When the NHL Seattle franchise was in its infancy, the only thing fans seemed to want to talk about was what the name of the team would be. The organization did a brilliant job of keeping the moniker and logo close to the vest and somehow avoided any leaks in advance of the official announcement in July, 2020. The name of the Coachella Valley AHL franchise wasn’t guarded quite as closely, as all signs pointed toward the team being called the Firebirds.
On Friday, Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, joined local leaders from around Coachella Valley to officially unveil the Coachella Valley Firebirds name and logo.
Welcome to the family, @Firebirds! Can't wait to visit you in Coachella Valley!
The logo was designed by Brian Gundell, who also created the secondary Kraken logo and was responsible for the recent re-brand of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.
The logo is red with orange accents and features a menacing, fire-breathing bird rising out of flames. The bird has an icy blue eye, an obvious nod to the Seattle Kraken, for which the Firebirds will serve as the top minor-league affiliate. The logo also gives a nod to the mid-century modern design that is so prevalent around the Coachella Valley.
The logo and name are meant to compliment the Kraken by being the “yin to the Kraken’s yang.” While the mythical Kraken lives in the depths of the ocean, the Firebird soars above.
Coachella Valley Firebirds primary logo
Coachella Valley Firebirds secondary logo
By calling the team the “Coachella Valley Firebirds,” instead of the Palm Springs Firebirds or something similar, the organization looks to be more inclusive for the whole region.
“Over the last two years, and after listening to fans, our leadership, and partners, we’ve been heavily involved in identifying the best team name and brand to represent the nine cities of the Coachella Valley,” said Leiweke. “As a proud resident of the valley, I think the Firebirds has a meaningful representation for the beauty and what people experience when they come to our great community.”
Leiweke also indicated that the franchise has received 3,000 season ticket deposits, and he is hopeful that they sell out all their games, a rarity among AHL franchises. Members of a local youth team, the Desert Blaze, briefly joined Leiweke on stage. Leiweke reminded those in attendance that a practice facility was also being built as part of the massive arena construction project, and that it would serve as the new home of organizations like the Blaze.
The AHL team’s website was officially launched at cvfirebirds.com, and merchandise is already on sale.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are expected to begin play during the 2022-23 season, though Leiweke indicated to the Sound Of Hockey Podcast in October that the arena is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. The Kraken were the better team Thursday but had a hard time finishing on their many chances. Sounds familiar right? The difference between this contest and others, though, was that Seattle did not come out and immediately concede a goal in the opening minutes. The team was not chasing the game early, as it did in Edmonton on Monday and against the Rangers on Sunday.
On Thursday, it almost always felt like the Kraken were going to come out with a win, but as players squeezed their sticks into sawdust and fumbled away breakaway after breakaway, doubt certainly crept in for some.
One guy who is officially no longer gripping his stick too tightly after Thursday’s game is Jordan Eberle, who was held goal-less through the team’s first six games of the season. He scored once against Montreal, once against New York, and Thursday he erupted, posting the first hat trick in the history of the Seattle Kraken franchise.
“Definitely, when you’re scoring, you feel good, and the net looks a little bigger,” Eberle said after the game. “There’s a lot of different ways to score… The biggest thing is getting one or two looks a game and when you’re finishing them and you have the confidence to do it, that’s big.”
His performance in leading the Kraken to a 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres should give Eberle plenty of confidence moving forward.
Off on the right footthis time
The Kraken clearly made a point of not falling behind early in this one. After seeing the opposition score early in so many first periods this season, Seattle came out flying on Thursday and controlled the possession for the bulk of the opening frame. But as has become the norm, the Kraken were having a hard time breaking through on netminder Dustin Tokarski early.
13 minutes into the game, Jamie Oleksiak got tied up along the wall in the defensive end with John Hayden. It’s hard to say if Hayden knew who he was challenging, but he started swinging and left Oleksiak with no choice but to drop the gloves. In a blink Hayden had consumed half a dozen knuckle sandwiches from the Big Rig. Adding insult to injury, Hayden got an extra two minutes for roughing and put the Kraken on the power play.
