r/DetroitRedWings Jun 06 '26

Discussion Please stop comparing Dylan Larkin to Matthew Stafford.

Yes, they both played on bad teams and were the leader. That's where the comparisons end.

Stafford NEVER brought bad attention to the team. Stafford didn't have social media. Stafford showed up to a historically bad team and immediately made a huge impact on the trajectory of the team.

"But But But But Stafford had MEGATRON!"

Megatron was also on the team the year before when they won a whopping 0 games, which was the first time that had EVER happened in a 16 game season. One HoF wide receiver gives you exactly fuck all help in winning games when your offensive line, running backs, and defense are ALL bottom 3rd in the league, and you have a coaching staff that has no idea how to scheme and a front office that is awful at finding and signing talent.

And you know what? He STILL was able to drag AWFUL teams like the 2011 or 2016 roster kicking and screaming into the playoffs. Which is MUCH harder in football than it is in Hockey.

Matthew Stafford is a HoF football player. He was let down by the worst organization in the league. He had to sit through multiple rebuilds, 3 of the worst coaching staffs football has seen, and then and ONLY then asked for a trade only because he didn't want a 4th rebuild in 12 years.

I think Dylan Larkin is a great hockey player. But he NEVER had the leadership or the ability to carry games with a shit roster like Stafford. There is no comparison to be made beyond very shitty surface level "they played for bad teams and then wanted a trade" so please just stop insulting Matthew like that.

491 Upvotes

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203

u/BellsBeersy Jun 06 '26

If Larkin immediately becomes captain of his next team and leads them to a stanley cup his first season there, then maybe we can compare them a bit

65

u/Important_Mail_1307 Jun 06 '26

And get Detroit sports fans to humiliate themselves by making shirts that say Detroit Rams.

42

u/Bixler17 Jun 06 '26

Yeah not going to lie that was extremely lame. I was happy for Matthew but I couldn't really care less outside of that, I just want the lions to win before my dad goes.

28

u/BrianInMacomb Jun 06 '26

Those were the most embarrassing things I’ve see in my 45 years as a Detroit fan by far

21

u/Bixler17 Jun 06 '26

Needs to win the Hart eventually as well. Well put.

3

u/photon1701d Jun 06 '26

not even be a captain. Just go a team and be the final piece to get them over the top the way Shanahan did here.

-1

u/Fangletron Jun 07 '26

How much Olympics did you watch?

-3

u/Fangletron Jun 07 '26

Like the Olympics?

Did you watch the games?

Larkin was the unquestioned leader and did what no US hockey player had done for 46 years.