On this latest “.5” episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, John and Darren are joined by SOH contributor, Curtis Isacke. The trio wax poetic about the two recent Kraken home playoff games, then break down each contest in detail and uncover some interesting trends.
After that, they dive into the Mailbag for the remainder of the episode, answer questions from listeners about a wide range of topics from coping with the stress of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to tactical changes being made by the Kraken.
Perhaps Dave Hakstol’s disdainful post-game comments about Cale Makar’s late hit on Jared McCann got through to the NHL’s Department of Player Safety. Makar was given a hearing by the league’s disciplinary arm Tuesday, and he was assessed a one-game suspension.
“It’s a late hit, where the puck is out of play,” Hakstol said after the game. “Canner shoots that puck, it goes immediately out of play, straight up into the netting… I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as Canner is being run into the end wall. So, late hit; really late, no puck in play.”
Hakstol also confirmed that the injury sustained by McCann on the play would keep Seattle’s 40-goal scorer out for at least Game 5, and probably longer.
The fateful hit came about nine minutes into the first period. With the Kraken killing a questionable penalty call on Yanni Gourde, Matty Beniers sprung McCann on a shorthanded breakaway after a stretch pass. McCann got stopped by Alexandar Georgiev, then watched the puck deflect up over the glass for a stoppage. He was paying no attention to Makar and wasn’t bracing for any kind of hit, being that there was simply no reason for him to take contact in that moment. The play was over, and a good three seconds had elapsed since the shot had been taken.
But Makar decided to violently slam McCann into the wall, causing him to hit his head on both the glass and the ice. McCann was down for an extended period, then helped to the bench and down the tunnel.
The on-ice officials didn’t appear to be calling any penalty initially. They then huddled, assessed a five-minute major, and went to the penalty box to review the call. After review, they lowered the penalty to a two-minute minor, a power play on which the Kraken did convert for Daniel Sprong’s goal.
Still, the punishment doled out by the refs was clearly insufficient, considering the damage Makar had done. Good on the Department of Player Safety for looking into it and giving supplementary discipline for Makar’s actions, even if the severity of the sentence is up for debate.
Colorado’s Cale Makar has been suspended for one playoff game for Interference against Seattle’s Jared McCann. https://t.co/FOhsme51Rf
“It is important to note that McCann is in no way eligible to be checked on this play,” the department said in its decision video. “Makar finishes this hit well outside the allowable window for finishing this check. In addition, it is clear that Makar knows McCann is not in possession of the puck when he decides to deliver this hit.”
Makar became the villain in an instant
Makar, the ultra-skilled defenseman, is not known for dirty play or attempting to injure players. In the eyes of Kraken fans, though, he is suddenly public enemy No. 1, made clear by their incessant booing every time Makar touched the puck in Game 4. Heck, at times, the crowd even booed Makar just for stepping onto the ice.
In what had been a relatively tame series through Game 3, Makar’s poor decision turned things in a nasty direction, and we are confident it will continue that way for the remainder.
Ironically, Makar will be back in the lineup just in time for Game 6, the last home game of the series for the Kraken, whose fans will surely be ready to taunt No. 8 at the drop of a hat.
Is one game enough?
If McCann ends up missing the remainder of the series, then a single game for Makar feels light, but there is context to consider. First, Makar has no history of fines or suspensions, which does weigh into disciplinary decisions. Second, the weight of suspending a player for a playoff game is far more significant than doing so in the regular season, so a playoff game is generally viewed as equivalent to two regular-season games.
Given the violent and unnecessary nature of the hit, we would have liked to see a second game handed out to Makar. But the department is also known for its inconsistency, so the fact they gave any kind of suspension should be a small consolation for Kraken fans.
Makar being banished from Game 5 is also a big deal, perhaps even bigger than McCann not being able to participate, at least for that contest. The reigning Norris Trophy winner is one third of Colorado’s three-headed monster, made up of Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantanen. He had a huge offensive impact on Game 3 and is sure to factor in again when he returns from the timeout turtle. Only having to look out for Colorado’s two dynamic forwards for a game, and not their star blueliner, should make things significantly easier on the defensive side of the puck for Seattle.
Even so, Hakstol and his players would also like to have their top goal scorer for the rest of the series, and that is suddenly looking highly doubtful.
We know these can be highly contentious topics, but what do you think of this outcome, folks? Let us know in the comments (but be nice to each other, please).
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.
Are you experiencing the following symptoms? High blood pressure, elevated heart rate, wild mood swings, insomnia, fatigue, and general inexplicable sweatiness? Well, that, my friend is Stanley Cup Playoff hockey. The Kraken officially infected their fans with said disease by getting their first home playoff win against the Avalanche in heart-stopping 3-2 overtime fashion Monday. The victory tied the first-round series 2-2, meaning the home fans are guaranteed at least one more postseason game at Climate Pledge Arena.
After jumping out to a two-goal lead in the first period, only to then see Mikko Rantanen score twice in the second, the Kraken stuck with it and treated their fanbase to a magical moment. It was a night that will surely go down in Kraken lore.