That extra Hayden penalty proved costly for Buffalo. Seconds after the penalty ended, Alex Wennberg threaded a pass through the seam and found Morgan Geekie in the left circle. Geekie wasted no time and blasted it past Tokarski.
The second period left Seattle fans groaning at times. Fortunately, Eberle made them believe again before the end of the frame because otherwise there may have been a mutiny on the S.S. Climate Pledge.
With the Kraken continuing to dominate possession, they somehow let Tage Thompson walk the puck from his own end all the way through the neutral zone and into their end. On what amounted to a one-on-four rush, the 6-foot-7 Thompson lumbered in untouched and eventually let a shot go that—with the help of a Haydn Fleury screen—beat Grubauer.
Max McCormick then took an ill-advised offensive zone penalty at 16:10 when he boarded Will Butcher, causing the Buffalo defenseman to hit his face on the glass. The Sabres took advantage. With Zemgus Girgensons screening Grubauer, Kyle Okposo scored from the right hash, giving Buffalo a 2-1 lead and temporarily sucking the air out of Climate Pledge Arena.
That was when Eberle put the team on his back. Just 26 seconds passed between Okposo giving Buffalo its only lead and Jaden Schwartz digging out a puck in the corner and putting it right on the tape of Eberle in front. Eberle buried it just under the bar, and Seattle was back in business.
Schwartz and Rasmus Dahlin—who had a tough night that featured two embarrassing self-inflicted nosedives—got into a shoving contest at the horn, meaning the third period would open four-on-four.
A sigh of relief for Kraken fans
With the extra space afforded by the four-on-four and Butcher inexplicably swimming in the slot, Eberle had plenty of room to work. Wennberg was at the blue line and slipped the puck to him at the top of the left circle. Eberle danced around Okposo, got in close with Tokarski, and lifted it over his right pad for his second of the night.
Another look at Eberle’s second of the night…he had all the space in the world to set up for the finish off the backhand. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/8sp0RtSZ6e
Eberle struck once more six minutes later when he took a Schwartz pass in the neutral zone, rushed in, and snuck one through the pads of Tokarski, a goal the Sabres goalie probably wanted to have back.
Down came the hats, as Eberle celebrated the first hat trick in franchise history with his mates.
Takeaway #1: The Kraken could use some more finish
If you were to look at the score alone, you’d probably think that was a solid offensive night by the Kraken. In a way, you would be right with that assessment. The team put up five goals, and Eberle blew open the floodgates with a hat trick. But in a game that should have been out of reach midway through the second, Seattle found itself trailing 2-1, albeit for a very brief period.
We counted five breakaways for the Kraken, on which they converted zero times. They dominated every possession metric from start to finish, and yet the game was close enough in the end that Buffalo pulled its goalie to try to level the score. Frankly, Seattle should have put up at least eight against the Sabres on Thursday, but the team’s lack of finish continues to be a bit concerning.
The good news is that there was an eventual breakthrough, which hopefully relieves some of the pressure to start scoring goals. The guys that the Kraken need to be their offensive leaders—the Eberles and Schwartzes of the world—are starting to produce. Seattle also now heads to the desert to face an atrocious Arizona Coyotes team that has given up 42 goals in 10 games.
Here’s hoping the desert dogs can help Kraken players build up some more offensive confidence.
Takeaway #2: Morgan Geekie belongs on the left side on power plays
We’ve never been fans of having your biggest cannons on their strong side for the power play. As a right shot, putting Geekie on the left halfwall allows him to open up and be ready to blast away when pucks are fed to him. Previously, he had been on the right, where he had to catch the pass and circle around it before he could let it go.
