For most of the past four weeks, Dylan Larkin has been in a neck brace. He smiled when he talked to reporters Wednesday during his year-end press conference and said, "This is actually one of my first times out of it." He still looked stiff. He still needs rest.
Larkin was cross-checked in the back of the neck by Stars captain Jamie Benn while looking down for the puck after a faceoff in Detroit's loss to Dallas on April 20. Larkin, stunned, fell backward to the ice, then crumpled up in pain. It's an ugly play to watch.
"It was an unfortunate play, and unfortunate that it ended my season," Larkin said.
Good news is, Larkin won't need surgery. The doctors say the injury just needs time to heal, and the Red Wings expect their captain to be ready for the start of next season. Larkin hopes to be back on the ice by the middle of June. But things didn't look good there at first.
"I spent a couple nights in the hospital," Larkin said. "That wasn’t fun."
He added later, "I really do believe I got pretty lucky. I don’t have to have surgery. That’s just how I feel now and what the doctors are telling me."
A relief, considering the alternative at 24 years old?
"Definitely," Larkin said. "Any time you’re dealing with the neck it’s a little scary, but I always believed I was going to be OK. It’s something minor that needs time to heal, and that’s all you can ask for."
Benn wasn't penalized on the play, and he didn't face discipline from the league. If Larkin took issue with this -- and who would blame him? -- he did his best to hide it on Wednesday.
"It’s passed-by now. I was upset when it happened, obviously was pretty hurt. You could call it a hockey play, I don’t really ever see a time in a game where I want to cross-check someone while they’re down," Larkin said.
He pointed to the incident in the 2019 playoffs when then-Sharks captain Joe Pavelski was cross-checked in the chest at the faceoff dot, lost his balance and landed gruesomely on his head. It took eight staples to stop the bleeding.
"The league talked about focusing on faceoffs because there’s a lot of things that happen and guys are vulnerable," Larkin said "I’m not disappointed (in the lack of discipline) or anything. I just have to be careful and use it as a learning experience. You have to protect yourself, even on faceoffs."
It's been a long few weeks for Larkin, after another long season. He's spent most of his time on the couch watching TV -- "a lot of playoff hockey, a lot of soccer, a lot of time with the dog," he said. He's beginning to feel better, and he certainly seems happy to be free of the brace.
Fortunately, a brace was all he needed.
"It's part of the game. Part of what we do, part of what we sign up for," Larkin said. "I’m feeling a lot better after the first couple weeks, moving around and feeling better. I just have to rest and let it heal and I’ll be good to go for the start of next year."