“We were kind of joking around before the game that this is the biggest game in Kraken history,” said Jordan Eberle, who scored the deciding goal. “You kind of want to make this a hockey town and have people love going to Kraken games and enjoy the product of playoff hockey.”
After that experience Monday, it’s plain to see Seattle has embraced the Kraken, so mission accomplished, Jordan!
It was a big win, but also a costly one, as Jared McCann, the leading goal scorer for the Kraken in the regular season, was injured on a bad hit by Avalanche superstar Cale Makar. That seemed to ignite tempers and likely morphed this series into one with more hostility than before.
Here are our Three Takeaways from an unforgettable 3-2 overtime Kraken win over the Avalanche.
Takeaway #1: Eberle and Schwartz were the OT heroes
Two minutes into overtime, Jaden Schwartz stole the puck along the wall in the defensive zone and fired it across to Brandon Tanev, who carried it to center ice. Schwartz took off as soon as he passed it, and Tanev hit him in stride at the Colorado blue line, sending Schwartz in on a partial breakaway. He got a good shot off, as his legs were taken out from under him, and although Alexandar Georgiev made the save, Schwartz drew a penalty on Josh Manson.
“I threw it over to [Tanev], and then I just tried to get as much speed as I could,” said Schwartz. “He made an awesome sauce pass, kind of through a couple sticks, and right onto me with speed. So I had a step and was able to draw the penalty and get a decent shot there.”
On the power play, Daniel Sprong—who also sniped a nice power-play goal off the post to make it 2-0 in the first period—took a shot from distance that got partially blocked. The puck skittered to Jordan Eberle, who passed to Schwartz. Schwartz tried to shoot, but that too got blocked, and it again went right back to Eberle. This time, Eberle pulled the trigger and beat Georgiev.
“I was actually in a pretty good spot, and I think one of their players had a big block,” said Schwartz. “And then Eberle had a good, quick stick, good reaction, and it happened fast.”
“Any time you even a series up, it’s a big goal,” said Eberle. “I thought for the most part, we played well tonight. We had a lot of chances, and that’s a really good team over there. We’ve been kind of the underdog since day one, and we’re just trying to fight back into this series, so we’ve still got a lot of work ahead of us.”
Coming into Game 4, the Kraken power play had been abysmal in this series and had been held off the board, except for a late, garbage-time goal by Schwartz in Game 3. We can’t help wondering if that meaningless marker may have given the power play a little confidence boost coming into Monday’s game.
The team also seemed to have a simplified approach that worked wonders. There were very few attempts to make—as John Forslund would call them—“fancy Dan passes.” Instead, Seattle was getting pucks to the top of the zone, sending traffic to the front of the net, and shooting. Simple.
When the team got a manpower advantage early in overtime, the group knew it had to convert.
“You’ve seen a lot of the OT goals in the playoffs, a lot of them, especially early on, have been on the power play,” said Eberle. “It’s kind of been a sore spot for us in the series so far, as far as producing with the man advantage. I know we got one late last game, and maybe that kickstarted us a bit. We get one early in the game, and then obviously the winner.”
Takeaway #2: The script was flipped from Games 2 and 3
After an outstanding first period by the Kraken, you knew the Avalanche and their stars would eventually get on the board. Sure enough, Rantanen potted two in the second period, including a power-play goal that felt like a backbreaker at the very end of the period.
After Rantanen had drawn a cheesy penalty (there were several of those against Seattle on this night) by skating into Borgen’s outstretched arm and grabbing on to make it look like Borgen had wrapped him up, the Kraken had an impressive kill going. They scrambled, blocked shots, and seemed to be giving everything they had to get back to five-on-five, and they almost did it. But Rantanen scored his second of the period with just two ticks left on the penalty and 49 seconds left in the period.
You could almost touch the “here we go again” vibes from the fans in the arena, as the teams went to the dressing rooms tied after 40 minutes for the third game in a row. To their credit, the Kraken didn’t let the results of the previous two contests affect their play late in Game 4. They stuck to their tight structure that allowed them to statistically dominate a lot of this game (Seattle outshot Colorado 43-22 and had 71 percent of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick) and pulled off a well-earned win.
“[We just stuck] with it,” said Schwartz. “Every game is back and forth, and we were doing a lot of good things. We know what our game looks like when we’re on, and we just [kept] wearing them down.”
The historic win cut the series down to a best of three now, with the Kraken riding high and heading back to Denver, where they’ve proven they can play with the defending Stanley Cup champs.
Takeaway #3: Jared McCann injured; Cale Makar the culprit
With the Kraken killing one of the several strange penalties called against them in this game—specifically the one where Bowen Byram pinned Yanni Gourde behind Colorado’s net for an extended period, then refused to drop the gloves, so only Gourde got a penalty—Jared McCann got a shorthanded breakaway opportunity. His shot was deflected by Georgiev up and over the glass.
Whistle blown, play dead. Right?
Wrong. Cale Makar blasted McCann into the end boards for seemingly no reason. McCann, who surely wasn’t expecting the hit, took an awkward fall and hit his head on the ice. He stayed down for some time, and after several minutes of attention from Seattle’s medical staff, glided to the tunnel, doubled over in distress. He unsurprisingly did not return.