Though it wasn’t technically a power-play goal, Geekie’s goal came just seconds after a Buffalo penalty had ended in the first period. It was created by the power play, no question, and having Geekie on the left feels like a key that could unlock something for this struggling special teams group.
“There’s a couple different looks,” Hakstol said. “With wanting to simplify a few things, you know, you put guys on their one-timer sides, and you’re looking to get the puck to the inside. Buffalo came a little harder with their kill tonight than maybe they usually do, but he was able to get off a couple of good shots from that spot. That second one found its way into the back of the net… It was nice to see it go directly in, but if it doesn’t that should give us a good opportunity at a rebound.”
Speaking of the power play, we’ve also always thought it’s a good sign to see passes through the seam rather than around the perimeter. Those passes are harder to complete, but when they get through, they’re also harder to track and give the goalie a lot less time to get across. Again, it wasn’t technically a power-play goal, but Geekie’s goal came off a seam pass by Wennberg.
Seeing a goal set up this way and scored by one of Seattle’s big shooters is a great sign for the struggling power play, which is now officially 3 for 36 on the season.
Takeaway #3: Eberle throws a mean fish
After rightfully being named the first star of the game, Eberle was handed the traditional salmon stuffed animal to throw into the crowd. Rather than softly tossing it over the glass, he twisted that thing around and whipped it a good ten rows deep into the lower bowl. We asked him about the throw after the game.
He explained, “I live downtown, so I go to Pike with my little girl quite a bit to get groceries, and I see them throwing the fish, so I wanted to make them proud.”
Seattle Kraken versus Buffalo Sabres 7 p.m. Pacific time TV: ROOT Sports Radio: 950 AM KJR
Typically when we prepare these game previews, we’re very focused on what has been happening with the Seattle Kraken. Other than Chris Driedger returning from injured reserve and Joey Daccord being assigned to Charlotte, there hasn’t been all that much happening the last few days, though, so move along, nothing to see here.
And obviously there’s nothing happening on the other side with the Buffalo Sab— [record scratch, author listens to breaking news in earpiece]… They did what?! Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve just received word that something major has happened with the Buffalo Sabres after all! It turns out they’ve traded their former captain and former No. 2 overall pick, Jack Eichel, to the Vegas Golden Knights for a package that includes Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, and draft picks.
Wowza!
Seattle Kraken
The Kraken are expected to come back with a very similar lineup on Thursday to what we saw in Edmonton on Monday, but Haydn Fleury is slotting back in for Carson Soucy on the blue line, and Philipp Grubauer will get the start.
The Fleury/Soucy rotation has been an interesting one. Really neither deserves to be scratched, and both have been contributing offensively lately—Fleury had two goals against Minnesota, and Soucy had one against the Oilers—but this is what happens when you have this many NHL defensemen on your roster. Simply put, somebody has to sit.
And let’s not forget about Will Borgen, who has yet to even dress for a game and will be scratched again Thursday against his former team.
On Wednesday after practice, coach Dave Hakstol indicated that this won’t change any time soon for Borgen, adding that the seven players that have played for Seattle at this point won their spots out of training camp.
Also at practice on Wednesday, the Kraken spent a few minutes working on their power play. Seattle has struggled in this area, clicking just three times in 32 attempts, good for 30th in the NHL, though it has gotten good looks and plenty of zone time.
“We need to get one to go for us,” Hakstol said of the power play. “You’d like to have a little bit of puck luck somewhere along the way. Until that starts happening and falling our way, we got to get a little hungry around the blue paint. We got to get a little hungry on seconds and really working to find one.”
Jack Eichel no longer a Sabre
The fact that Eichel was on the trade block was the worst-kept secret in hockey after he had publicly requested a trade, was stripped of his captaincy, and was closing in on filing a grievance against the team for not allowing him to get the disc replacement surgery that he desires. So while it wasn’t shocking to hear that he had been traded, it still felt like one of those things that might never really happen, especially after it dragged out all summer long.
