The Detroit Red Wings were once the NHL\u2019s model franchise, but those days feel long gone. And the episode at their home opener involving former captain Dylan Larkin may be rock bottom for the franchise.<\/p>\n
As one of the Original Six, the Red Wings have one of the NHL\u2019s proudest histories, with 11 Stanley Cups in their trophy cabinet. They made the playoffs for 25 straight seasons from 1991-2016, the third-longest in league history.<\/p>\n
Detroit has inexplicably missed the playoffs for ten consecutive seasons. It seems like it was the days of Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay when the Red Wings were last playing playoff hockey. And their lack of success finally prompted beloved team captain, Michigan native, and Team USA member Dylan Larkin to request a trade this offseason.<\/p>\n
Larkin hasn\u2019t been traded yet, but he isn\u2019t playing either because of an offseason upper-body\u00a0injury.<\/a> He was also stripped of the captaincy after the trade request. Still, the Red Wings introduced him to the Little Caesars Arena crowd at their home opener on Friday night. And as anyone with a functioning brain would expect, he was booed out of the building.<\/p>\n Dylan Larkin got BOO\u2019D during the Wings home opener intros \ud83d\ude33 pic.twitter.com\/x58up8q11S<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 B\/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n At the first intermission, the NHL on TNT crew discussed the situation. And while Wings fans might feel as though they were entitled to their public pound of flesh, Paul Bissonnette, never one to mince words<\/a>, criticized the move as \u201cbush league.\u201d The former NHL enforcer said that the franchise was only looking to publicly embarrass their former captain. The entire set concluded that it could hurt the Red Wings\u2019 ability to attract players to Detroit moving forward because of how they treated him.<\/p>\n