“It’s never good to see a guy that battles super hard for us all year long go down like that,” said Gourde. “I don’t know what to say about that hit, but it’s tough to see Jared go down there.”
Makar was initially assessed a five-minute major for interference, but after reviewing the penalty, the officials bumped it down to a two-minute minor. For what it’s worth, Sprong’s goal did come on the ensuing power play to make it 2-0. Nonetheless, Hakstol was furious with the hit after the game.
“[It’s] a late hit, where the puck is out of play,” said Hakstol. “Canner shoots that puck, it goes immediately out of play, straight up into the netting, and I don’t know how many feet— I don’t really care about that. I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as Canner is being run into the end wall. So, late hit; really late. No puck in play… Our 40-goal scorer was not available for the rest of the game.”
The Kraken coach said McCann will also be unavailable for Game 5, at least, and likely longer.
Kraken fans did their part by voicing their displeasure with Makar for the rest of the game, aggressively booing him every time he touched the puck, and sometimes just for stepping onto the ice.
Through three games, this series was tame relative to others across the NHL. But after McCann was knocked out of Game 4, it took a feisty turn. There were scrums after seemingly every whistle, and the first period ended with all ten players on the ice splitting off and finding partners with which to skirmish.
Gourde, who has been such an impactful player for Seattle, was the last Kraken player still engaged with Manson when all others had been separated. For his grit, the home crowd saluted Gourde by chanting, “Yanni! Yanni!”
We asked Gourde if he had ever heard fans chanting his name before, and he said: “I think it happened before, yes. Sorry to kill the moment.” Ah, well. It was still pretty awesome. Gourde added, “The fans are so great. This building gets so loud, and they love this game, they love the team, and they’ve been supporting us the first two years. It’s so good to play in a playoff game in front of them.”
This series has surely pivoted into one with more vitriol than it had before.
“It’s playoffs,” said Hakstol. “You get into the middle part of a series here, that intensity continues to rise… It’s not going to go the other direction. It continues to move forward as we get into Game 5 here.”
Ah, yes, Game 5, Wednesday in Denver. Bring your armor.
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 Kraken find themselves down 2-1 in a best-of-seven series to the Colorado Avalanche heading into tonight’s pivotal Game 4 matchup. As one can expect from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, it has been quite the roller coaster of a series. We got the thrills in Game 1, the suspense in Game 2, and Game 3 was a combination of thrills and terror all in one. It is nice to know the Kraken are making sure we get the full playoff experience.
After mitigating the damage of the big guns of the Colorado Avalanche over the first two games, Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon had three points, while Mikko Rantanen had two in Game 3 on Saturday night. They came as advertised, and the Kraken will need to minimize the impact they have on the game Monday if they expect to win.
Despite the outcome, Saturday night was special and something I literally dreamed of for many years. Playoffs have a way of igniting a fanbase that will drive future fans, viewership, and hockey players. I am so proud of the Kraken organization and know this is just the tip of the iceberg in what we can expect from this organization.
Face-off possession goals
There is no secret that the Kraken struggled in the face-off circle during the regular season. That narrative has persisted into the playoffs with Seattle winning just 43.6 percent through three games. However, we have established that face-off percentages are not what they are cracked up to be.
Alison Lukan breaks it down well, but there are plenty of examples of why “face-off wins” are not always a great representation of actual outcomes. Here is an example of when Seattle “lost” the face-off and one when they “won” the face-off. After gaining that perspective halfway through the season, I’ve started to watch face-offs differently. Instead of focusing on what happens on the dot, I have been looking at the entirety of the play. My eyes (and probably my heart) felt like the Kraken allowed too many goals after a face-off in their zone in the first three games. There were two goals within 10 seconds of a face-off in Game 2 (Artturi Lehkonen and Devon Toews), and then in Game 3, the Avalanche added another one (Makar). Let’s look at the numbers.
It is true that the Kraken have allowed more goals off face-off scenarios this playoff, but looking at goals over three games is hardly a good sample to draw any conclusions. Over the season, the Kraken were right in line with the league average (.29 times per game). If we want to expand the sample, we can include shot attempts after a face-off. In addition to goals, shot attempts include shots, missed shots, and blocked shots. Here are how all playoff teams look in terms shot attempts against within 10 seconds of a face-off.
The chart shows that the Kraken are allowing more shot attempts after face-offs than average, but there is not that much difference between the Kraken and the Avalanche other than more of the Avalanche shot attempts are finding the back of the net. Calling it luck is probably a cop out, since I am sure the coaches can find some kind of breakdown in all the goals scored within 10 seconds of a face-off, but luck does play a part in it. Adding a few more games to the observations still will not create a strong sample, but it will be interesting to see if there will be a regression to a normalized number.
Coachella Valley Firebirds advance
The Seattle Kraken’s AHL affiliate has advanced to the second round of the AHL playoffs with a convincing 5-1 victory in Game 3 of a best-of-three first-round matchup against the Tucson Roadrunners. Shane Wright notched his first AHL playoff goal. Wright’s goal was assisted by recently signed 2022 second-round draft pick, David Goyette, for Goyette’s first professional point. The Firebirds will now face the Colorado Eagles in a best-of-five series that starts Wednesday in Colorado.
