Well…it’s the day we all saw coming but we hoped would never get here…Pavel Datsyuk announced today that he is retiring from the NHL to go home to Russia. There is something about Russia that seem to pull it’s people back to their homeland, and Pavel is no different…he just wanted to go home to be with his teenage daughter and the rest of his family…and who can fault that? I will always remember his magic on the ice, and his sense of humor that came through even his broken english….he could do things on the ice that earned him the nickname “the Magic Man” and, as he has gotten older, he wanted to take what’s left of the magic and play in front of Russian fans to finish out his career…he is 37, after all, and age catches up with even magic…we will miss him playing for the Red Wings, but the highlight reels are still there to help us remember what he meant to us…bye, bye, Pavel…and good luck!

Well…it’s sad day for Red Wings fans with the news that Pavel Datsyuk will be leaving the Wings at the end of the playoff run. Not really a surprise to those of us who follow the team closely, it is still a shock to see one of the best players in franchise history leave with a year left on his contract. But, reading the great article by Mitch Albom in the Free Press this morning, I hope that we all can understand why he is doing it…the pull of family and home just got too great for him to stay…when he talked about his 13 year old daughter and not being able to be there for her, you could hear the longing in his voice and how can you fault someone for that? It has been a great run for the “Magic Man” in Detroit and we will surely miss him…thanks Pavel…..