The Free Press’s Helene St. James engaged in a Q and A with Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill on Wednesday afternoon, and Blashill addressed an “elephant in the room”:
Dylan Larkin was earmarked to be named captain before the start of the 2019-20 season, but that was when Ken Holland was the general manager. When Steve Yzerman took the job, he decided he wanted to get to know his players before making the decision. In May, Yzerman said he anticipated naming a captain before the 2020-21 season, but that was before it became clear the season would have to start without fans at games. Will that affect the decision?
“Steve and I talked about it at that time,” Blashill said. “We haven’t had that conversation in a little bit, so I would just leave that statement sit as it was.”
The team held news conferences when Yzerman was named captain in 1986, and again when Henrik Zetterberg was named captain in 2013. For Nicklas Lidstrom, he was announced as the new captain on opening night in 2006, drawing a standing ovation.
