Getting called up to the NHL is supposed to be a thrilling moment for a player who has worked his way through various levels of Czech pro leagues and then spent just over a season in the American Hockey League.
With Kraken goalie Philipp Grubauer temporarily out of the lineup because of an “unfortunate accident” at his home in November, 27-year-old Aleš Stezka got the second call-up of his career. With Grubauer unavailable, Stezka was needed to back up Joey Daccord for Seattle’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Nov. 12.
On the evening of Nov. 11, Stezka flew from Coachella Valley to Seattle, arriving late at night. He picked up a rental car and drove to his downtown hotel around midnight, where he parked in the hotel garage and made the seemingly innocuous decision to leave his gear inside the vehicle.
“I checked the car like three times [to see] if somebody could see the bag from the outside,” Stezka recalled. “And I used my light on the phone, and I couldn’t see in because I had very dark windows.”
Assuming his gear was safe in the hotel garage, Stezka went inside to get a few hours of sleep, knowing he would be back early in the morning to begin his gameday preparations. But when he returned to the car, he immediately recognized that something was amiss.
“I found out at like 6:30 a.m. I came to the car, because that’s a gameday, I wanted to be at the rink a little bit earlier to figure out everything,” Stezka said. “I came to the car and saw the broken window, and I was just like, ‘F**k!’
“I don’t know if the guys used lights, something special [to see in], but they just broke the window, take my hockey gear. They left the sticks in the car, just took the bag.”
The brazen smash-and-grab theft was especially disappointing for Stezka because it was still relatively early in the season, and all his gear was new. This included his Firebirds/Kraken combo mask that he had just unveiled three weeks prior. His bag also contained backup gear, including a second mask, a second pair of skates, and a second catch glove and blocker.
“It was actually crazy, because I never think it can happen, you know? And I just came to Seattle very late. I came to the hotel, like, 30 minutes after midnight. And I was [going to] wake up at something like 6 a.m., so I just parked at the hotel parking garage. But it’s my fault. I just left the stuff, left the hockey bag in the car.”
A gameday scramble
Fortunately for Stezka and the Kraken, he still had his equipment from the 2023-24 season, which he spent entirely with the Firebirds. There was just one problem with him wearing that set for the game later that night: some of that gear was 1,000 miles away in Coachella Valley.
When Stezka realized what had happened, he immediately got in touch with the Kraken to let them know about the incident. With Seattle’s game against the Blue Jackets looming in just 12 hours, head equipment manager Jeff Camelio and director of team services Brennan Baxandall sprang into action.
“I found out at 7 a.m. that his gear was stolen, and we instantly started trying to figure out how we were going to piece gear together to get him on the ice for that night,” Camelio said. “So luckily, we had [some of his old gear] from training camp, so that worked out. We had an old chest protector that he used, old pants, basically just outfitted him with all the old equipment that we could, and then we had some stuff actually flown in from Palm Springs that he had just switched out of.”
What they didn’t have was Stezka’s old pads, gloves, and mask, so they tagged Firebirds assistant equipment manager Justin Sommer to fly from Palm Springs with those items.
“Jeff, Baxy, and everyone around helped me a lot to fix the problem,” Stezka said. “They called the guys in Coachella. Our equipment guy [for the Firebirds], he just flew before the game with the old gear from last season.
“It was easier because that’s my old gear, but I feel so bad… I feel so bad because I had pretty new gear in [the bag].”
**Editor’s note: The gear shown in the above tweet is the gear that was stolen; the photo was taken a few days prior to the incident, during Stezka’s first of two call-ups in quick succession. The header photo is from last season and shows the replacement equipment he used in the game against Columbus.
It was an overwhelming situation for Stezka, who went from being excited to be part of the NHL roster, trying to fit in and quietly go about his business, to being smack-dab in the middle of a chaotic problem that required mountains getting moved on his behalf.
“It was my second call-up ever… I’m a new guy, and everything around that. But the guys helped me a lot here in the locker room too, [saying], ‘Don’t worry, just be ready for the game, and the guys will help you with everything.’ I was very grateful for them.”
Indeed, Stezka’s old gear did arrive in time for him to back up Daccord for the game, though perhaps his setup wasn’t quite as aesthetically pleasing as he had hoped after he replaced his shiny new duds with a beaten-up set from the previous AHL season.
“Jeff did a good job. He called Shifty, he sent him the mask, and Shifty did it in like one week, he did a new mask,” Stezka said. “And he’s a beauty. He helped me a lot, sending me every detail, and I’m very happy to work with him.”