Kraken themes for the week ahead
Colorado is a fast team that still has the capabilities to challenge for the Cup while Seattle is a scrappy new kid on the block that no one gave a chance at winning this series. Legends are made from moments like these, so let’s root for some legendary moments and for the Kraken to shock the world by winning this series.
Other Kraken Musings
Morgan Geekie was out of the lineup in Game 3 to welcome the Geekie family’s first child, Gabby. Congratulations to the Geekie family.
With the new dad power, we should expect Geekie to notch at least two goals tonight, right?
Philipp Grubauer has been stellar in the first three games of the series, but the Kraken will need him to be even more stellar if they are going to have a chance in this series.
It was nice to see the Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, and Matty Beniers line get on the board Saturday night when Beniers scored. Even beyond that goal, they were much more noticeable out there. Let’s hope that continues.
Zone entries appear to be the big challenge for the Kraken power play right now. The power play did get on the board on Saturday night, but that was off a face-off inside the zone and came with 40 seconds left in the game.
My heart won’t be able to take it, but I would love for some new Kraken fans to experience overtime hockey.
Player Performance / Stick Taps
Yanni Gourde (SEA) – Yanni has been having a great series against the Avalanche. He has directly or indirectly created so many chances that do not necessarily show up on a stat sheet.
Joey Daccord (CVF/SEA) – Our good friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Joey Daccord, is 2-1 with a .942 save percentage in his three playoff starts with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Jagger Firkus (MJW/SEA) – Firkus had eight points over the last three games for the Moose Jaw Warriors and has a point in every WHL playoff game for the Warriors. Moose Jaw is trying to fight off elimination as they take on the Winnipeg Ice. If the Warriors win, Game 7 will be Wednesday night.
If you have any questions, comments, or observations, don’t hesitate to leave something in the comments, and I will do my best to get back to you. In the meantime, Go Kraken!!!!
And just like that, the Kraken trail in their first Stanley Cup Playoff series, 2-1 against the Colorado Avalanche. After a close-to-perfect first game in Colorado, things have since started to slide for Seattle, which did not have answers for superstars Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen in Game 3 Saturday.
There was plenty of excitement in Seattle’s first-ever home playoff game, especially when the Kraken erased a two-goal deficit in the second period, but they couldn’t keep up with the Avs’ studs in the third.
“They capitalized on their chances,” said Matty Beniers. “They’re a fast team, and that’s what they did. We’ve just got to be a little bit more sound defensively.”
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 6-4 Game 3 Kraken loss to the Avalanche.
Takeaway #1: Colorado’s big guns were too much
The key to this series for the Kraken has always been minimizing the damage done by Nos. 8, 29, and 96 on the Avalanche. Seattle did a good job of that in the first two games, allowing just one goal by Rantanen, assisted by MacKinnon, in Game 1 and just an assist by Makar in Game 2.
Game 3 was a different story completely, though, as the trio of superstars combined for five goals on the night.
“We know the level of players they are,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “Those guys are world-class players. We gave them too much time and space. [It was] a little too easy tonight, right?”
What’s concerning from a Seattle perspective is that in the first two games, Makar didn’t look all that dangerous, save for his assist on Artturi Lehkonen’s goal in Game 2. Remember, he’s coming off an injury that kept him out the last two weeks of the regular season, and on Saturday, he looked like he was back to his Norris Trophy-winning self for the first time in the series.
Aside from the heat-seeking missile he launched past Philipp Grubauer in the second period—right off a clean face-off win by Alex Newhook—there were several times in the game when Makar walked the blue line and dipped around Kraken players. He was deking Kraken players out of their jocks in ways only he can, but also in ways that we didn’t see from him in Games 1 and 2.
Meanwhile, MacKinnon was the all-world player we’ve expected him to be in Game 3. We’ve said before that in two years of watching every team visit Climate Pledge Arena, there are only two players that truly scare us when they get the puck: Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon. MacKinnon looked extra scary Saturday.
With the game tied 1-1 and the teams skating four-on-four, Vince Dunn jumped up at an inopportune moment, putting himself in no-man’s land. That left a footrace between MacKinnon and Adam Larsson, and—sorry, Big Cat—MacKinnon is going to win that one 100 percent of the time. It was a big goal for Colorado at a big moment in the game, with the first period winding down.
“We dive in on a four-on-four when 29 is on the ice,” said Hakstol. “I mean, that’s something we can’t do.” That’s about as directly as Hakstol will publicly call out a player for mistakes, and he is talking about Dunn there, who we thought had a rough Game 3 with that play, plus multiple ugly turnovers.
MacKinnon followed that up with a highlight-reel goal in the third period to put the game away at 5-3. He took a pass just inside the Kraken blue line, made Ryan Donato look like a traffic cone, and rifled a perfect shot over Grubauer’s shoulder.
There’s no magic formula for stopping those players, but you have to have a heightened awareness every time they’re on the ice, and as Hakstol said, “We’ve got to do better job as a group on those guys.”
