Larkin and Frk Going to World Championships, DeKeyser Considering
6 years ago
Look like the Detroit Red Wings will have at least two representatives in Denmark for the 2018 IIHF World Championships.
Both Dylan Larkin and Martin Frk are deciding to represent their club and countries this spring.
This will be Frk’s first time representing the Czech Republic at the World Championships, having only U20 and U18 IIHF tournaments previously. I’m sure Martin will enjoy some more ice-time, having only averaged 10:26 in 67 games this season with the Red Wings. He discussed more about this with Dana Wakiji of DetroitRedWings.com,
“I just want to play more hockey,” Frk said. “Being on the fourth line, I didn’t get as much minutes, so I just want to go there and play more. It’s always good. My family come watch me because they were not here the whole year, so hopefully they can come there and watch me play because for them that’s a long time they didn’t see me play. Also, I want to play against the best and try to win it.”
Martin Frk has 11 goals and 25 points in those 67 games he’s played this season. Playing mainly as a powerplay specialist, he averaged 2:11 of ice-time on the man advantage this season.
Larkin represented the United States last year and it proved to be a confidence-booster, with 10 points in 8 games – it’s safe to say Dylan had an excellent tournament. He is hoping for an equally fun time this time around as well, as he tells Wakiji,
“I do enjoy that tournament. It’s a fun tournament,” Larkin said. “Time where it is about winning but it’s also about enjoying the game, meeting the guys, bonding in a short period of time. I enjoy that part of it and traveling to different countries and playing hockey. I love playing on the big ice, you have the puck a ton, make a lot of plays. It would help to see who’s going to go. Hopefully we have a good team and can get a chance to win it.”
Teammates Jimmy Howard and Danny DeKeyser joined Larkin last year, but both seem unlikely to join him this time. At the age of 33 and playing the second-most games in his career, it is most likely that Howard will want some rest to prepare for the 2018-19 season and the last year of his current contract.
DeKeyser is much younger, but he has a very important reason to not be joining his countrymen in Denmark this year. Melissa DeKeyser, Danny’s wife, gave birth to their first child at the end of February and he will most likely opt out to spend more time with his newly-formed family.
The IIHF World Championship starts May 4th and starts off with a U.S.A. vs Canada game at the Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning, Denmark. Surely to be a beautiful game in a beautiful country. At least something to watch for fans while our team is out of the playoffs for the second year in a row – we should probably get used to this for a few more years.
Recent articles from Thomas Williams