Goalie gear thieves remain at large
One might wonder what would possess somebody to steal a set of custom gear fit for a 6-foot-4 professional hockey goalie, especially considering that it has his name embroidered on it and should be easily spotted as stolen goods.
But that question remains unanswered, as the gear still has not been recovered.
“[The Kraken] talked to the police, I talked to the hotel manager as well, but the gear still [hasn’t been] found,” Stezka said. “Me and my wife—I know Jeff, too, and the team—we’re trying to watch the goalie markets, the black markets, anywhere you can sell gear, but nothing.”
Stezka still feels terrible that the incident happened and (perhaps unfairly) blames himself for not bringing the equipment into the hotel with him that fateful night. But he also learned from the experience.
“I learned you never, never, never leave your stuff in the car… Shit happens, but I feel very bad because it’s a lot of money for a team, and I’m very glad for everyone who helped me on both sides.”
Added Camelio: “This was the first time I’ve had a whole set of goalie gear stolen. So this was a first for me in 25 years.”
If you happen upon a set of pro-spec True goalie gear with “Stezka” stitched into it, and/or a custom Aleš Stezka Firebirds/Kraken mask, please contact your local authorities.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
“The Seattle Kraken won 2-1 against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday” … is what I would be writing if we could erase the first six minutes of the game (and also pretend Leon Draisaitl’s empty-net goal didn’t happen, though it wouldn’t have in this revisionist version of events).
Alas, we at Sound Of Hockey cannot rewrite portions of a hockey game. As such, the real result was a 4-2 Kraken loss.
“It’s taxing on you mentally [to frequently be down in games],” coach Dan Bylsma said. “The games go different ways, you get bounces, you don’t get bounces… In this game, a minute into the game, you’re down one and down two in the first period. It’s mentally challenging for the guys to continually mount a comeback in games.”
Here are Three Takeaways after a 4-2 Seattle Kraken loss to the Edmonton Oilers.
Takeaway #1: What an abysmal start
Seattle opened this game with one of its worst six-minute stretches of hockey this season. It was puzzling to see the Kraken come out so flat because there’s simply no explanation for how they could lack energy in a game like this, even though we’ve seen that countless times over the past three and a half seasons.
Desperate for points, facing one of the best teams in the NHL—featuring two of the world’s top players—and playing in front of a packed house at home on a Saturday night, they should have been fired up. Instead, they came out flat, completely mismanaging the puck. They handed out turnovers like candy, missed checks, and Philipp Grubauer was left to fend for himself against three Grade A rush chances, two of which found the back of the net.
“Not good enough,” Bylsma said. “Early on, a little too much standing around, watching their good players, and not putting enough bodies on guys.”
“I mean, we’ve got to get better starts,” Jaden Schwartz said after scoring in the third period to bring the Kraken within one. “It’s tough coming back all the time in this league. It’s good to be able to do it, and we put ourselves in position to tie it up again. But we’ve just got to—especially with them playing last night—be sharper off the start, be on our toes, be aggressive, instead of kind of watching them and being on our heels.”
Schwartz nailed it with that phrase, “watching them.” It really felt like the Kraken were spectators, allowing the Oilers’ many offensive weapons to dictate the game.
On the first goal 57 seconds in, the Kraken had numbers with Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn, and Adam Larsson all back. Beniers tied up Viktor Arvidsson, but Larsson gave Leon Draisaitl too much room, and Dunn missed a check on Podkolzin on the wall, leaving him wide open to score and extend Draisaitl’s point streak to 14 games.
Four minutes later, Jeff Skinner doubled the lead on another coverage lapse by the top pair. Tye Kartye missed his check on Derek Ryan at the red line and hit linemate Ben Meyers instead, giving Ryan space to carry the puck into the Kraken zone. Again, Larsson gave Kasperi Kapanen too much room, and Dunn reacted too slowly to Skinner streaking through the middle. Skinner then went 1-on-1 with Grubauer and buried it.
God-awful start for the #SeaKraken, who are completely hanging their goalie out to dry.
This team never quits, and I genuinely thought a tying goal was coming in the third period. But the Kraken need to figure out how to play with leads rather than constantly chasing games.
Takeaway #2: Philipp Grubauer gave them a chance
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about goaltending in Three Takeaways, but Grubauer deserves a mention for his performance Saturday.
The Kraken skaters gave him little support in the opening minutes, and the deficit could have been worse if he hadn’t made a huge save on Connor McDavid’s breakaway. Despite the tough start, Grubauer made 28 saves on 31 shots in a game where Seattle was outshot nearly 2-to-1.
