After spending 14 seasons in the Motor City, winning two Stanley Cups, Pavel Datsyuk is officially a member of the Detroit Red Wings for life.
Early this month, the Russian centre was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024, and on Thursday night, Datsyuk got to feel the love from the Detroit faithful one last time.
Before the Red Wings honoured Datsyuk’s Hall of Fame induction with a pre-game ceremony, the now 46-year-old unretired and signed a symbolic one-day contract with the only NHL franchise he ever knew.
Nicknamed “The Magic Man,” Datsyuk was originally drafted by the Red Wings in the sixth round of the 1998 draft, debuting with the team in the 2001-02 season.
Datsyuk went on to play 953 games in the red and white, totalling 314 goals and 604 assists as Detroit emerged as a consistent force in the Western Conference through the 2000s.
The Red Wings made the playoffs in each of Datsyuk’s 14 seasons. In the post-season, he played 157 games, scoring 42 goals and 113 points, including 23 points in Detorit’s 2007-08 Stanley Cup-winning run.
He ranks top-ten in Red Wings regular season and playoff history in games played, goals, assists, points and plus/minus.
Along with his two cup rings, Datsyuk’s trophy case contains three Selke Trophies, awarded to the forward who demonstrates the most skill in the defensive component of the game, and four Lady Byng Memorial Trophies, given to the “player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”
The left-handed shooting forward retired after the 2015-16 season, in which he scored 16 goals and 49 points in 66 games as a 37-year-old.