Pavel Datsyuk's return to Russia has culminated with another championship victory for the former Detroit Red Wings star.
Datsyuk's SKA St. Petersburg won the Gagarin Cup on Sunday, defeating Metallurg Magnitogorsk 5-3 in Game 5 to win the Kontinental Hockey League's championship series 4 games to 1.
Datsyuk, 38, was injured for Game 5 but joined team captain and former NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk on the ice following the game to hoist the Cup.
Tastes good, @Datsyuk13? pic.twitter.com/fCAZjTzGXh
— KHL (@khl_eng) April 16, 2017
Datsyuk, who won two Stanley Cups with the Red Wings, scored 12 goals and had 22 assists during the KHL regular season and added four goals and five assists in the seven postseason games in which he appeared.
He received congratulations from his agent, who noted his client's feat of winning championships in both the NHL and KHL.
Congratulations to my friend and client Pavel Datsyuk on winning Gagarin Cup - KHL championship. One of the first ones who won both CUPS
— Dan Milstein-Hockey (@DMilsteinHockey) April 16, 2017
Winning championships in both the NHL and KHL is a rare feat. Others who hoisted both titles include Oleg Tverdovsky, Slava Kozlov and Mike Keenan, who became the first coach to accomplish the feat in 2014.
It was SKA St. Petersburg's second championship in three years. The team lost just twice during the KHL playoffs. Metallurg Magnitogorsk was trying to repeat as league champion after winning the Gagarin Cup in 2016.
Datsyuk, a four-time NHL All-Star selection, left the Red Wings in June to return to his native Russia and the KHL, where he played during the NHL lockout during the 2012-13 season. He ranks sixth in Red Wings franchise history with 918 points, having scored 314 goals (ranked eighth) and tallied 604 assists (fifth) in 953 career games.
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
