Gordie Howe
Howe relaxing at "Gordie Howe Hockeyland" in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, circa 1966
Born	(1928-03-31) March 31, 1928 (age 84) Floral, SK, CAN
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position	Right Wing
Shot	Ambidextrous
Played for	USHL  Omaha Knights NHL  Detroit Red Wings  Hartford Whalers WHA  Houston Aeros  New England Whalers IHL  Detroit Vipers
National team	Canada
Playing career	1946–1971 1973–1980 1997
Hall of Fame, 1972

Gordon "Gordie" Howe, OC (born March 31, 1928) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey player who played for the Detroit Red Wings and Hartford Whalers of the National Hockey League (NHL), and the Houston Aeros and New England Whalers in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Howe is often referred to as Mr. Hockey,^[1] and is generally regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Howe is most famous for his scoring prowess, physical strength, and career longevity. He is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five (1940s through 1980s) different decades. A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, he won six Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player and six Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer. He was the inaugural recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Howe was also referred to during his career as Power,^[2] Mr. Everything, Mr. All-Star, The Most, The Great Gordie, The King of Hockey, The Legend, The Man, No. 9,^[3] and "Mr. Elbows" (for his tough physical play). His name and nickname, "Mr. Hockey," as well as his wife's nickname as "Mrs. Hockey," are registered trademarks.

Early life[link]

Howe was born to parents Ab and Katherine Howe in a farmhouse in Floral, Saskatchewan – one of nine children.^[4] When Gordie was nine days old, the Howes moved to Saskatoon,^[5] where his father worked as a labourer during the Depression. In the summers, Howe would work construction with his father.^[4] Howe was mildly dyslexic growing up, but was physically beyond his years at an early age. Already six feet tall in his mid-teens, doctors feared a calcium deficiency and encouraged him to strengthen his spine with chin-ups.^[4] He began playing organized hockey at 8 years old,^[4] then left Saskatoon at 16 to pursue his hockey career.^[5]

Playing career[link]

Howe was an ambidextrous player, one of a handful of skaters able to use the straight sticks of his era to shoot either left- or right-handed.^[6] He received his first taste of professional hockey at fifteen years old when he was invited to a tryout for the New York Rangers in Brooklyn, but he did not make the team.^[4] A year later, he was noticed by Detroit Red Wings scout Fred Pinkney; he was signed by the Red Wings and assigned to their junior team, the Galt Red Wings. However, due to a maximum amount of Western players allowed by the league and the Red Wings' preference to develop older players, Howe's playing time with the team was initially limited. In 1945, however, he was promoted to the Omaha Knights of the minor professional United States Hockey League (USHL), where he scored 48 points in 51 games as a seventeen-year-old. While playing in Omaha, Frank Selke of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization noticed that Howe was not properly listed as Red Wings property. Having a good relationship with Detroit coach Jack Adams, he notified Adams of the clerical error and Howe was quickly put on the team's protected list.^[4]

Howe made his NHL debut in 1946 at the age of 18, playing right wing for the Detroit Red Wings, for which he wore #17 as a rookie. When Roy Conacher moved on to the Chicago Black Hawks after the 1946–47 season, however, Howe was offered Conacher's #9, which he would wear for the rest of his career (although he had not requested the change, Howe accepted it when he was informed that "9" would entitle him to a lower Pullman berth on road trips). He quickly established himself as a great goal scorer and a gifted playmaker with a willingness to fight. In fact, Howe fought so often in his rookie season that coach Jack Adams told him, "I know you can fight. Now can you show me you can play hockey?"^[4] The term Gordie Howe hat trick (consisting of a goal, an assist, and a fight) was coined in reference to his penchant for fighting. It should be noted, however, that Howe himself only recorded two Gordie Howe hat tricks in his career,^[7] on October 10, 1953 and March 21, 1954.^[8] Using his great physical strength, he was able to dominate the opposition in a career that spanned five decades. In a feat unsurpassed by any hockey player, he finished in the top five in scoring for twenty straight seasons. Howe also scored 20 or more goals in 22 consecutive seasons between 1949 and 1971, an NHL record.

Although famous as #9 during his long career, 18-year old Gordon Howe actually wore #17 throughout his rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings in 1946–47.