Takeaway #2: The boys battled, then fizzled
When Makar made it 3-1 at 4:33 of the second, and for the next eight minutes, it felt like the game was teetering on the brink of going very sideways for the Kraken. The air had been sucked out of the building, and there wasn’t much happening offensively for Seattle.
But then, lightning struck… and struck again. The offensive dynamo that is Jamie Oleksiak scored one of the prettier goals of the entire season to put the Kraken back within a goal. Yanni Gourde passed it to him through the seam. He stickhandled from forehand to backhand to beat Rantanen, then stayed on his backhand and used his long reach to shoot it around Alexandar Georgiev.
Just 19 seconds later, Beniers scored his first career playoff goal, after some hard work down low by Jordan Eberle, Beniers, and Jared McCann. After cycling it through all three forwards, McCann finally found Beniers in the slot for a quick snapper.
That very much brought the air back into Climate Pledge Arena, where the home crowd erupted after the tying goal.
Going to the dressing room tied 3-3, it seemed like Seattle was marching toward an exciting third-period victory. Instead, Rantanen scored three minutes into the third, and MacKinnon threw the dagger a minute and a half later. At that point, it was officially a track meet, and Seattle doesn’t have enough firepower to outrun the high-flying Avs.
Takeaway #3: Awesome atmosphere
While the outcome was not what Kraken fans wanted, it was an unforgettable night at Climate Pledge Arena, the first home playoff game in the history of the franchise. The crowd was raucous in the early going, after gathering on the plazas around the arena hours in advance of puck drop. And although they got quiet for a bit in the second period and again in the third when things got out of reach, the din after Beniers tied the game in the second was downright deafening.
“Loved the atmosphere, loved the building,” said Hakstol. “The fans, the feel of the building, it was a playoff feel. That’s what it is.”
It would be swell to see the Kraken win a game (or two?) at home in this series, because there were awesome moments Saturday in a losing effort. We can only imagine how that building would be in a win.
The team still believes it can do it. “We knew it was going to be a long series,” said Jaden Schwartz, who had two goals Saturday. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We’ve got a lot of faith in our game, a lot of belief in each other. We’ve just got to regroup and get ready for the next one.”
—
Adding to the atmosphere Saturday was the very touching pre-game tribute to our pal, Andy Eide. The Kraken organization held a spot for Andy in the press bridge, where they placed a bouquet of flowers and his customary reporting cap next to a placard with his name on it. They showed images of Andy on the scoreboards, asked fans in attendance to turn on their cell phone flashlights for added ambience, and dedicated their first home playoff game to Andy. We were deeply moved by the salute.
We asked Hakstol Sunday morning about his experiences working with Andy, and he said: “I definitely thought about him throughout the day [Saturday]. He was a gentleman of the press, a true gentleman, but also just a huge fan of the game of hockey. And that rang true every time you were around Andy.”
I’m making a rare switch to the first-person point of view for one more Andy anecdote to close out this lengthy Three Takeaways.
As I’ve gone through various stages of grief over the past week and change, I’ve gotten to a pretty good place mentally. I’m comfortable talking about Andy, thinking about Andy, and I’m generally in good spirits. But every now and then, I get this really intense sense of déjà vu, and I feel like Andy is right there next to me. Those are the moments that choke me up and quickly bring me to tears, as I snap back to the reality of him no longer being around.
I felt that in the second period Saturday. As the thunderous tumult built in the arena after Beniers’ goal, I got goosebumps on my arms, and the only thing I could say to the person next to me was, “Wow.”
That moment transported me back to the Kraken’s first pre-season game last season, the one they played in Spokane against the Canucks. I sat next to Andy for that game, and when it started, there was a similar feeling of hairs going up on my arms with the roar of the crowd. I remember Andy looking at me, and saying, “Wow! I just got goosebumps!” And me looking back at him and shouting, “So did I!” over the roar.
Somehow, the two moments crossed in my brain Saturday, and I felt Andy’s presence as strongly as I have in this whole difficult journey. While Andy wasn’t physically in the building Saturday, I think it’s quite safe to say his spirt was there; I know I sure felt it.
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.
It’s here, it’s here! It’s finally here! The first home playoff game in the history of the Seattle Kraken will be played Saturday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
The excitement from Kraken players was palpable at morning skate at Kraken Community Iceplex, where Seattle appeared to be working through some slight tactical adjustments to the power play and executing quick transitions through the neutral zone.
One housekeeping item, Morgan Geekie was not on the ice for the session, but coach Dave Hakstol said it was a maintenance day. That indicates Geekie should be good to assume his spot on the wing next to Jaden Schwartz and Alex Wennberg, but we will keep an eye on that in warmups.
Jesper Froden took Geekie’s spot in line rushes and did not stay out with the healthy scratches for extra work at the end of practice. He normally would continue skating if he was not planning to be in the lineup, so we thought that was worth noting.
