“We Want Larkin”: Here’s What to Make of Dylan Larkin’s Comments

Mathis Therrien
“We Want Larkin”: Here’s What to Make of Dylan Larkin’s Comments
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

As expected and anticipated, Montreal Canadiens fans at the Bell Centre gave Detroit Red Wings forward Dylan Larkin a very special welcome.

As soon as the puck dropped, the fans made their voices heard, chanting “We want Larkin” in unison in hopes of perhaps convincing Larkin—and especially his entourage—to come to Montreal.

This movement by Habs fans took place at several different points during the game, especially when Larkin was on the ice and had the puck.

In short, the fans did their part, and now the ball is very much in Larkin's court—and he responded to the situation after the game.

Here's what he had to say.

 

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“It was interesting. I never would have imagined being cheered and applauded like that in this arena in my career. They're passionate fans. In my opinion, it's the best atmosphere in hockey, and they know it—they love their team; that's how I see it. After a few seconds, I was back fully focused on the game. ” – Dylan Larkin

Now, personally, I see two ways to interpret this.

The first is that Larkin was certainly impressed, but ultimately, it didn't make him think twice, and in his comments, he simply wanted to be respectful and politically correct by praising the CH fans and the Canadiens.

The other possible interpretation is that Larkin was genuinely blown away by seeing about 20,000 fans of another team chanting his name, that he truly felt wanted, and that the atmosphere at the Bell Centre—which he described as the best—really appeals to him.

Of course, there's no way to really know how Larkin feels about all this, but my gut tells me he's clearly not indifferent, even though he said he quickly refocused on the game.

It's not every day that a player from an opposing team declares loud and clear that the Bell Centre has the best atmosphere.

In any case, one thing is certain: the fans did their job and did everything they could to show Larkin that he was wanted here in Montreal.

Now let's see if that changed the minds of a few members of his family.

It was clearly a distraction, and Wings head coach Todd McLellan made that very clear to reporters; when asked a second question about Larkin, he immediately lost his patience, stating that he was fed up with the situation.

This is hurting the Wings, as it's not just McLellan who's fed up, but also the fans and the team's players, who surely had to respond to the Habs' fans by thinking, “Take that.”

In short, it was a very special and unique night, which resulted in a rather dull and bizarre game overall with the three disallowed goals—which leads me to wonder if the chants and the Larkin situation were also a distraction for the Habs players.

All of this remains to be seen.


In a Nutshell

– 100% agree. He's off to a strong start to the season.

– Things aren't looking good for the Flyers.

– It's really tough.

– Stay tuned.

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