At first he was horrified, but Dylan Larkin soon learned to like his alter ego. He’s come to embrace D-Boss.
When he was a pre-teen, during a sleepover at a friend’s house, future Detroit Red Wings center Larkin and his best friend Evan Gizinski filmed a video of the two of them playing hockey in the Gizinski family basement. Staring into the camera, Larkin proudly declares himself D-Boss and invites everyone to enjoy their snip show as they fire shots into a net.
Filmed when he was 12, the video resurfaced during the 2015-16 NHL season, Larkin’s rookie campaign with the Red Wings, and almost instantly went viral.
“I was a little embarrassed at first,” Larkin told Detroitredwings.com. “The guys gave me a hard time. I still remember, I was living with Riley Sheahan at the time and he came in my room that morning - I think we had the day off, or it was a practice day - and he saw it on Twitter. He was one of the first ones to see it, and it was the first time I saw it.
“My stomach dropped. As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it was. I didn’t need to watch it.”
The video led to some good-natured ribbing and a new nickname for Larkin, who became D-Boss within the Detroit dressing room. He grew to be OK with his new handle, so when the Wings approached him about designing a D-Boss bobblehead as a promotional giveaway, Larkin was down with the plan.
“I thought it was a fun idea,” Larkin said. “I think the fans will enjoy it. The guys certainly will enjoy it. I was open to it.
“I wanted them to do it right, though, and they did a good job.”
The D-Boss bobblehead will be available to fans attending Monday’s game at Little Caesars Arena against the Florida Panthers. With the Wings mired in a 1-5-3 slump, Larkin was optimistic that the levity it would bring to his teammates might also help them loosen up and break out of their skid and lead to some success in this game, as well as upcoming home games against fellow Atlantic Division rivals Boston and Toronto.
“I hope it does,” Larkin said. “We’ve got a big week, so if it makes some guys laugh, that’s what it’s supposed to do.
“Hopefully we get off on the right foot tonight and start off a big week for us.”
Looking back on his first starring role nearly a decade later, Larkin can admit that they achieved their objective with their impromptu film project.
“That’s what I used to do when I was a kid,” Larkin said. “What happened six or seven years later is exactly what we wanted to have happen that night.
“I don’t know how many views it has on YouTube (155,231), but it has quite a few. That’s exactly what we wanted to have happen.”
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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