“He kept us in the game, for sure,” Bylsma said. “The McDavid breakaway save, and he was strong in other avenues. There was traffic in front, and he made some strong saves in there. He gave us a chance to come back in this game, for sure.”
He also did a full split to rob Draisaitl on a 2-on-1 in the third period.
According to Natural Stat Trick, the Oilers had 81 percent of the shot quality in this game. They should have scored more than they did, but Grubauer gave the Kraken a fighting chance.
Takeaway #3: Adam Larsson injured
The night started poorly for the Dunn/Larsson pairing and only worsened, as Adam Larsson left at the end of the second period with an upper-body injury. His last shift ended with 3:32 remaining in the frame.
On replay, his final shift looked fine, though he did get his stick caught under Connor Brown’s arm at the very end of the shift (see tweet below). Could that have tweaked his arm or shoulder?
Wonder if this little pull on Connor Brown with his stick hurt Larsson’s arm or shoulder.
After that little pull on the stick by Brown, Larsson exited the frame. Watching live, I didn’t notice him leave the bench immediately, but I did catch that the Kraken were short a player by the end of the second.
Bylsma said after the game, “We’ll have to see how it reacts at this point in time.”
The Kraken can’t afford to lose Larsson, their ironman and top-pair defenseman, for an extended period. Here’s hoping his injury responds well over the next couple of days.
Worth noting, Yanni Gourde was also a late scratch from this game with an injury.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Welcome back to “Down on the Farm,” your almost-weekly Sound Of Hockey Podcast segment in written form. We took last week off for the holidays, but we’re back this week to talk about an event that reminds us of this joyful season—the World Junior Championship. We’ll also get you caught up on a few top performers in the Kraken system otherwise, and deliver two weeks of player data.
As always, if you have a prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey or on Bluesky at @deepseahockey or @soundofhockey.com. Let’s dive in.
Mid-tournament check-in on Kraken prospects at the World Junior Championship
Team Canada’s approach to roster building is outdated. The team left too many skilled players at home. The staff misused the players they did bring, and Canada’s best players didn’t step up.
All of this and more has been debated ad nauseum over the last 36 hours as the entire hockey world reacted to Canada’s surprising failure to advance past the Quarterfinals, losing in dramatic fashion to Czechia. For the second straight year, Team Canada finished without a medal—and, even worse, this year the loss was at home in Ottawa.
We’ll touch on Team Canada’s failure again, but our update, as always, will focus on Seattle’s tournament-high eight players in play. Five Kraken prospects remain alive in the tournament as the semi-finals begin Saturday.
Kraken stock check
Eduard Sale – Team Czechia – Stock up
It has been an impactful tournament for Sale, who is serving as Team Czechia’s captain. His five goals are tied for the tournament high as we enter the semi-finals. Add in two assists, and he is just two points short of the overall tournament scoring lead.
Beyond the scoresheet, he’s playing fast and confident through contact. He’s more engaged off the puck than we’ve ever seen him, regularly backchecking and, at times, diving into the slot to defend dangerous chances. He’s never going to be a Selke award winner, but he’s looking more and more competent defensively, continuing a trend we saw in Coachella Valley.
Though he still looks to score in the same ways he always has—off the rush or lurking for soft spots in coverage on the weakside—this relatively well-rounded and engaged Sale is almost unrecognizable from the player who floundered in the OHL last season. After plateauing a bit in the AHL over the last month, the arrow is again pointing up on Sale.
Jakub Fibigr – Team Czechia – Stock up
Initially, we weren’t certain Fibigr would crack the roster for Czechia, but, as it turns out, the 18-year-old blueliner not only earned a roster spot but has taken regular shifts on the team’s third pair. The scoring has been solid; he is one of only seven Czech players averaging at least a point per game (though four came in one game against the over-matched Kazakhstan). He has shown his speed and skill in transition, but more importantly, he has played well defensively—which is notable because defense has been regarded as his biggest weakness. He’s third (and second among defensemen) on the team in plus-minus at +8.
Zeb Forsfjall – Team Sweden – Stock up
Forsfjall made Team Sweden’s roster for last year’s tournament as a checking fourth-liner. This year he has taken more responsibility (on an arguably superior team) in a middle-six role, and he has delivered, scoring two goals and adding three assists in five contests. He’s always responsible defensively, and, while he lacks a dynamic element offensively, he has solid instincts to connect his teammates and find the right spots in the offensive zone.