Colorado’s personnel changes in Game 2
One thing we found interesting in Game 2 was Avalanche coach Jared Bednar’s decision to split up Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon. It seemed to work, at least for that game, but the idea that Bednar felt the need to counter what Seattle brought with its depth in Game 1 went against the narrative coming into the series. While everyone was asking what Seattle could do to stop Colorado’s high-octane attack, nobody expected Bednar to be tinkering after one game, trying to find a way to make his big guns more effective against the Kraken.
“I think it’s just a different look for them,” said Ryan Donato. “If anything, it spreads out— I mean, those two guys together are very dynamic. So I think there’s strengths for them being together and strengths for them not being together, but for us, it doesn’t change anything.”
Eeli Tolvanen added that having them on the same line makes them very dynamic, but with the duo split apart, it means there’s one of the two on the ice almost all the time. “I think you have to be more careful on line changes and all that because they’re not playing the same line,” said Tolvanen, who is celebrating his 24th birthday Saturday. “I feel like they’re going to be on the ice for more, but I think all our lines are doing a good job defensively. So it doesn’t matter who’s out there.”
Hakstol echoed Tolvanen’s sentiments. Although being at home gives Hakstol the advantage of the last change before face-offs, he says the team won’t be overly hung up on which line is out there at any given time.
“We’ve never been a big line matchup team, if you look at it historically throughout the year,” Hakstol said. “There’ll be some of that. Being at home allows you to get some matchups, it allows you to avoid some matchups. But like I said, we haven’t been a hard match team all year, and we’re not going to start now.”
While the Avalanche have been tinkering with their lines, the Kraken have tried to stay focused on themselves and only change things if they fit better to their strengths. “It’s still about what adjustments we can make that make us more effective,” said Hakstol. “It’s not just about the adjustments; if you’re not good at something, you’re not going to adjust to that. So it’s finding adjustments that fit your game, that fit the opportunity.”
Kraken players expect an electric atmosphere
The atmosphere in Climate Pledge Arena has been fantastic all season long, but we are expecting some big-time goosebump moments on Saturday. Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said last week there’s a new pre-game show coming for the playoffs, and we know a plaza party will be happening outside. So, the organization is doing what it can to bolster the excitement, but it will be the crowd that should hoist this game into “unforgettable” status.
“I think it’s going to be awesome,” said Tolvanen. “The whole regular season it was really loud. Everybody showed up; the fans did a really good job in the regular season. So [with the] playoffs, I think there’s going to be a notch more, and I think everybody’s really excited about it.”
We had boots on the ground around Climate Pledge to scope out what was getting set up over there, and we can confirm there will be a beer garden with TV’s for earlier playoff games and for people who want to come experience the atmosphere that don’t have tickets to the game.
Inside, Tolvanen says he’s hoping the home faithful will bring a similar jolt to what Colorado’s fans brought in Game 2. “I think it’s going to boost us,” Tolvanen said. “They got momentum last game out of their fans; they did a really good job of that, and I think we have to take advantage of that today. The fans are going to be behind us, and I think all the support and all the energy we can get out of them, I think we have to use it to our advantage.”
While Tolvanen is hoping the fans push the team forward, Donato wants the players to give their fanbase plenty of reasons to cheer. “I’m looking forward to getting there and seeing them all there,” he said. “They’ve been great all year; now it’s our turn to return the favor by winning a playoff series, hopefully.”
By the way, we heard from a source within the organization that players have been quietly campaigning to get the crowd on the same page with a massively loud “SEA” at the beginning of the Star-Spangled Banner. So, for those in attendance, it’s “O, say can you SEA!”
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 boys are in playoff mode! As Kraken versus Avalanche Game 3 approaches, with the series tied 1-1, John and Darren are running on adrenaline. They recap Games 1 and 2 and share their own personal excitement for Game 3, which will be the first home playoff game in Kraken history.
After plenty of Kraken talk, the focus shifts to a glance around the NHL, where the guys discuss their favorite series so far. They then move Down on the Farm, where Tye Kartye has won the AHL Rookie of the Year award, and the Firebirds are in the playoffs. They also cover the Thunderbirds’ exciting 8-0 run through the WHL playoffs so far.
Before I dive into Seattle Kraken prospects, let me share a few memories about Andy Eide, who – in my opinion, was the preeminent champion for hockey in the Puget Sound region.
When I first took the job at the Everett Herald to cover the Everett Silvertips, my predecessor, Jesse Geleynse, gave me the inside scoop on how to cover the Tips beat, and who I should get to know. One of the first people he mentioned was Andy.
So I got to know Andy. He covered the Seattle Thunderbirds for ESPN 710, and we shared stories, information, and advice – well, I mostly asked him for advice. He was always willing to hop on my podcast or just shoot the breeze.
Andy was a veteran Western Hockey League reporter, and I leaned on him for his expertise. The way he cultivated relationships was so admirable. He knew everything about the WHL, seemingly. He was plugged in, informed, and a damn good writer, to boot.
Andy worked his ass off. He was writing about hockey in Seattle before it was cool. The way Andy covered the T-Birds, without a consistent paycheck dangling in front of his face, was inspiring. He didn’t do it for financial reasons or to boost his ego; he did it because he loved the sport and believed he could cover hockey at the highest level.
