Paul Bissonnette had already called it bush league. Detroit introduced Dylan Larkin as a healthy scratch before their home opener on October 2, the crowd booed him for the length of it, and Bissonnette told the TNT panel that the club knew exactly what it was setting him up for.
Four days later Larkin played his season debut and got the same treatment, boos on his first shift and again every time he touched the puck. On Spittin’ Chiclets, Bissonnette stopped being measured about it.
“If you fans want to boo,” he started, before raising his voice. “You’re booing ownership!”
A co-host pointed out that the crowd had in fact directed “sell the team” chants at owner Chris Ilitch during the opener, which is booing ownership. Bissonnette wasn’t finished.
“No more booing Larkin!” he said.
READ MORE: Dylan Larkin’s response to being booed by his own fans
Then came the part that will land hardest in Detroit. Bissonnette doesn’t just think Larkin has taken enough abuse. He thinks the captaincy should be handed back to him.
The Detroit Red Wings stripped the ‘C’ after his trade request and chose to open the season without a captain rather than give it to anyone else, a decision Larkin himself accepted without complaint at the time. He said actions have consequences and that he understood why it happened. Bissonnette’s position is that the organization, not the player, is the one that should be answering for how this year has gone.
Why is Detroit fans booing?
The other half of Detroit’s off-ice mess has deteriorated badly in the past week, and Bissonnette had details on it. Simon Edvinsson reported to camp without a contract, paying for his own insurance in order to practice while the two sides worked on a deal. According to Spittin’ Chiclets sources, the offer that eventually arrived was insulting enough to change his position entirely, taking him from willing to figure it out to something else altogether.
Elliotte Friedman reported on Saturday that Edvinsson would now prefer to be traded, frustrated with how the negotiation has been handled. He has since returned home to Sweden.
READ MORE: Nick Cousins found Dylan Larkin’s sorest spot on camera
That standoff has now run 15 months. Detroit sits more than $19 million under the salary cap, has no permanent general manager after Steve Yzerman stepped down on July 15, and installed Shawn Horcoff on an interim basis on September 15.
The hockey hasn’t helped either. The Red Wings have missed the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, the longest active drought in the league, and Bissonnette’s panel suggested on air that the handling of Larkin will cost Detroit with free agents who talk among themselves about this sort of thing.
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