Howe led Detroit to four Stanley Cups and to first place in regular season play for seven consecutive years (1948–49 to 1955–56), a feat never equaled in NHL history. During this time Howe and his linemates, Sid Abel and Ted Lindsay, were known collectively as "The Production Line", both for their scoring and as an allusion to Detroit auto factories. The trio dominated the league in such a fashion that in 1949–50, they finished one-two-three in league scoring. Howe had been in his prime during a defensive era, the 1940s and 1950s, when scoring was difficult and checking was tight.

As his career just started going, however, Howe sustained the worst injury of his career, fracturing his skull after an attempt to check Toronto Maple Leafs captain Ted Kennedy into the boards went awry during the 1950 playoffs. The severity of the fracture was such that he was taken to the hospital for emergency surgery in order to relieve building pressure on his brain.^[4] The next season, he returned to record 86 points, winning the scoring title by 20 points.

As Howe emerged as one of the game's superstars, he was frequently compared to the Montreal Canadiens' Maurice "Rocket" Richard. Both were right wingers who wore the same sweater number (9), were frequently contenders for the league scoring title, and could also play rough if needed. During their first encounter in the Montreal Forum, when Howe was a rookie, he knocked Richard out cold with a punch after being shoved.^[9] The Red Wings and Canadiens faced off in four Stanley Cup finals during the 1950s. When Richard retired in 1960, he paid tribute to Howe, saying "Gordie could do everything."^[10]

The Red Wings were consistent contenders throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, but began to slump in the late 1960s. When Howe turned 40 in 1967–68, the league expanded from six to twelve teams and the number of scoring opportunities grew as the game schedule increased. Howe played the 1968–69 season on a line with Alex Delvecchio and Frank Mahovlich. Mahovlich was big, fast, and skilled, and Delvecchio was a gifted playmaker. The three were dubbed "The Production Line 3" and at forty-years-old, Howe reached new scoring heights, topping 100 points for the only time of his NHL career with 44 goals and a career-high 59 assists.

Following his personal best 103-point season, however, conflict with the Red Wings organization arose after Howe discovered he was just the third-highest paid player on the team with a $45,000 salary. Furthermore, while owner Bruce Norris increased Howe's salary to $100,000, he blamed Howe's wife, Colleen, for the demand.^[4] Howe remained with the Red Wings for two more seasons, but after twenty-five years, a chronic wrist problem forced him to retire after the 1970–71 season and he took a job in the Red Wings front office. At the beginning of 1972, he was offered the job as first head coach of the New York Islanders, but turned it down.^[11]

A year later, Howe was offered a contract to play with the Houston Aeros of the newly formed World Hockey Association (WHA), who had also signed his sons Mark and Marty to contracts. Dissatisfied with not having any meaningful influence in the Red Wings' office, he underwent an operation to improve his wrist and make a return to hockey possible, and he led his new team to consecutive championships. In 1974, at the age of 46, Howe won the Gary L. Davidson Trophy, awarded to the WHA's most valuable player (the trophy was renamed the Gordie Howe Trophy the following year). Howe played with the Aeros until 1977, when he and his sons joined the New England Whalers.

In the final season of the WHA, Gordie had the opportunity to play with Wayne Gretzky in the 1979 WHA All-Star Game. The format of the game was a three-game series between the WHA All-Stars against HC Moscow Dynamo. The WHA All-Stars were coached by Jacques Demers, and Demers asked Howe if it was okay to put him on a line with Gretzky and his son Mark Howe.^[12] In Game One, the line scored seven points, as the WHA All-Stars won by a score of 4–2.^[12] In Game Two, Gretzky and Mark Howe each scored a goal and Gordie Howe picked up an assist as the WHA won 4–2.^[12] The line did not score in the final game but the WHA won by a score of 4–3.

When the WHA folded in 1979, the renamed Hartford Whalers joined the NHL. While the Red Wings still held his NHL rights even though he had retired eight years earlier, the Whalers and Red Wings reached a gentleman's agreement in which the Red Wings agreed not to reclaim him. The 51-year-old Howe signed on for one final season playing in all 80 games of the schedule, helping his team to make the playoffs with fifteen goals. One particular honor was when Howe, Phil Esposito, and Jean Ratelle were selected to the mid-season all-star game by coach Scotty Bowman, as a nod to their storied careers before they retired. Howe had played in five decades of All-Star Games and he would skate alongside the second-youngest to ever play in the game, 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky. The Joe Louis Arena crowd gave him a standing ovation twice, lasting so long that he had to skate to the bench to stop people from cheering. He had one assist in the Wales Conference 6–3 win.^[9]

Over the years Howe became good friends with Gretzky, who had idolized Howe as a young player, and who would later break many of Howe's scoring records and milestones.