Julius Miettinen – Team Finland – Stock up
Miettinen earned Finland’s third-line center as an 18-year-old—a feat even more impressive than it might initially have appeared as Finland’s roster has performed well and put itself squarely in medal contention. Miettinen may only have one goal and one assist, but he has been very noticeable to us when he’s been on the ice, playing with very strong pace for a player his size.
Caden Price – Team Canada – Stock up
A stock up from Team Canada? Price earned it. The 19-year-old has surpassed every expectation set for him this season. He excelled for Kelowna, ranking among the most prolific blueliners in the entire CHL before the World Juniors. Then he stood out at Selection Camp, earning a roster spot over very talented players like Zayne Parekh. And then he worked his way into the regular lineup over Beau Akey and Sawyer Mynio to begin the tournament.
Throughout the World Juniors, Price played with pace and creativity in transition and on the offensive blue line, but also passed his test defensively, frequently saving Canada from high-danger chances against with his skating and deft stick work. Would Canada have been better with Parekh or Carter Yakemchuk on the blue line? Perhaps, but Price was far from “the problem.”
Berkly Catton – Team Canada – Stock neutral
Perhaps it is generous to put the 18-year-old Catton in a “stock neutral” category given the hefty expectations set for him as a top-six center and the limited results (one point in five games). But Catton looked to me like one of the few players on Team Canada trying to make his teammates better rather than play “hero ball.” He was dynamic with the puck on his stick creating space for passes and chances, but his teammates weren’t on the same level and didn’t help him at all.
The tournament does hint that he may be more successful as a facilitator than a scorer at higher levels, but I think Catton was at least adequate in this tournament. In fact, I think Canada would have been wise to go to him more when it couldn’t score. If he’s not in the NHL by then, he should be back in the World Juniors—perhaps as Canada’s captain?—next year.
Kim Saarinen – Team Finland – Stock neutral
Goalie Saarinen hasn’t seen the ice yet for Finland, as Petteri Rimpinen seized the net from Day 1 and hasn’t looked back. Teams often get their backup goaltender one of the Round Robin games against weaker competition, but Finland rode Rimpinen all the way. Rimpinen, 18, and Saarinen, 18, both could be back next year. If so, it’s clear that Saarinen has work to do if he’s going to get any time in the 2026 tournament.
Carson Rehkopf – Team Canada – Stock down
Rehkopf—who was at one point practicing on Canada’s second line during training camp—saw the ice for only 18 minutes total in the entire tournament as he bounced between Canada’s 13th forward spot and a healthy scratch. There were whispers that management didn’t like Rehkopf’s “effort” in camp, but I find it hard to blame anyone but the coaching staff for the low ice time. Cole Beaudoin (1.2 points per game in the OHL) took first-line minutes while Rehkopf (1.75 points per game in the OHL) watched from the press box. Continuously deploying grinder-types and failing to use perhaps your best pure shooter while the team is struggling to score is defensible only in the most tortured ways.
On the other hand, Rehkopf didn’t do himself any favors when he was out there, taking two penalties in 10 minutes on ice in Canada’s New Year’s Eve loss to the United States. Of course, you could argue that the penalties could be attributed to Rehkopf being “cold,” but it is hard to increase a player’s ice time after he puts the team on the penalty kill twice. In the end, Rehkopf’s 2025 World Juniors ended scoreless—an almost unthinkable outcome for the sharp-shooting Kraken prospect.
Kraken prospect data update
Shifting focus back to the Kraken prospects playing club hockey, Nathan Villeneuve earned the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week for the week of Dec. 23, when he had a hat trick and an assist in his only game. Overall, he totaled eight points in four games since our last update.
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard continues to score as a middle-six forward for HV71. While the sample size is still small because he missed time due to injury, he leads all Kraken organization prospects in our “data score” metric.
Semyon Vyazovoy is our Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week for the week of Dec. 30. He has started two games since our last update and posted shutouts in both. Vyazovoy, 21, now leads the entire KHL in save percentage among goaltenders under 24 years old.
While the first month-plus wasn’t perfect, the goaltending group has performed well of late with Victor Östman, Aleš Stezka, Nikke Kokko, and Vyazovoy all clear of a .900 save percentage for the season.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Clarke Caswell: 2
Berkly Catton: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Andrei Loshko: 1
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: 1
Tyson Jugnauth: 1
Victor Östman: 1
Caden Price: 1
Nathan Villeneuve: 1
Semyon Vyazovoy: 1
Previewing the week ahead
Miettinen, Saarinen, and Team Finland meet Forsfjall and Team Sweden in one WJC semi-final Saturday afternoon, while Sale, Fibigr and Team Czechia take on Team USA in the other WJC semi-final Saturday night. However it shakes out, the Kraken will have at least one player on the ice in Sunday’s final.
