{"id":467636,"date":"2026-02-23T02:32:28","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:32:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/467636\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T02:32:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T02:32:28","slug":"dylan-larkin-centre-of-olympic-controversy-but-detroit-red-wings-fans-are-proud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/467636\/","title":{"rendered":"Dylan Larkin centre of Olympic controversy but Detroit Red Wings fans are proud"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  &#13;<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/644470.webp.webp\" style=\"width:100%;\" border=\"0\" alt=\"[US, Mexico  Canada customers only] Feb 20, 2026; Milan, Italy; Dylan Larkin of United States celebrates with teammates after scoring their first goal against Slovakia in a men's ice hockey semifinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena\" title=\"[US, Mexico  Canada customers only] Feb 20, 2026; Milan, Italy; Dylan Larkin of United States celebrates with teammates after scoring their first goal against Slovakia in a men's ice hockey semifinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena\"\/>&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Photo credit: Mike Segar\/Reuters via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Larkin just got pulled into an Olympic gold conversation that was supposed to be all about Auston Matthews.<\/p>\n<p>Matthews wears the \u201cC\u201d for Team USA, but one passed-up shot has the Olympic spotlight turning harsh.<\/p>\n<p>The clip went viral Sunday because Matthews had a clean look in tight and still tried to pass.<\/p>\n<p>For Red Wings fans, the part that hits differently is what happened before the puck even dropped.<\/p>\n<p>During the team walkout, Larkin looked like the guy driving the group forward.<\/p>\n<p>That tiny \u201coptics\u201d moment sparked the usual body-language frenzy, and it put Larkin right in the middle of a captaincy debate he never asked for.<\/p>\n<p>Some outlets even threw a Ben Simmons-style comparison at Matthews for refusing the shot.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the kind of noise that grows legs fast at the Olympics, especially with Canada waiting in the gold medal game.<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Larkin gives Team USA its Detroit edge<\/p>\n<p>Wings fans have seen this movie, Larkin can look calm and still be the heartbeat when the moment gets loud.<\/p>\n<p>The thing is, Matthews has actually produced, with 26-22-48 through 51 NHL games, and he\u2019s had big nights in Milan too.<\/p>\n<p>This feels less like a talent issue and more like a \u201ctrust your release\u201d issue in the slot.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Larkin keeps showing why coaches lean on him when the ice tilts.<\/p>\n<p>He opened the scoring against Sweden in the quarterfinal, then watched Team USA survive and advance in overtime.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the Detroit angle, leadership isn\u2019t always the loudest voice, sometimes it\u2019s the first guy to the next puck.<\/p>\n<p>If Team USA finishes this off with gold, the internet will crown someone.<\/p>\n<p>But for Red Wings fans, it\u2019s hard not to smile seeing Larkin\u2019s presence treated like the standard.<\/p>\n<p>Previously on Detroit Hockey Insider<\/p>\n<p>POLL<\/p>\n<p>11 HOURS AGO|171 ANSWERS<\/p>\n<p>Dylan Larkin centre of Olympic controversy but Detroit Red Wings fans are proud<\/p>\n<p>Should Dylan Larkin be viewed as Team USA\u2019s emotional leader in this Olympic run?<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"&#13; &#13; &#13; Photo credit: Mike Segar\/Reuters via Imagn Images Dylan Larkin just got pulled into an Olympic&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5101],"tags":[532,56558,599,93,5137,595,5,4,27725,3358,5138,3255],"class_list":["post-467636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-red-wings","tag-auston-matthews","tag-canada-vs-usa","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-red-wings","tag-detroitredwings","tag-dylan-larkin","tag-hockey","tag-nhl","tag-olympic-gold","tag-red-wings","tag-redwings","tag-team-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116117605912694743","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}