Patrick Kane compares Auston Matthews to Pavel Datsyuk and fans get upset!

The Hockey Hall of Fame induction weekend for 2024 is upon us with the likes of Pavel Datsyuk, Shea Weber, and Jeremy Roenick getting inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday, alongside Women's players Krissy Wendel and Natalie Darwitz and builders David Poile and Colin Campbell. The HHOF game takes place in Toronto later tonight as the Maple Leafs host the Detroit Red Wings, which prompted Patrick Kane to compare one of his oppents, and Team America teammate, Auston Matthews to a very recent Hall of Famer, saying that while there isn’t a player out there like Datsyuk, Matthews does resemble him:

“Maybe Auston’s more of a shooter, but as far as playing both ends of the ice and being able to strip guys of the puck and turn it into offense, I think that’s where they’re pretty similar.”

It’s incredibly high praise to be compared to the Red Wings legend and I’m not sure Kane’s comment is being accepted by some die hard fans in Detroit. Some fans quickly respond to the post and Kane's statement by saying that Matthews and Datsyuk were even close to being similar, with other using harsh language in their answers. We only use the clean ones to remain family friendly, and so, sorry if that's a small sample: 

After all, we are comparing a young superstar in Toronto to the career of a legend, which lasted 14 years in the NHL. Datsyuk was amongst the game’s best even towards the end. He scored 314 goals and 604 assists to go along with him ranking amongst Detroit’s best throughout their historic franchise. He’s won two Stanley Cups, 3 Selke Trophies and 4 Lady Byng Trophies : that goes to show Datsyuk’s gamesmanship on the ice and his well-rounded skillset as one of the best players there ever was.

Matthews is one of a kind and very talented sure, but he still has ways to go to reach any comparisons to the great Pavel Datsyuk.