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
The Komeback Kraken almost did it again to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday, this time rallying from two goals down to send the game to overtime before falling in a shootout for a 4-3 final. The loss came two games after Seattle overcame a three-goal deficit in Vancouver on Saturday and won in OT, something that has only happened two other times in NHL history.
Vince Dunn was one of two big heroes that night (Jaden Schwartz was the other), and he also scored the tying goal Thursday with 53 seconds left in regulation.
Seattle goal!
Scored by Vince Dunn with 00:53 remaining in the 3rd period.
“The game is 60 minutes long, and you’ve got to play the whole thing,” Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said. “Sometimes the game goes awry, sometimes you don’t get the bounces, sometimes you don’t get the calls, whatever. That happened for us, and we had to come back again in the third period.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks.
Takeaway #1: Is Matty Beniers finally going?
I’ve maintained cautious optimism after the previous couple of games that Matty Beniers had truly gotten off the schneid. He scored in Vancouver on Saturday with a nothing shot that Thatcher Demko flubbed, then scored again against Utah on Tuesday after he missed the net on a breakaway and got a good bounce when he threw it back toward Karel Vejmelka from below the goal line.
This time, he scored a more legitimate-looking power-play goal that cut Seattle’s deficit to 3-2 and set the game up for Dunn’s late heroics.
MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
The #SeaKraken are back within one thanks to a PPG from Beniers, his third straight game with a goal. Great pass by Wright.
“I think Matty’s got a huge desire, a huge— I don’t want to call it a burden, but he carries it,” Bylsma said. “He wants to score goals, he wants his line to score goals, and when he’s not, it can wear on him. And just the puck going in in Vancouver [on Saturday], that shot on the rush play, gave him a boost of confidence… He’s playing with a lot more confidence because the puck has gone in the net.”
Hockey is a funny sport like that. Beniers went 19 games without a goal, a drought that lasted more than a month. He had all the chances in the world to score and couldn’t buy a goal. Then, he gets a lucky break, and suddenly the floodgates open.
But will they stay open for him?
Takeaway #2: A costly turnover
Much has been made of Jaden Schwartz’s performances of late, given that he racked up five points between the game in Vancouver and the game against Utah. He had some fantastic opportunities again on Thursday and got robbed multiple times.
He had a turnover in the neutral zone Thursday, though, that proved to be a turning point in the game and put the Canucks in the driver’s seat. I’m not picking on Schwartz with this because he’s been Seattle’s best player of late, but I think it’s a good example of why taking care of the puck around the blue lines is so critically important.
The Kraken had just dodged a bullet thanks to Philipp Grubauer getting a piece of Conor Garland’s shot on a 2-on-1 rush. Schwartz got the puck near Seattle’s hash marks and carried it out of harm’s way, slowing things down through the neutral zone.
Facing two defenders at the blue line, Schwartz hesitated a second too long and got the puck poked off his stick. It went right to Phil Di Giuseppe, who found Garland again at the blue line, and Garland was off to the races.
That felt familiar. Conor Garland scored on a breakaway to make it 2-1. #SeaKraken escaped a 2-on-1, but then Schwartz turned it over in the neutral zone to create the breakaway. pic.twitter.com/G6548aSOdG
I’ve always thought the blue lines are the most dangerous areas on the ice to turn the puck over. When you lose it either at the O-zone or D-zone blue line, your teammates have either shifted into attack mode and are focused on getting up ice, or they think they’re safe to make a line change and start heading to the bench. The transition back to defense often takes a hair too long, and now you’ve given up an odd-man rush or a breakaway.
In this case, it was a Garland breakaway, a shifty move, and a deft finish to give the Canucks their first lead of the game.
Takeaway #3: A good standings point
The win would have been much nicer, but Seattle continues to show impressive resiliency, even as the odds of making the playoffs have grown long. Facing yet another two-goal deficit, the Kraken did not quit and found another equalizer in dramatic fashion.
It does sting that they didn’t get the winner this time, because they had the puck for most of the overtime period and had some fantastic looks at Kevin Lankinen. Jared McCann had a wraparound that Lankinen stopped and a tip on a Chandler Stephenson shot-pass that went just wide, and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a partial breakaway that Lankinen got his blocker on.