Back when I really knew Andy, we were both vying for roles covering the professional team in Seattle, but there wasn’t a single drop of jealousy with Andy. We both wanted each other to succeed and seeing him accomplish his goal of covering the Seattle Kraken brought me immense joy.
He opened many doors for me, including introducing me to John Barr and Darren Brown. I don’t think I would be writing for Sound Of Hockey without Andy’s kindness.
Above all, in addition to being an excellent hockey writer, Andy was a better person. Rest in peace, my friend.
Kartye named AHL’s top rookie
Kraken forward prospect Tye Kartye was announced as the American Hockey League’s rookie of the year this week.
The 21-year-old center posted 57 points in 72 regular-season games for Coachella Valley but really clicked toward the second half of the season. Kartye notched 42 points over the last 40 games of the season, and his 23 goals led the team during that stretch.
Max McCormick scored two goals and added an assist, Ryker Evans dished out three helpers, and Joey Daccord stopped 45 shots to lead Coachella Valley to a 5-1 Game 1 win in its best-of-three series with the Tucson Roadrunners.
Notable: Shane Wright was in the lineup for Coachella Valley and could be a nice boost to their playoff run. Wright, who was traded to Windsor at the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) trade deadline, was knocked out of the junior playoffs prematurely as the top-seeded Spitfires were swept in the first round.
The Firebirds, the second-seeded team in the Pacific Division, can advance with a win in Game 2 on Friday night at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California.
Goyette signed to ELC
After a terrific season for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves with 92 points (41 goals, 51 assists) in 63 regular-season games, the Kraken signed 2022 second-round pick David Goyette to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Like Wright, he was assigned to Coachella Valley after his junior season ended in the first round of the OHL playoffs on a professional tryout, but he wasn’t in the lineup for the Firebirds in Game 1 of the playoffs. He played in two AHL regular-season games and didn’t reach the scoresheet.
Firkus on a tear
Kraken forward prospect Jagger Firkus has been an offensive engine for the Moose Jaw Warriors in the Western Hockey League playoffs, with 18 points in eight games. After sweeping the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the first round, Moose Jaw is deadlocked, 2-2, with the Winnipeg Ice, considered a favorite to win the WHL Championship, in the Eastern Conference semis.
Around the OHL
Ryan Winterton will play in the Western Conference finals with the London Knights against the Sarnia Sting. Winterton, who missed the first half of the year and was traded to London at the deadline, boasts 11 points in nine playoff games.
Ty Nelson has been productive for the North Bay Battalion with 12 points in 10 games, including four goals from the blue line. His teammate and fellow Kraken prospect Kyle Jackson has nine points in 10 games. North Bay is tied 2-2 in the Eastern Conference semifinals with the Barrie Colts.
There could be a battle between Kraken prospects in the Eastern Conference finals, as Tucker Robertson and the Peterborough Petes lead their series, 3-1. Robertson has six points in eight games. Are the Petes and the Battalion on a collision course?
In the ‘Q’
Jacob Melanson has 11 points in eight games, and the Sherbrooke Phoenix are rolling in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoffs. The Phoenix are undefeated, having swept both Blainville-Boisbriand and Drummondville.
Overseas
Forward Jani Nyman’s season is over, after Ilves won the Bronze Medal game in the Liiga playoffs. The second-round pick in 2022 notched an assist in the 3-2 win, his only point of the playoffs – Nyman played in six of 12 playoff games.
Goaltender Niklas Kokko, a second-round selection in 2022, was loaned back to Hermes of the Mestis, Finland’s second league, and he’s played in three playoff games with a .917 save percentage and a 2.31 goals against average (GAA).
Local tidbits
The Seattle Thunderbirds are moving onto the WHL’s Western Conference finals after sweeping the Prince George Cougars. Arizona Coyotes first-round pick Dylan Guenther and Winnipeg Jets first-round pick Brad Lambert have led the way for Seattle with 15 points each. Up next: A showdown with the Kamloops Blazers, the eventual Memorial Cup Host – Kamloops hold an automatic bid to the Memorial Cup, the Canadian Hockey League’s grand prize – who are fresh off a sweep of the Portland Winterhawks.
Former Everett Silvertips goaltender Dustin Wolf was named the AHL’s goaltender of the year for the second straight season. Wolf, 22, posted a .932 save percentage for the Calgary Wranglers in 55 games and debuted in the NHL for the Flames this season.
Like Wolf, his head coach, former Everett Silvertips defenseman, cult hero, and assistant coach Mitch Love won the AHL Coach of the Year award for the second straight season.
Josh Horton
Josh Horton is a freelance writer, former newspaper journalist, and erstwhile Western Hockey League writer for the Everett Herald and The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). He is NOT a juggler, nor is he a former professional baseball player. Follow him on Twitter @byjoshhorton.
Just two games into Seattle’s first Stanley Cup Playoff journey, the team’s fledgling fanbase has already experienced the roller coaster of emotions that comes with the postseason. Entering Game 2 with an unexpected 1-0 series lead over the Avalanche, the Kraken again surprised by coming out of the gate like gangbusters, only to fade in the later stages of the contest.