Another milestone in a remarkable career was reached in 1997 when Howe played professional hockey in a sixth decade. He was signed to a one-game contract by the Detroit Vipers of the IHL and, almost 70-years-old, made a return to the ice for one shift.^[4] In doing so, he became the only player in hockey history to compete in six different decades at the professional level, having played in the NHL, WHA and IHL from the 1940s to 1990s.

Howe's #9 banner hanging in Joe Louis Arena.

His most productive seasons came during an era when scoring was difficult and checking was tight, yet Howe ranks third in NHL history with 1,850 total points, including 801 goals and 1,049 assists. When career regular season goals from both the NHL and the WHA are combined, he ranks first in goals with 975.

At the time of his retirement, Howe's professional totals, including playoffs, for the NHL and WHA combined, were first. He finished with 2,421 games played, 1,071 goals, 1,518 assists, and 2,589 points. Wayne Gretzky has since passed him in goals (1,072), assists (2,297), and points (3,369), but not games played (1,767) or games played with one team (1,687). It is unlikely that anyone will surpass Howe's total professional games played. Mark Messier retired only 11 NHL games behind Howe at 1,756 (and counting minor league action and playoffs, 2,048 total professional games), but this is over five seasons away from 2,478 total professional games (including minor league action).

Retirement[link]

Howe appearing at Gordie Howe Night as partial owner of the Vancouver Giants in 2008.

In 1998, The Hockey News released their List of Top 100 NHL Players of All Time and listed Howe third overall, ahead of Mario Lemieux, but behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. Of the list, Orr was quoted as regarding Howe as the greatest player.^[4]

On April 10, 2007, Howe was honoured with the unveiling of a new bronze statue in Joe Louis Arena. The statue is 12 feet tall and weighs about 4,500 pounds. The man who was commissioned to create the art was Omri Amrany. The statue contains all of Howe's stats and history. Another statue of Howe was erected in downtown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on the corner of 20th Street and 1st Ave. He is depicted wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweater. The statue has since been relocated to the Credit Union Centre.

In February 2011, various groups have proposed naming the Detroit River International Crossing bridge, a proposed bridge that will connect Detroit and Windsor by linking Highway 401 in Ontario with Interstate 75 and Interstate 94 in Michigan, in honor of Gordie Howe.^[13] Gordie Howe is a prime choice, because he is a native Canadian and his long affiliation with Detroit. This name is backed by Canadian politicians and Michigan governor Rick Snyder.

Personal life[link]

Howe met his wife, Colleen, at a bowling alley when she was 17 years old and they were married four years later on April 15, 1953.^[4] A middle school in Abbotsford, British Columbia is named after Gordie and Colleen Howe, and a campground and football stadium are named after Gordie Howe in his hometown of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Two of their sons, Marty and Mark, were his teammates on the WHA Houston Aeros and the Hartford Whalers. Mark would go on to have a long NHL career, playing 16 seasons for the Hartford Whalers, Philadelphia Flyers and the Red Wings and was one of the dominant two-way defensemen of the 1980s. He followed his father by being elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.

Colleen was one of the founders of the Detroit Junior Red Wings and represented both Gordie and Mark financially during their careers.^[4] Their third son, Murray, is a radiologist in Toledo, Ohio. Colleen died in 2009, aged 76, from Pick's disease.^[14] Retired, Howe lives in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

Awards and achievements[link]

NHL/WHA[link]

• 23-time NHL All-Star^[15]
• 12-time NHL First All-Star Team
• 9-time NHL Second All-Star Team
• 4-time Stanley Cup champion (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955)
• 6-time Art Ross Memorial Trophy winner (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1963)
• 6-time Hart Memorial Trophy – 1952, 1953, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963
• Lester B. Patrick Award winner (1967)
• Lionel Conacher Award (1963)
• Hockey Hall of Fame (1972)
• 2-time Avco World Trophy winner (1974, 1975)
• Gary L. Davidson Trophy winner (1974)
• 2-time WHA All-Star.
• Top 5 in NHL scoring for 20 consecutive seasons^[5]
• Most games played for a single franchise (1687, Detroit Red Wings)
• Most goals and points with a single franchise (786 and 1809, respectively, Detroit)
• Most NHL games played (1767)
• Oldest NHL player at time of retirement (52), and oldest player to play in an NHL game,, also only player to play in the NHL after age 50
• Only player to play in the NHL in five different decades (1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s)
• NHL Lifetime Achievement Award winner (2008)
• His #9 has been honored or retired by these teams:
  • Detroit Red Wings (retired; played from 1946–1971)
  • New England/Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (retired, played from 1977–1980 while franchise was in Hartford; Hurricanes honor his number but no banner hangs in the RBC Center, as Howe never played there)
  • Houston Aeros (AHL) (retired; Howe played for the Houston Aeros (WHA) from 1973–1977)
• In 1998, he was ranked #3 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the highest-ranking right wing on the list.

