Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
People tend to forget how bad he looked against the Flames in the 04 playoffs and the Oilers in 06. He really has come a long way. Goes back to my criticism of Iginla never bothering to work on his two way game leading to his rapid decline. Meanwhile and older Datsyuk keeps plugging away at a high level.
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There is an old hockey news season preview at my Moms house for the 06-07 season. At that time Datsyuk's compete level is questioned, and he has 0 goals in his last 22 playoff games. He really took the 06 playoffs to heart and committed himself to upping his complete level. I remember watching a game back in 2008 where he easily knocked Phaneuf off the puck, and later was able to knock Iginla off balance and steal the puck. He was no longer a soft player, something he had been. I have a lot of respect for Datsyuk for that reason. He went from being a guy with 15 points in his first 42 playoff games to getting 87 in his next 94 after turning 28 years old.
Really Kristian Huselius is more of a guy who had he put the same committment level in that Datsyuk did, he could have had a much better career.