from Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News,
...maybe the most distinguishable difference from the past few seasons is there's simply more NHL talent throughout the lineup. The Wings' roster is deeper.
"It is," said Larkin, who will begin his seventh NHL season Thursday when the Wings play host to the Tampa Bay Lightning. "It's younger. We had guys fighting for roles, guys battling all camp for that, and it was good and competitive. Some new guys came in and really wanted jobs. You could see (with the practices). Guys showed up in shape and ready to play. It was a good camp.
"(Now) we're through it and we're focused on Tampa."
What Larkin, 25, sees with this particular group is an opportunity to reverse the negative vibe that comes with missing the playoffs the last five seasons, the losing records and the unfavorable perception of the team around the NHL.
Larkin feels it's definitely time to "write our own history."
"We need to go out there and execute and prove why we, as a group, don't want to be continuing the trend that's been going on here," Larkin said. "We've talked about it, talked about we're our own team and we'll write our own history.
"There's so much history with this team, and you can look at it as pressure but things haven't been going well, so we're really going to start something now. Start with a push for the playoffs and playing meaningful games and playing the right way, with everyone contributing. When you get everyone contributing it's fun and you win hockey games.
"And we begin to write history of our own."
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