“I thought we possessed it well [in overtime],” Beniers said. “We got some good looks, and [Lankinen] made some big saves.”
Considering how this game seemed to be heading after Tyler Myers made it 3-1 early in the third period, the loser point is well earned by the Kraken.
…But a win would have been better.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Here’s an idea for a new buddy movie script: two Finnish wingers who crossed paths in their teenage years land on the same NHL team thanks to separate shrewd acquisitions by a veteran general manager. They quickly strike up a friendship, and the player who has been with the team longer hosts the new player in his home and serves as the newcomer’s guide to help him navigate the challenges of a mid-season move to a new city—something the first player experienced himself two seasons earlier.
It so happens that this exact script is writing itself right now for Seattle Kraken forwards Eeli Tolvanen, 25, acquired off waivers from the Nashville Predators in the middle of the 2022-23 season, and Kaapo Kakko, 23, snagged in a surprising trade with the New York Rangers on Dec. 18.
“It’s always nice to have another Finn,” Tolvanen said. “You can talk Finnish, and right now, I’m just trying to make him feel comfortable here. When I got here, everybody was so nice and helped with everything, so I try to give that back to him. Just coming into a new city, the first trade [of his career], it’s always tough.”
Although Tolvanen was surely welcomed upon his arrival by his Kraken teammates two seasons ago, he is now going above and beyond to pay it forward to his fellow countryman and help him acclimate to his new surroundings. Not only is Tolvanen showing Kakko the ropes, but he and his girlfriend have also gone so far as to welcome Kakko into their home as a temporary roommate.
“It’s nice of them,” Kakko said. “I can stay there until I find a place. They’re helping out all the time, even going to look at apartments and everything.”
A friendship seven years in the making
Before the trade, Tolvanen and Kakko were already acquaintances, having played on a line together at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship in Vancouver. Tolvanen was two years older than Kakko, but Kakko—destined for the top of the NHL Draft later that year—had earned a spot on Team Finland as an underager. The duo helped their country win its fifth WJC gold medal, a feat Suomi has not accomplished since.
After that successful tournament, and before Kakko got traded to Seattle, the two didn’t go out of their way to keep in touch, but they remained friendly when they played against each other with their respective NHL teams.
“We played World Juniors together. It was a long time ago, but that’s how we met, played one tournament,” Kakko said. “And then always when we’re playing against each other here [in the NHL], we’re kind of asking, ‘How are you doing? How’s everything?’ Just saying hi. That’s what I try to do with all the Finnish guys I play against. It’s a small country, and there’s not too many [Finnish] players here.”
The Finns in the league carve out an even smaller sliver of an already small hockey world, and the connection Kakko formed with Tolvanen seven years ago is now easing his transition into life in the Kraken organization.
“It helps a lot. It’s a lot of good guys in this locker room also, but… to speak the same language [with Eeli, who I] knew before, it’s just so easy, you know?” Kakko said. “I mean, staying with them and coming to the rink with him, you just have to follow. There’s a lot of things, like if you don’t know how it goes, what time the meeting is, or something like that, just follow him.”
Tolvanen is enjoying reconnecting with his old teammate and compatriot, too, and he had a big smile on his face when talking about Kakko, who now also occupies the stall next to his in the Kraken dressing room.
“It’s been fun just to get to know him better,” Tolvanen said. “It’s been five, six, seven years since we actually hung out last time. So, [we’ve been able to] catch up and all that. It’s been a lot of fun, making dinners together every night and just sitting on the couch.”
Kakko especially appreciates that, in a time when he could be feeling isolated—dropped into a brand-new city that’s about 2,400 air miles from his previous city and about 4,800 air miles from home—he’s been welcomed with open arms by a familiar face.
“You know, there was Christmas, and I think it’s kind of sad to stay by yourself in a hotel, so that was nice [to spend it with them],” Kakko said. “They let me stay there, and we had a good time.”
For all the warm hospitality that Tolvanen and his girlfriend have shown, Kakko is also cognizant of potentially overstaying his welcome. “I think they need some time also together, but I hope I can find a place soon.”
“I love Finns” – Dan Bylsma
While the move to Seattle is going swimmingly off the ice for Kakko, he’s also making a positive impression on the ice. Tolvanen said, “He’s a big boy. He shoots the puck well, protects the puck well. I think he has a really good offensive game and defensively too. I think he’s a smart guy. He’s one of those Finnish guys that— I think he’s pretty good at everything, and I think he’s helped us a lot.”
