Datsyuk and Friends

Welcome back! Day 5 - Free Day in London With this being a free day, we decided to go see some things that weren't on the planned agenda. We woke up and had breakfast, and then joined Kristy, Michael, and John P for a trip to Windsor Castle. First thing we did was get to Paddington Train Station. Anyone remember Paddington Bear from when we were kids? This is where he's from. We took a train to Slough, where we changed trains to Windsor. The whole process was easy and efficient. The change at Slough was kind of cool because, as we waited for the train to Windsor, a high-speed train back to Paddington came through at about 100mph. Very cool stuff. Brief sidenote before I begin. Apparently, the Queen had been staying in the castle the night before we visited and had left to head to Dublin just about an hour before we arrived. So close. Now, Windsor is a very quaint, almost stereotypical "Old English" town. Narrow streets, old construction, cobblestone streets. ...

Welcome back! We woke on day 4 preparing for a London city tour. Breakfast was, again, typical European fare - bread, bread, meat, and more bread. No beer this time, or for the rest of the trip, unfortunately. After breakfast, we had a brief walk to Hyde Park where we met our tourguide, Simon. Simon first walked us through Hyde Park, which was massive. While walking through, we saw Kensington Palace, one of the royal residences. Even from afar, it was massive. As we walked further, we encountered a Princess Diana memorial park and some of the royal guards on horseback, which we would see more of later. Exiting the park, we walked through Hyde Park Corner, one of the busiest roundabouts in the UK. Pretty cool, but nothing you couldn't see elsewhere. Following the park, we took a short walk to Buckingham Palace. One of the reasons we had gone to Buckingham that day was to see the Changing of the Guard. Well, luck was not with us on this day. The Queen was making her first ...

Welcome back to the Datsyuk and Friends blog! After an extremely lengthy absence, I am returning to broadcast the escapades of my monthlong European journey. A little background about the trip before I begin. The trip was presented to me by my parents as a graduation gift. The trip was led by college alumni travel organization AESU. I have to say this trip was really fantastic simply due to its organized nature. Everything was planned down to the second, which was really nice given the length and breadth of the trip. I traveled with about 40 other graduates from Michigan State, the University of North Carolina, and Georgia Tech University, as well as my parents and my girlfriend, Shannon. I met so many great people on this trip and will have lifelong friends as a result. I couldn't have spent a month in a better way. Without further ado, here is the recap of my month in Europe! Day 1 - Travel to London Quick note: My family and I left for London a day early. This was for r...

Seems like the hottest topic in today's NFL is headshots - stars went down left and right with concussions during the season. Fines and suspensions were handed out and, supposedly, everything is going to be alright. Well, the NFL isn't the only league that has concerns about its players' safety. The NHL has been dealt with a rash of concussion-related injuries over the past couple months. The severity of the injuries varies quite a bit. You'll have a guy who takes a hit the wrong way, has headaches for a few days, then comes back fine. And then you have a guy like Boston Bruins veteran Marc Savard. Poor guy. He's had 3 concussions in the last 2 years. I don't even want to know how many games he's missed due to these injuries. Even worse, he's been shut down for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs (again!) this year. The (again!) was because the same thing happened to him last year. When Savard's not seeing stars, he's a pret...

It's one of those rare events in sports. The odds of witnessing a hat trick in hockey are reportedly (and odds vary, depending on where you look) 1 in 18. Off the top of my head, I've seen maybe 10 or so. And I can guarantee that I've watched more than 180 games. So I question that. But I digress. The hat trick is one of few moments in sports in which both players and fans actively participate. The hats rain down from all over the arena. Players celebrate the feat. Then, local charities are provided with those hats tossed onto the ice. It's a win all around. What's even more rare is seeing a player eclipse a hat trick. While watching live games either on TV or in person, I've only seen it happen 3 times. I remember watching Sergei Fedorov score all 5 goals for the Red Wings, including the game winner in overtime, back in 1996. He also scored 4 goals the previous year, but I don't remember that one. The other two I've seen, one in-person and one...

For those of us in the world who actually like and watch hockey, specifically the Detroit Red Wings, this scene is all too familiar. The Wings have been ravaged recently by injuries. First, the season started with veteran Kris Draper on the IR with sports hernia surgery. Then, it was Mike Modano, who had ligaments in his wrist severed by an opponent's skate blade. That loss wasn't devastating, as the Wings still had plenty of firepower. But then, the hockey gods turned on the Wings. In a hurry, Pavel Datsyuk, Brad Stuart, Dan Cleary, Chris Osgood, Jimmy Howard, Valtteri Filppula, and Tomas Holmstrom all fell victim to freak, and in some instances controversial (see: Stuart) injuries. Filppula has since returned to the lineup to regain some sense of stability, but the other players are major cogs to this team's success. For instance, the combination of Datsyuk, Cleary, and Holmstrom have combined for 39 goals and 48 assists - 87 points. Add in the fact that Modano ha...

First off, this is my first post in a LONG while. Just been real busy with school and all. So if you're reading this, thanks for reading. I really do appreciate it. As some of you may or may not know, last night marked the start of a brief partnership between then NHL and HBO focusing on the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins leading up to the 2011 NHL Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. The show was nothing short of spectacular. Ok so let's move past the fact that 99% of NHL fans can't stand either the Pens or Caps. I hate the Pens with all my heart. I can handle the Caps because Ovie is (to me) the best player in the world. But let's look at the bigger picture here: this show was flat out awesome. (For those who haven't seen the show and are planning to, I'll try to limit the spoilers.) I've never seen a show go behind the scenes in hockey. That's the real selling point for me here. It's like you're a member of the team. Hearing t...