Before Thursday night’s win over the Islanders, the Detroit Red Wings honored Pavel Datsyuk, their beloved Magic Man on the occasion of his Hockey Hall of Fame induction. Over the weekend, 2022 Red Wings fourth round draft choice Amadeus Lombardi took it upon himself to provide his own Datsyuk tribute against the Wild.
In Friday night’s game, first, Lombardi replicated the thievery and stickhandling that were both staples of Datsytuk’s highlight reel, showing strength and skill to pull the puck off a Wild defender’s tape before pulling it through his legs then roofing it from a tight angle to give the Griffins a lead.
Later in the night, Lombardi dropped a defender from his skates with a hesitation and head fake along the wall. No goal game of the maneuver, but it was impossible not to be reminded of Datsyuk’s ruthless undressing of Logan Couture back in 2013.
Of course, the Datsyuk comparison creates an unreasonable expectation for the 21-year-old Lombardi. As Red Wing fans know better than anyone, there will never be another Datsyuk. However, Lombardi is, without a doubt, finding his game at the AHL level.
A year ago, in his first full season of pro hockey, Lombardi managed five goals and 21 assists for 26 points in 70 games for Grand Rapids. This season, through 16 games, he already has seven goals (a team high) and five assists for 12 points (good for second on the Griffins). That represents just about a doubling in production, from 0.37 points-per-game a year ago to 0.75 this season.
Lombardi isn’t ready for an NHL role yet, but his blossoming production is of course a good sign that his ripening, to borrow a phrase from a certain former Detroit general manager, is progressing nicely.
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