Head coach Dan Bylsma seems to like what he is seeing from the 6-foot-1, 215-pounder as well. Before Seattle’s 5-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club on Monday, a game in which Kakko had two dazzling assists, Bylsma was asked about Kakko in his pre-game presser. Bylsma replied using the phrase, “I love Finns.”
“I think, as you’ve seen [Kakko] in four games now, he’s just getting better and better and better with what kind of player he is,” Bylsma said. “There’s a lot of positives there. He’s a big body, can skate, hold onto pucks, make plays, be a presence at the net, and the last two games in particular, that line [with Jaden Schwartz and Matty Beniers] has been our most positive line.
“I love Finns because it’s— Tolvy’s a lot the same way, big-bodied, physical, can be a presence in the offensive zone, he’s got a big shot, and Kakko’s been showing that the last couple games, and that’s encouraging to see.”
As a reminder, these sentiments were uttered by Bylsma before Kakko’s outstanding performance against Utah.
The Finnish way
Bylsma likely is not the only NHL coach who appreciates the way Finnish players go about their business. When they were told by Sound Of Hockey that Bylsma had said, “I love Finns” in his presser, Tolvanen and Kakko helped shed some light on why the Finnish mentality works so well in North American professional hockey.
“I don’t think it’s anything we do; I think it’s just the Finnish personality,” Tolvanen said. “If somebody says to do something, I think we’re pretty much open to change our game style a little bit and learn the game here.
“So I think for me, ever since I got here, I’ve gotten more physical every year, and I think that every Finn is the same way. I think we’re pretty soft when we play in Finland, but when we come over here, we learn to play the North American style, so I think it’s just how we adjust our game.”
Kakko said the first time he spoke with Bylsma, his new coach reminisced about seeing him play for Team Finland in the past and other Finnish players from his past teams.
“There’s just a lot of good players, and I think it’s kind of an honest game, also,” Kakko said. “I think the mindset in Finland, even in juniors, it’s defense first and things like that, so maybe that’s something he wants to see.”
Beyond being willing to learn and adjust, Tolvanen also said there’s a certain effort level that comes from Finns that helps earn the trust of their coaches.
“Most of the Finnish players are like that. They work hard, they battle every night, and I feel like maybe that’s the way coaches like [us to play]. We’ll try to give you our best every night, and I think that might be the Finnish way.”
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Much is made of the NHL season being a long, arduous grind for players, who battle on the ice 82 times in a regular season (assuming they stay healthy) and sometimes play even longer if their team qualifies for the playoffs. And while they’ll almost universally tell you that they wouldn’t trade living out their dream for anything, it’s no secret that spending half the season on the road away from their loved ones takes its toll, especially for NHL fathers, who must juggle their hockey careers and family lives.
Not only is there a physical distance to contend with, but there is also the anguish of potentially missing major personal milestones or scrambling to be there in time. Case in point, several Kraken players have become fathers during Seattle’s first four NHL seasons, which only adds layers of logistical chaos and anxiety for everyone involved.
Sound Of Hockey spoke with four Kraken players who have experienced these life-changing moments during the season since they each joined the organization to learn what those days are like leading up to the birth of their child and what they go through to share the moments with their respective partners.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Kraken forward Oliver Bjorkstrand and his wife Jill became parents for the first time when baby Otto arrived in April 2023. In the days and weeks leading up to Otto’s arrival, Bjorkstrand was keeping a close eye on the calendar, as every player in that situation does.
“It’s challenging. We travel a lot, so you look at the schedule and the due date, and [you wonder], ‘Will I be in Seattle, or will I be in Arizona or wherever we were?’” Bjorkstrand said. “So, mentally it could be a little bit hard for the wives and stuff. Of course, you want them to feel that support and enjoy that time together and not make it too stressful. It’s always already a big thing.”
When Bjorkstrand got the call that Otto was on his way, it so happened that the Kraken had just gotten to Vancouver, where they were preparing for a game against the Canucks. He quickly scrambled into action to find a way back to Seattle.
“It was a back-to-back. We played at home and flew there, and I got a call in the middle of the night that she was going to the hospital, so I had to find a way to get in a car and drive back in the middle of the night.”
Bjorkstrand managed to return to Seattle in time, and he was thankful that Otto chose a date on the schedule when the team was within a reasonable driving distance.
