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Blashill: The league needs to protect its young stars

MiHockey Staff
(Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)
(Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey)

 

By @StefanKubus –

DETROIT – After a game that saw 19-year-old rookie sensation Dylan Larkin become the target of a number of physical altercations in Tuesday night’s Red Wings-Devils game, Detroit head coach Jeff Blashill had some strong comments on the game’s next wave of stars needing to be guarded by the league.

Late in the second period, Larkin chipped a puck into the New Jersey zone, went around Devils defenseman John Moore and the two approached the puck in the corner. Moore shoved Larkin from behind several feet away from the boards and sent him crashing hard into the end boards. There was no call on the play.

Shortly after, on the same shift, New Jersey defenseman Damon Severson was tangled up with a Wings player to the right of goaltender Corey Schneider, resulting in Severson bumping his own goaltender over. Larkin was standing behind the net next to Schneider when he went down, so Severson went after him. Abdelkader stepped in and took on Severson, ultimately wrestling him to the ice.

Blashill was adamant about the need for the league to protect the young stars, especially in an era where the game is faster than ever and concussions are increasingly prevalent. Gone are the days of enforcers and players being allowed to police themselves.

“Referees throughout the league have to know that young stars in the league, when they get targeted, they need to make sure they do a good job of calling penalties even if they’re close because we don’t want our young stars in the league to get targeted,” Blashill said.

Those were just two such examples from the game, and Larkin can certainly defend himself and was even defended by Abdelkader on the Severson incident, but Blashill added that his team will continue to adopt the “pack mentality” and cited how important it will be to continue defending one another going forward.

“I think that’ll be a continued challenge for him,” Blashill said of Larkin. “I think he’s going to have to make sure he keeps his focus. We’re going to have do a good job of continuing to defend him.”