsyuk started his professional hockey career at Red Wings training camp in 2001. Little did we know at the time that a kid from some remote part of Russia, who almost nobody had ever heard of, would single-handedly change the way ice hockey was played forever. Appropriately nicknamed ‘The Magician,' he did things with the puck that nobody in the universe could ever think of in their wildest dreams, let alone do at game speed. Yet there he was routinely pulling off moves thought to be impossible right before our eyes. Every time his skates hit the ice for every game and every shift he ever played, he had fans on the edge of their seats with bated breath in wonderment of what he would do next. He never disappointed.