“It’s a process, it’s a long day, it’s an experience, but I guess it’s what we signed up for. Fortunately for me, I was close. We’re in Seattle, Vancouver’s the closest, and everywhere else is quite a ride… Being home would have been the best situation, but I was fortunate it was in Vancouver where you’re only three hours away in a car.”
Jordan Eberle
Before captain Jordan Eberle suffered a major pelvis injury that will keep him out of the lineup for most of the regular season, he talked about his past experiences welcoming his first two children, and preparing with his wife Lauren to welcome their third child, Landyn, who was born about a month ago.
When we spoke with Eberle, Lauren was in the final days before her due date, so the family was on high alert. At the time, Eberle was doing his best to focus on hockey when he was at the rink.
“I think hockey is such a great thing that whatever may be going on in your life, you’re able to escape on the ice,” Eberle said. “And that’s always been a thing that I’ve loved. When things have been tough at home, or whatever it may be, hockey’s always an outlet for guys. You’re not thinking about it as soon as you get on the ice.”
He too was considering where he would be geographically when the time came but said the approach he and his wife take differs from what many players and their partners choose to do.
“A lot of people have scheduled C-sections and have a day planned so that they’re able to be there,” Eberle said. “We actually do home birth… we try to do it as naturally as possible, so that means that it’s whenever it comes, right? And if I’m on the road, obviously you try to get back as quick as you can. A lot of times you don’t make it, but I’m hoping that it happens while we’re at home. It’s just luck of the draw.”
Getting injured took away that uncertainty of where Eberle would be when Landyn arrived, although the injury itself was anything but “lucky.” In a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Nov. 14, he got tangled with defenseman Connor Murphy and slammed into the end wall. Several days later, the Kraken announced that the veteran winger had undergone successful pelvis surgery and would be out three months.
Lauren posted an image on her Instagram account a few days after the announcement showing Eberle in a hospital bed holding the newest addition to the Eberle family.
We are happy to report that we have since seen Eberle moving around on crutches, so he is becoming more mobile again. Hopefully, that is making things a little easier on the Eberle family.
Adam Larsson
Defenseman Adam Larsson’s ironman streak as a member of the Kraken was perfectly intact through two full seasons and nearly a third. But he mysteriously went missing from the lineup for a 3-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on April 5, just two weeks before the end of last season.
The absence turned out to be for good reason, as Larsson had been scrambling back to Seattle, where baby Alba was ready to join the world.
“We were in Anaheim at the time, and I was lucky we were there, because there were multiple daily flights,” Larsson recalled. “It took some time too when I got home. [My partner] was still at home when I came home, so that was good news.”
Larsson admitted that the pending birth was taking a heavy toll on him mentally in the final days of the pregnancy, to the point that he was having trouble sleeping, something that’s quite necessary for professional athletes aiming to achieve peak performance.
“I guess if it’s your first one, you kind of overthink stuff, and that was on my mind for the last three weeks leading up to it. But I guess it kind of depends where you are too. It would be a lot more stressful if you were maybe in Ottawa or Winnipeg, but I was lucky that within that span, we were in California for most of the time.
“I called her the day before, and I was like, ‘Shit, I’m having such trouble sleeping.’ And she was like, ‘Just put your phone on airplane mode,’ because I was just lying there waiting for a call that we’ve got to go. Then, sure enough, it happened that night. I had like 60 missed calls. I was like, ‘Oh, shit!’ I woke up, jumped on a plane, and went back home.”
Larsson’s story reflects the mental and physical toll that NHL fathers endure during these critical moments. He was relieved to have made it back in time to welcome Alba.
Brandon Montour
Montour also had a surprise absence from the lineup during a road trip to Eastern Canada earlier this season.
He missed a 4-1 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Halloween because he had hustled back to Seattle to meet his daughter and second child, Maison. That was not how things were supposed to go.
“She arrived early,” Montour said. “The C-section date was supposed to be Nov. 21, so obviously, this was Oct. 30, and we were in Toronto. I just got a phone call from the wife that she was going to the hospital.
“It was a day off, so I was planning on heading home to see family [in the Toronto area] and whatnot for the day, but obviously that changed the plans. I found the quickest plane I could to Seattle, was there for a couple days, and met the guys back in Ottawa.”
Montour didn’t tell us this directly, but connecting the dots, we don’t think made it back in time for the birth, and he also went through something similar when his first child arrived.
“Those are the tough things about this business. Things like that tend to happen, and as nice and as great as the sport and everything to do with being in the NHL is, that’s part of the business that’s not fun, because you’re always gone.”
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
