TORONTO >> This was an incredible moment in Pavel Datsyuk’s hockey life, having just gotten his enshrinement ring Friday in the Great Hall at the Hockey Hall of Fame. But getting here wasn’t easy.

Datsyuk isn’t about doing a brief Q&A session and telling a story or two in front of many people. There were other things Datsyuk was more comfortable with.

“Much better when I play,” said Datsyuk, in his thick Russian accent, but smiling and enjoying the moment still the same. “Exciting and nervous. It’s easy to play in playoff game. But to be here, exciting. Not sure I can explain.”

Datsyuk will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Monday. Joining Datsyuk will be Colin Campbell and David Poile, both in the builder category, as well as Natalie Darwitz, Jeremy Roenick, Shea Weber and Krissy Wendell in the player category.

The list of accomplishments for Datsyuk is long and impressive. He won two Stanley Cup championships with the Wings. Four times Datsyuk won the Lady Byng Trophy for most gentlemanly player. He was a three-time winner of the Selke Trophy, as the best defensive forward.

Datsyuk is one of the rare players to be a member of the IIHF Triple Gold Club, having won an Olympic Gold (2018, Russia), a men’s world championship (2012) and the Stanley Cups with the Wings (2002, 2008).

But Datsyuk has continually said since being elected into the Hall of Fame that he had a lot of assistance from coaches and older players along the way.

“It means a lot,” Datsyuk said. “Lots of people helped me when I started, and I remember how they helped me. With advice or anything. A lot of people supposed to be standing here with me.”

The Red Wings play the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday in the “Hall of Fame Game,” part of the elaborate weekend around Toronto immortalizing hockey greats.

Many Wings players shared memories of themselves growing up and watching Datsyuk and his mesmerizing stickhandling.

For captain Dylan Larkin, a Waterford native who would eventually get the opportunity to play one season with Datsyuk (Larkin’s first, Datsyuk’s last), he will always cherish the memories.

“I was very fortunate to play that one year with him and watch the way he worked,” Larkin said. “It was pretty special. He’s someone with unbelievable drive and passion and someone I really respect.”

Datsyuk returned to Detroit this past summer to be a special instructor at the Wings’ development camp for draft picks and undrafted free agents.

At the time, Datsyuk was hesitant about doing any instructing. But he grew more comfortable as the week progressed, and it was a fond memory for him and the young players.

“Having him around in development camp, his personality, literally the first day of camp he was worried about getting in the way. By the second day, he was doing stickhandling and playing keep away from all of our guys,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “He was embracing it.”

Being just a small part of the Hall of Fame weekend, Lalonde said, is amazing.

“Being part of this organization, and Original Six, with all the history, it’s just another chapter,” he said.

Datsyuk remembers the July camp as a great opportunity to finally skate at Little Caesars Arena. Datsyuk never got the chance to play there, having spent his career at Joe Louis Arena and retiring a year before the Wings moved into their palatial new home.

“I was happy to be back,” Datsyuk said. “I never step on the ice in the new arena, and it was the first time in the practice facility (Belfor Training Center). It was fun to be in Detroit and all the players.

“(The young players) are more skilled and fast, and they shoot it better than me. But I’m happy to (coach them) and help them be better players.”

Datsyuk will return to Detroit on Nov. 21 as the Wings celebrate his Hall of Fame induction that evening when they host the Islanders. It’ll be another opportunity to catch up with former friends and teammates, and relive some incredible moments and memories.

And one more time thanking anyone who helped him on the way to hockey immortality. Without them, Datsyuk insists he wouldn’t be in Toronto this weekend.

“It’s good (Hall of Fame ring) but more important is the people around me that helped me,” Datsyuk said. “That’s more important to me.”