from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,

“Absolutely, it’s been hard,” Larkin said, noting the Wings haven’t played a game since March 10, two days before the pandemic shut down the NHL regular season. “That’s probably an understatement with our team, it’s been hard for us because so we’ve been off for so long. We’ve been really quiet. But the hunger, a lot of guys are back in town and skating at (Little Caesars Arena), and guys are ready.

“It’s been a long time, a challenging time. You go through periods of motivation, you feel good and excited, and there was a (potential) start date of mid-October, I can’t even remember, and it got pushed back and it seemed to get pushed back and you get upset about it.

“It’s been harder mentally than physically.”

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