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Speed To Burn, A Lot To Learn - Jan. 22 2018 - Vol. 78 Issue 10 - Jared Clinton
MIDDLE MANAGEMENT
Getting moved to center placed more responsibility on Larkin’s shoulders and has increased his impact on games.
THE FIRST THING YOU notice in the video is the couch. Cream colored with vertical white stripes. You know the one, aged out of the living room and relegated to the basement of your run-of the-mill Midwest home. To the left of the frame sits a rosy-cheeked 13-year-old kid, an American flag draped over his shoulders and dark hair spilling out from under a rally cap. Soon, he’s joined by his helmet-wearing, American Eagle-clad co-host. For the next three minutes and 25 seconds, ‘E.G. Slayer,’ a.k.a. Evan Gizinski, and ‘D-Boss,’ alias Dylan Larkin – yes, that Dylan Larkin – take us on a“snip show” odyssey. It’s the teenaged Larkin who introduces us to ‘The Dungeon,’ Gizinski’s basement in Michigan, and stifles his laughter long enough to showcase the“whips,” what the layperson would call hockey sticks, that the two will be using to demonstrate their sharpshooting acumen.
IT WOULD BE FUN TO RACE CONNOR MCDAVID.I THINK HE’D PROBABLY BEAT ME, BUT I’D GIVE IT A GOOD SHOT– Dylan Larkin
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Shot in November 2010, the video laid dormant on YouTube for more than five years before it caught the eye of some deepdiving hockey fan. And once it hit social media in February 2016, months into Larkin’s rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings, the two-man highlight reel went viral. “I was a little embarrassed,” Larkin said. “My teammates gave me a hard time. But people seemed to enjoy it. We sold T-shirts, and I’ve opened up to it a bit more. I’ve embraced the name, and it’s all fun now. At first, though, I was definitely caught off-guard and selfconscious about it.”
The video has become part of the lore of Larkin’s young career, to the extent that he was approached prior to the start of the 2017-18 season to set up a giveaway for a Red Wings’ December home game: a bobblehead featuring his alter-ego in a recreation of the opening scene from the viral video. But make no mistake, ‘D-Boss’ isn’t the only thing from Larkin’s rookie season that is re-emerging.
After Larkin suffered through a significant sophomore slump last season, one that saw his point total dip by a baker’s dozen, his scoring touch has reignited. It took him 19 games to register 15 assists, matching his total from 2016-17, and Larkin had 22 points by the end of November, leaving him 10 shy of last season’s output. And helping Larkin find his stride again are his new role and increased responsibility.
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At the 2017 World Championship in France and Germany, Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill headed up the American squad and tapped Larkin to play down the middle, where he logged big minutes in all situations. His two-goal, 10-point performance and penalty killing prowess were enough for Blashill to inform Larkin, who previously played the wing for most of his NHL career, that he’d be a full-time center this season in Detroit. His early production shows it was a wise move, but Larkin has eyes on getting even better, studying tape to learn how to become a more effective, point-producing pivot. “You watch Henrik Zetterberg,” Larkin said. “He’s not the fastest guy on the ice, but he gets the puck in the middle of the ice and does a great job finding little holes where he can be shifty, use his edges, find ways to get up the ice and move the puck to make his linemates better.”
One big difference between Larkin and Zetterberg, however, is that Larkin is usually among the fastest players on the ice. And while he claims that wasn’t always the case and that he isn’t the league’s speediest skater, the All-Star Game record book says otherwise, even if some argue his“fastest skater” record is tainted and the real mark should belong to Connor McDavid, who wasn’t allowed the same running start in the 2017 skills competition that Larkin had in 2016. About that, though: Larkin isn’t opposed to trying to settle it once and for all. “With what happened at the 2016 All-Star Game, where I got the head start that everyone talks about, especially McDavid fans, I think it would be fun (to race McDavid),” Larkin said. “I think he’d probably beat me, but I’d give it a good shot.”
But Larkin has his sights set on bigger things than an all-star record. He’s driven to become a dominant player, one whose will matches his skill. That’s why he passed on off-season outings and appearances in order to spend weekends training, why he ramped up workouts as training camp approached and got himself in shape to hit the ice feeling as refreshed as ever.
Pair that with what he learned through the trials and tribulations of his sophomore campaign, and you have a wiser, more laser-focused Larkin. “Everyone who plays wants to be a good player, but I can’t do it without working,” Larkin said. “I can’t just rely on my skills alone. I have to play the right way and work hard. And it’s good to see this year, with a little bit more work ethic, working away from the puck, attention to detail and penalty killing, that I’m seeing some results. When I’m working hard, I can make things happen.”
Or as D-Boss would say,“make a snip show.”
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