A small delegation of Detroit Red Wings led by Dylan Larkin paid a visit to Jared Goff and Detroit Lions training camp
A small delegation of Detroit Red Wings led by Dylan Larkin paid a visit to Jared Goff and Detroit Lions training camp
Over the weekend, a delegation of the Red Wings Michigan-born players (captain Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Andrew Copp, and Jeff Petry) all paid a visit to Detroit Lions training camp in Allen Park, not quite two weeks after their GM Steve Yzerman had done the same.
The Red Wings expressed their enthusiasm for the Lions' playoff run during the winter, when Honolulu Blue and chants of Lions quarterback Jared Goff's name became temporary fixtures of the Red Wings' game night atmosphere at Little Caesars Arena.
The high-water mark of today's visit came when Larkin supplied Goff—who wears jersey number 16—with two custom Red Wings sweaters. The first read "Goff," and the other represented Detroit's legendary number 16, Vladimir Konstnatinov.
"We got him both, because we know how special that number is," Larkin said in explanation to ABC 7 Detroit's Jeanna Trotman. "We got to share a little bit the history of number 16 for the Red Wings, and we all know Vladdy is a special sports figure in our city and with our team. So I think giving him both was the right thing to do." Per Trotman, Goff's wife Christen Harper wore the jersey as the pair departed the practice field.
Since last season, the Red Wings have been explicit in their desire to replicate the Lions' culture, with coach Derek Lalonde saying after he visited Lions camp a year ago. "I just love his energy," Lalonde said of Campbell last summer. "When I saw him, we had a good talk—talked about the season, he was asking about our season, talking about the time back in the day when he played here. Obviously the Wings had it rolling then. I yell at my kids for being on social media, and then I'm the one looking up Dan Campbell quotes at one in the morning...we had a good laugh." Lalonde also mentioned that he loved the way Campbell and his staff embraced mounting expectations without changing the approach that garnered those expectations, professing to a "man crush" on the Lions head coach.
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