Red Wings name four alternate captains, with Nielsen and Larkin joining the fray

Updated 3x with video at 2:05 PM: Per the Free Press’s Helene St. James and MLive’s Ansar Khan:

Dylan Larkin said this on Tuesday, per 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burtchfield…

“I think in a franchise like this, being from here and seeing some of the greatest players of all time wear a ‘C’ on their Red Wings jersey, it would mean a lot. It’s something that’s not just slapped on there and given. It’s something that you have to earn through your play, and I think all the guys who have worn it in the past were established and had won Stanley cups and were key players on the team for a long time,” Larkin said.

And, from the Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan:

“It was a well-thought-out process, a lot of discussions organizationally,” coach Jeff Blashill said. “This is bigger than just the team. It’s an organizational decision. Certainly (general manager) Ken Holland, and his management team, had a lot of discussions with myself and our coaching staff, and (executive vice president) Jimmy Devellano, everyone involved.

“In the end, we feel there’s great leadership in this room outside of those four guys but we felt this was the right decision to distinguish those four guys as A’s.”

Update: MLive’s Ansar Khan posted this video of Blashill discussing the move:

Update #2: In both video and article form, here’s more from the Free Press’s Helene St. James:

It seems a natural progression to name Larkin captain next year, as this is Kronwall’s last season.

Larkin and Nielsen were not available for comment.

Nielsen, 34, wore an ‘A’ while with the New York Islanders. Now in his third season with the Wings, he is comfortable being more vocal in the locker room. But like Zetterberg, and like Nicklas Lidstrom, Nielsen’s appeal is in how he quietly does things right on and off the ice.

“He does it right, he’s done it right forever,” Blashill said. “Anybody you talk to that was with the Islanders organization during that time, he was certainly a guy who was a great example. They thought he was a great assistant captain. Does it right day in and day out. He’s all about team and all about winning. He’s got a lot of similar qualities that Z has.”

Update #3:

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, when MLive hired me to work their SlapShots blog, and I joined Kukla's Korner in 2011 as The Malik Report. I'm starting The Malik Report as a stand-alone site, hoping that having my readers fund the website is indeed the way to go to build a better community and create better content.