Other[link]

Howe's star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2009

• Order of Canada (1971)
• Canada's Sports Hall of Fame (1975)
• Canada's Walk of Fame (2000)
• Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Saskatchewan (2010)

Records[link]

• Most NHL regular season games played: 1,767
• Most NHL regular season games played with a single team: 1,687
• Most NHL and WHA regular season games played: 2,186
• Most NHL and WHA regular season and playoff games played: 2,421
• Most NHL seasons played: 26 (tied with Chris Chelios
• Most NHL and WHA seasons played: 32
• Most NHL regular season goals by a right winger: 801
• Most NHL regular season assists by a right winger: 1,049
• Most NHL regular season points by a right winger: 1,850
• Most NHL regular season points by a father/son combo (with son Mark): 2,592
• Most consecutive NHL 20-goal seasons: 22 (1949–1971)
• First player to score over 1000 goals (WHA and NHL, regular season and playoff combined)
• First player to reach 1,500 games played in NHL history.
• Most times leading NHL playoffs in scoring (six times)
• Oldest player to play in NHL: 52 years, 11 days (no other player has played past the age of 48)
• First in Red Wings history in points, goals and games played, second in assists
• Most NHL All-Star Game appearances: 23

Career statistics[link]

* Stanley Cup Champion

Bolded means led league

Popular Culture[link]

In The Simpsons episode 8F16, "Bart the Lover", Bart uses Howe's portrait in a series of fraudulent love letters sent to his teacher, Edna Krabappel. The episode closes with the portrait and a list of Howe's stats.

In the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Cameron Frye wears a Howe #9 jersey for most of the film.

See also[link]

• List of famous ice hockey linemates
• List of members of the Hockey Hall of Fame
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 500 goals
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• Notable families in the NHL
• Power forward (ice hockey)
• Gordie Howe hat trick
• Billy McNeill (ice hockey)

Notes and references[link]

• Order of Canada Citation
• ESPN Article

External links[link]

• Gordie Howe's biography at Legends of Hockey
• Gordie Howe's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database
• More Career Stats
• Colleen and Gordie Howe Middle School
• Gordie Howe Biography
• Red Wings Legends
• CBC Digital Archives – Gordie Howe: Mr. Hockey

Pavel Datsyuk
Born	(1978-07-20) July 20, 1978 (age 33) Sverdlovsk, Russian SFSR, USSR
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	194 lb (88 kg; 13 st 12 lb)
Position	Center
Shoots	Left
NHL team Former teams	Detroit Red Wings RSL Spartak/Dynamo Yekaterinburg Ak Bars Kazan HC Dynamo Moscow
National team	Russia
NHL Draft	171st overall, 1998 Detroit Red Wings
Playing career	1996–present
Website	datsyuk13.com

Pavel Valerievich Datsyuk (Russian: Па́вел Вале́рьевич Дацю́к, IPA: [ˈpavʲɪl dɐˈt͡sʲʉk]; born July 20, 1978) is a professional ice hockey player from Russia and alternate captain for the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is known for his stick-handling and is considered one of the best two-way forwards in the game today,^[1] having won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in the 2007–08, 2008–09, and 2009–10 NHL seasons. Datsyuk also won four consecutive Lady Byng Memorial Trophies from 2006-09 for performance and sportsmanship. He was nominated for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player following the 2008–09 season. Datsyuk won the Stanley Cup in 2002 and 2008 with the Red Wings.

