The other day I had a very interesting conversation about what exactly made Pavel Datsyuk the dynamic player we all know him to be.
My thoughts are that he has complete and total confidence in his shot. He will shoot anything from anywhere and unless he's on the move, the puck is off his stick no more than a second after it arrives. His quick release is a staple to his game.
He is evasive and slippery. I don't know how anyone on the opposition can forget that he's on the ice or lose track of him, but they often do. He's hard enough to defend in coverage, give him time and space and he usually makes you pay for that mistake.
He goes where the puck will be, not where it is. People focus so much on his hands and what he can do with the puck, they often overlook his vision. He always seems to be thinking one step ahead of everyone else which is why he's usually in the right place at the right time.
Later that night, it was a perfect little storm to defend my theories as all three happened in one play and resulted in a beautiful goal….
Clearly, it wasn't done on purpose and it was on the power play, but of all people, how do you leave Datsyuk open like that?
Julie
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