Philipp Grubauer had another stellar outing with 38 saves, and Justin Schultz and Brandon Tanev put the Kraken ahead in the early going. But the Avalanche battled back in the second and third periods, getting goals from Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, and Devon Toews to even the series 1-1.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a disappointing—but also still encouraging—3-2 Kraken loss to the Avalanche.
Takeaway #1: A hot start by the Kraken
Oh, what could have been. That’s why this one stings; the Kraken left the first period with a 2-0 lead and mostly dominated the opening frame. They put themselves in position to win, and in fact, a chorus of boos rained down on the defending champion Avs as they skated off at the first horn.
The Kraken—led by Yanni Gourde—were flying in the first 20 minutes and taking it to the Avalanche.
Gourde made two outstanding plays that directly led to goals. The first came just two and a half minutes into the game. Deep in Seattle’s zone, Oliver Bjorkstrand rimmed a puck around to Gourde. In one fluid motion, the “Pepperpot” spun out of a Darren Helm check and slipped the puck past a pinching Devon Toews just inside the blue line. In about a second worth of work, Gourde made two Avalanche players look silly, and the area pass up the wall was skated into by Eeli Tolvanen. Tolvanen raced ahead and set Justin Schultz up for a pretty goal from the slot.
10 minutes later, with the Kraken killing a penalty, Gourde showed off his forechecking skills and outfoxed not one, not two, but three Avalanche players, including Nathan MacKinnon. As all three defenders closed in around him, Gourde poked the puck to a crashing Brandon Tanev. Tanev had all day to pick his spot and beat Alexandar Georgiev.
Tanev celebrated his goal with the kiss heard around the world.
“I liked our start, obviously,” said Gourde. “To go up 2-0 against that group over there, it’s good; it’s really good. We were in a great spot after the first period.”
It was about as good of a period as we could have imagined (it would have been even better if Morgan Geekie’s early shot off the post had gone in), but the Kraken took their tentacle off the gas in the second, and the Avalanche took advantage.
Takeaway #2: The Avs found momentum in the second
Perhaps the boos from the Ball Arena faithful woke up the Avalanche players when they started the second period. They did look a lot better, and once Lehkonen tipped home a Cale Makar shot, the building came alive. So too did the Avs, and they added a nifty quick-strike goal just 48 seconds later when Evan Rodrigues connected with a streaking Nichushkin, who scored off a partial breakaway.
“We were obviously happy with the first period,” said coach Dave Hakstol. “Coming out [in the second], you know they’re going to have a push, and they did. Their second period, the first ten minutes, they were on the gas, and they had some real good opportunities and tied the game up.”
Seattle’s two-goal lead evaporated in an instant, and for the first time in the series, it felt like the Kraken were getting railroaded by the high-flying Avalanche.
“They are so talented,” said Gourde. “They’ve been in this situation before, they’re a great team, and we knew they were going to push, but for part of that second period, we didn’t really have a response. We’ve just got to manage the game a little bit better.”
It was a stark reminder that the Avs are an elite team, and they have the firepower to flip a game on its ear at any moment. Easing off for even a few minutes can cost you a win, something that should serve as a lesson for Seattle as it moves forward in this series.
“I think we just gave their top players some time and space, and when you give time and space to the quality of players that the other team has, they’re going to make plays,” said Tanev. “But at the end of the day, we’re gonna learn from our mistakes here, and we’re excited to get back home and get ready for the next one here.”
The Kraken did stop the bleeding as the second period went on, and they got to the third tied 2-2. But the momentum carried over to the final frame, and Colorado smelled blood in the water, peppering Philipp Grubauer with 31 shots in the last 40 minutes. They broke through one more time when a big rebound landed right on the tape of Toews, who was all alone in the right circle. His goal came at 12:59 of the third, and the Avalanche suffocated Seattle for much of the final seven minutes.
Takeaway #3: The Kraken are still in a good spot
After playoff games like this, it’s hard not to feel like the wind has been sucked out of your sails. But the Kraken have no reason to hang their heads. If you had told us a week ago that Seattle was going to split the first two games on the road, we would have been quite comfortable with that. The Kraken were playing with house money in Game 2, and the perspective only changed because they won first, then lost, instead of vice versa. Had it gone the other way, the fanbase would be riding high right now.
Jamie Oleksiak reminded us this week that the playoffs are filled with ups and downs, and it is unreasonable to expect the team to go 16-0 and win the Stanley Cup with ease. That’s not going to happen for any club, let alone an underdog that has been written off by almost everyone in the hockey world.
Now, it’s a brand new best-of-five series. The teams know each other and what they’re going to bring, and Seattle has proven to itself that it can hang right with the mighty Avs. The Kraken also have home-ice… ahem… “advantage” the rest of the way.
We said that last part cheekily because it’s no secret the Kraken haven’t been as good at home this season as on the road, but we cannot stress enough just how incredible the atmosphere is going to be Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena.
“It’s gonna be great in our building,” said Gourde. “First playoff game in our building, so it’s going to be awesome. I’m super excited.”
Added Hakstol, “I hope the fans are fired up for it, because we will be.”
The boys are heading home with a tied series against the Cup champs.
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.