Early years[link]

Datsyuk was born in Sverdlovsk (Cвердловск) (now Yekaterinburg), in the Urals region of Russia. His parents call him by his short name "Pasha" from an early age. His childhood had more than its fair share of difficulties, especially at the age of 16, when his mother died.^[2] While Datsyuk displayed above-average hockey skills, he was often overlooked by scouts because of his smaller size. He began playing for the farm club of Dynamo Yekaterinburg in the mid-1990s, though he seemed headed for an undistinguished career until noted Olympic trainer Vladimir Krikunov began coaching the team. The boy “with the twitchy walk”^[2] caught the eye of Krikunov, but not on the ice. Instead, Datsyuk excelled on the soccer field, where his anticipation, vision, and intelligence were more apparent. Under Krikunov, Datsyuk evolved into a particularly efficient two-way player, and he began to draw wider attention among Russian hockey fans.^[2] Despite his early successes, however, he went undrafted in the 1996 and 1997 NHL drafts.

Playing career[link]

RSL[link]

Datsyuk was first noticed by Red Wings Director of European Scouting Håkan Andersson in the summer of 1997–98.^[3] Andersson was in Moscow to scout Dmitri Kalinin, but the one who caught his eye was Datsyuk, "this little guy on the other team." Andersson made another trip to see Datsyuk and would have gone a third time; however his flight was cancelled because of a storm.^[3] A scout from the St. Louis Blues was on the plane as well, and as a result of that storm Andersson believes he is the only NHL scout to have seen Datsyuk play prior to the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, when the Red Wings drafted him 171st overall.^[3]

NHL[link]

When Datsyuk began his NHL career for the Red Wings, his mentors – including Soviet stars Igor Larionov and Sergei Fedorov, as well as Detroit captain Steve Yzerman – helped him learn his way around the NHL. He was put on a line with Brett Hull and Boyd Devereaux and had a moderately productive first year. The length and difficulty of the NHL season got to him eventually, causing him to sit out a clump of games at the end of the year in preparation for the playoffs. He contributed three goals and three assists to the Red Wings' Stanley Cup run.

Datsyuk warms up before a game

Expectations were high for Datsyuk's second season, particularly with the addition of another highly touted prospect to the team, Henrik Zetterberg. Zetterberg replaced Devereaux on the Datsyuk-Hull line, and the famous version of the "Two Kids and an Old Goat Line" was born. He played only 64 games because of a knee injury but ended up with 51 points in the 2003 season. His playoff performance was a bit disappointing that year, but the same could be said about the entire Red Wings team. The team was swept by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the first round, and Datsyuk was held pointless.

The departure of Sergei Fedorov in the 2003 off-season made room for Datsyuk to rise to prominence on the Red Wings. He took full advantage of his extra ice time, where his playmaking skills elevated him to the ranks of legitimate scorers in the NHL. Datsyuk earned a spot in the 2004 NHL All-Star Game. In the playoffs, he had no goals and 6 assists through 12 games before the Wings were eliminated in the second round.

He was a restricted free agent during the 2004–05 off-season but could not reach a deal with the Red Wings despite repeated statements by his agent, Gary Greenstin, indicating his desire to stay in Detroit. He chose not to go into salary arbitration and played with HC Dynamo Moscow during the 2004-05 NHL lockout. On September 4, 2005, Datsyuk signed a one-year contract with Avangard Omsk of the Russian Superleague (RSL),^[4] and Moscow Dynamo matched the offer two days later.^[5]

On September 19, 2005, the day the arbitration committee of the Russian Superleague was set to determine which club had Datsyuk's rights, Datsyuk agreed to a two-year deal with the Red Wings for a total of US $7.8 million.^[5]

During the 2005–06 season, his high level of play combined with his sportsmanship (he recorded just 22 penalty minutes the entire season) won him the Lady Byng Trophy,^[6] the first of four consecutive awards. Datsyuk also earned a spot on the Russian team for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

During the 2006–07 season, Datsyuk debuted Reebok's new hockey stick with holes bored into the shaft to make it more aerodynamic, dubbed the 9KO.^[7] He completed the season matching his previous campaign's total of 87 points. Prior to the beginning of the playoffs on April 6, 2007, Pavel signed a 7-year contract extension with the Red Wings for US$46.9 million. He helped the Red Wings get to the Western Conference finals against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, contributing 16 points in 18 games.

In 2007–08, Pavel was voted by the NHL fans, along with teammates Nicklas Lidström and Henrik Zetterberg, to start for the Western Conference in the 2008 NHL All-Star Game at Philips Arena in Atlanta. He went on to have a career year with a team-high 97 points in 82 games, also leading Red Wings forwards in blocked shots. In leading the team in scoring, he joined Ted Lindsay, Gordie Howe and Steve Yzerman as the only players in franchise history to do so in 3 consecutive seasons. Going into the playoffs, he scored his first career NHL hat trick on May 12, 2008, in a 5–2 win over the Dallas Stars in game three of the Western Conference Finals, en route to a 2008 Stanley Cup Finals meeting with the Pittsburgh Penguins. In game six, Datsyuk recorded two assists in a 3–2 win to clinch the team's 11th Stanley Cup title and its fourth in eleven years.

