Evening news: On Larkin’s leadership, the Wings’ goalies, Twitter videos and a get-to-know-you roster

Updated 2x at 6:50 PM: Of Red Wings-related note this evening:

1. MLive’s Ansar Khan wrote an article discussing Dylan Larkin’s desire to aid in the leadership department for the Red Wings this season…

“We all know the reality of Z not coming back and the hole that he leaves,” Larkin said. “We all know we have to chip in and be better and contribute what he meant to this team and the offense he produced. And more what he did off the ice as well, just being around and his presence. I think our veteran guys are doing a great job of that.

“But for me, it comes from within. I think that pressure is always something that, since my draft year, I’ve always wanted to be better and always wanted more for myself and for our team.”

That self-accountability is one of the reasons the Red Wings made him an alternate captain.

“If you’re a person that looks inward and holds yourself accountable first, you’re going to garner tons more respect than someone who can’t accept that type of responsibility,” Blashill said. “I think he’s a guy who cares about winning first, second and last.”

Said Nielsen: “I think his basic leadership skills are on the ice, the way he brings it and the way he competes every night. A little bit like Hank did. He was a hard-working guy every day on the ice, and when your leader does that usually everyone follows. I think (Larkin) is going to be that same kind of leader.”

2. As did 97.1 the Ticket’s Will Burtchfield, who noted that Larkin is leading the Wings’ youth movement:

“I think we’re going to be an exciting team to watch,” Larkin said when asked about Detroit’s identity. “We’re going to be youthful, we’re going to have a lot of speed and I think it’s the whole 60 minutes of (being) hard to play against. We’re going to be a fast team, hard to play against and we’re going to do it right. That’ll be our identity. It may not be pretty, but we’re going to outwork teams.”

That has been the message from day one. Jeff Blashill and the coaching staff warned the players entering training camp that it would be a demanding few days. The Wings don’t have the talent to win in the fashion they used to, so they were going to skate, and they were going to skate some more. Nielsen, who’s taken part in a few camps over the years, said it was as hard as any he’s ever experienced.

This standard hasn’t been lowered since. It won’t be at any point in the year. Two days before the season-opener, practice left the players huffing and puffing.

“I think we’ve made an emphasis of work and compete,” Blashill said on Tuesday. “We’ve done it through training camp and we did it again today. I know that the heart rates got going again today. We have to work and compete to give ourselves the best chance to win every night.”

3. Among DetroitRedWings.com’s Dana Wakiji’s notes:

Being an NHL goaltender is a unique position. There are only two of you on the team and though you’re in competition with each other, you must also find a way to have at the very least a cordial relationship with your partner.

Wings goalie Jimmy Howard has had to adjust to a new goaltending mate this season for the first time in a number of years when the Wings signed Jonathan Bernier as a free agent this past July. Howard has enjoyed his interaction with Bernier and feels they’re on the same page.

“It’s been awesome, it really has, from day one since we talked on the phone from when he first signed to the first time we met each other and got to go to dinner together in Traverse City,” Howard said. “It’s been a great working relationship since this summer and it continues to get better as we work and push each other.

“He’s played throughout the league, he’s played on some other teams, he’s had other goalie coaches along the way. So you can learn throughout the year about the little things he does. Not everything is going to work for you, but you try it and see if you can add it to your game or not.”

Wakiji continues…

4. The Red Wings posted a set of videos from their post-practice media availability:


5. Meanwhile, in Dallas…


6. And finally, the Free Press’s Helene St. James posted a Red Wings roster in which one “gets to know” the team:

F Dylan Larkin

Age: 22

2017-18: 16 goals, 47 assists in 82 games.

Contract: Signed through 2022-23; cap hit of $6.1 million.

If I weren’t playing hockey, I’d be: An elementary school teacher.

F Anthony Mantha

Age: 24

2017-18: 24 goals, 24 assists in 80 games.

Contract: Signed through 2019-20; cap hit of $3.3 million.

If I weren’t playing hockey, I’d be: A mathematician.

St. James also continues…

Update: Hockeybuzz’s Bob Duff offers this regarding the Wings’ decision to go with four “A’s“:

“Over the last month, we’ve talked, Jeff Blashill and I, and I’ve also reached out to Kris Draper and (Shawn) Horcoff and (Dan) Cleary and Jim Devellano and Ryan Martin to kind of decide what would be the best direction to go in terms of letters on our team,” Detroit GM Ken Holland said. “We made the decision over the last 72 hours. We wanted to take all of camp, make sure that we felt good about the decision that we made.”

Update #2: The Detroit News’s Gregg Krupa also posted an article about Dylan Larkin:

 “Well, it’s the family for sure, his upbringing,” Ken Holland said, when asked about the source of the new alternate captain’s composure and determination. What’s that saying, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? So, obviously, it speaks to his parents.”

Holland said that after a fine season with Larkin turning 22 in July, “I don’t want to heap a bunch of expectations on him.

“We love the player. He plays hard every day. Last year, he learned to play 200 feet. He learned to stop on pucks. He’s a natural-born leader because he plays hard. He’s got a passion,” Holland said. “He’s at the rink every day, or most every day, all summer. He’s in Newfoundland at the hockey school. He’s got his hockey school here. He wants to go to some camp in Toronto because (John) Tavares and (Auston) Matthews are there. He wants to go to another camp in Tampa Bay to learn more. He’s in the coach’s room every day looking at video. He loves hockey. He’s got a passion for hockey.”

Coach Jeff Blashill sees a disciplined and constant player who simply needs to marshal good performances as often as he can.

“I don’t have any doubt that Dylan’s a mentally tough person who has handled lots of ups and downs, and he’s worked through issues that he’s had,” Blashill said about Larkin’s fortitude and ability to thrive amid his new circumstances.

“I don’t think the expectations should be any greater than what they’ve been. I mean we’ve depended on him to be one of the go-to guys on this hockey team certainly all last year. You can’t give him any more minutes than what he’s got. He was on the kill. He was on the power play. He’s one of the top centers. So, from an expectation standpoint, we just need Dylan to go and be a good player. We don’t need Dylan to go out and be superman, he just needs to go out and be a real good player.”

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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, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!