Datsyuk hoisting the Stanley Cup

Having led the NHL in 2007–08 with a plus-minus of 41 and 144 takeaways (58 more than Mike Modano second-best total of 86), Datsyuk was awarded the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward. With just 20 penalty minutes, he was also awarded the Lady Byng Trophy.^[8] In the voting for the Selke, Datsyuk received 537 points (43 first place votes) while John Madden of the New Jersey Devils received 447 points and Datsyuk's linemate Henrik Zetterberg received 425 points. In the voting for the Lady Byng, Datsyuk received 985 points (75 first place votes). In addition, Datsyuk became the first NHL player to win the Lady Byng Trophy three consecutive times in over 70 years. Frank Boucher of the New York Rangers was the last player to do so, winning the Lady Byng from 1933 to 1935. Datsyuk and Ron Francis are the only players to have been awarded both the Selke and Lady Byng trophies during their careers.

Datsyuk was selected to his third NHL All-Star Game in 2009, but because of a hip injury he did not attend.^[9] However, as per a new league policy that states players must demonstrate injury by missing at least one game prior to the All-Star Game, Datsyuk was suspended one game, along with teammate Nicklas Lidström, for not attending.^[10]

Datsyuk finished the 2008–09 season with 97 points (32 goals and 65 assists), matching his career high. He won the Frank J. Selke Trophy, beating out Philadelphia's Mike Richards and Vancouver's Ryan Kesler. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for the fourth consecutive season.^[11] Datsyuk also received a nomination for the Best NHL Player Award at the ESPYs but lost to Sidney Crosby.^[12]

As a tribute to Ruslan Salei, Datsyuk wore jersey #24 during the 2011 preseason.

Awards[link]

NHL[link]

• NHL Second All-Star Team — 2009
• Selected to the NHL All-Star Game — 2004, 2008, 2009*, 2012
• Played in the NHL YoungStars Game — 2002
• Stanley Cup (Detroit Red Wings) — 2002, 2008
• Lady Byng Memorial Trophy — 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• Frank J. Selke Trophy — 2008, 2009, 2010
• NHL Plus-Minus Award — 2008
• NHL Offensive Player of the Month — December 2003
• Carhartt “Hardest Working” Player of the Month — December 2007
• 2010-2011 NHL Players Poll: Hardest to Take the Puck Off of, Cleanest Player.^[13]
• 2011-2012 NHL Players Poll: Smartest Player, Most Difficult to Play Against, Hardest to Take the Puck From, Most Difficult to Stop, Cleanest Player, Toughest Forward to Play Against.^[13]

* did not attend

International[link]

• World Championship Best Forward — 2010
• World Championship All-Star Team — 2010
• Voted Best Russian NHL Player by Russian NHL Players – Kharlamov Trophy^[14]

Career statistics[link]

International play[link]

Medal record
Competitor for  Russia
Ice hockey
Olympic Games
Bronze	2002 Salt Lake City	Ice Hockey
World Championships
Bronze	2005 Austria	Ice Hockey
Silver	2010 Germany	Ice Hockey
Gold	2012 Helsinki	Ice hockey

Played for Russia in:

• 2001 World Championships
• 2002 Winter Olympics (bronze medal)
• 2003 World Championship
• 2004 World Cup of Hockey
• 2005 World Championship (bronze medal)
• 2006 Winter Olympics
• 2010 Winter Olympics
• 2010 World Championship (silver medal)
• 2012 World Championship (gold medal)

International statistics

Year	Team	Event	Place		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2001	Russia	WC	6th		7	0	4	4	0
2002	Russia	Oly	3 !		6	1	2	3	0
2003	Russia	WC	7th		7	1	4	5	0
2004	Russia	WCH	5th		4	1	0	1	0
2005	Russia	WC	3 !		9	3	4	7	0
2006	Russia	Oly	4th		8	1	7	8	10
2010	Russia	Oly	6th		4	1	2	3	2
2010	Russia	WC	2 !		6	6	1	7	0
2012	Russia	WC	1 !		10	3	4	7	2
Senior int'l totals					61	17	28	45	14