But traded he was to the Vegas Golden Knights in the wee hours of Thursday morning.
Since Eichel was out with the long-term neck injury anyway, Tuch is still working his way back, and Krebs is heading to the AHL, there really is no impact on Buffalo’s lineup for tonight. The effect down the line will be dramatic from a Seattle perspective, however, as it now will have to face Eichel and an already loaded Golden Knights team up to four times per season.
As for the current Sabres, the hockey world was surprised to see them get off to a hot start, winning their first three games to begin Don Granato’s tenure as their full-time head coach. Since those three games, they lost two, won two, and lost two more, with those most recent defeats coming at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings and a COVID-riddled San Jose Sharks squad.
This is a winnable game for the Kraken, but Buffalo also cannot be taken for granted, as they have already caught several opponents off guard this season.
Leading scorer Victor Olofsson is out tonight for the Sabres, which should make things a bit easier defensively on the Kraken. Dustin Tokarski gets the start in net. He has been good in three appearances, posting a 1-1-1 record with a 1.92 goals against average and .936 save percentage.
Episode 161 of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here. Lots to break down for the guys this week, both from the Kraken perspective and from the hockey world in general. First, they dig in a bit on Seattle’s first homestand and what they liked and didn’t like from the team, as well as the experience of attending the games. They also share some updates on what’s coming from the Kraken for the rest of the week.
They then move on to the story that gripped the whole hockey world this past week, which was the Kyle Beach and Chicago Blackhawks situation. Interestingly, John, Andy, and Darren did not go into the show with the intention of talking about it that much, being that it has been discussed so broadly over the last week. But once they got talking about it, it was hard to stop.
We then get an update of what’s happening down on the farm, a Serious Business, Goalie Gear Corner, and Bad Boys. We also hear a Get Off My Lawn from Darren, who is irked that other larger outlets seem to have no issue stealing content.
The show closes with Weekly One-Timers and Tweets of the Week.
Playing on the fourth line is not the most glamorous role on a hockey team, but it’s an important one.
If you have three guys who can win some shifts, get the puck into the other team’s zone, and create some energy, you’ll have a stronger attack. That’s the role that Seattle Kraken center Riley Sheahan is playing and he’s doing it well.
“I think when you’re in that role you just try to find chemistry with the guys you’re playing with and be effective on the penalty kill, and do all the little things right,” Sheahan said after Seattle’s practice Wednesday. “I’m having fun with it. We got a great group and I think our record doesn’t show the way we’ve been playing. We’ve been pretty happy with the way we’re playing, just got to fix up a few things and then generate some wins.”
Sheahan signed a one-year contract with the Kraken in September to be a depth forward. The 29-year-old has played over 570 NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Buffalo Sabres.
With Seattle he’s averaging just over 11 minutes of ice time a game, is a part of the penalty kill, and has good puck possession numbers. He’s scored a goal but that’s not the role he’s in with the Kraken.
“Usually, you’re starting in the D-zone or neutral zone and try to set the team up for some O-zone draws or some O-zone play,” he said. “Just grind and kind of create some havoc for the other team and get them on their heels and produce when we can. Then just do the little things right and try not to give up too much and just play a strong game.”
Sheahan has played mostly with Nathian Bastian on one of his wings. Coach Dave Hakstol has cycled other wingers through the fourth line such as Ryan Donato and recently Max McCormick.
When Sheahan and Bastian are on the ice together they’ve generated 53 percent of the unblocked shot attempts and don’t allow a lot of quality shots with an expected goals for (xGF%) percentage of 55.
“He’s a great guy,” Sheahan said about Bastian. “He’s easy to talk to and we can communicate, which always helps. Obviously, he’s a big body and he’s got a lot of skill. I think when we’re on our game, we can really be big up there, generate some O-zone shifts and hold onto it. And I just enjoy playing with him.”
Seattle plays Buffalo Thursday at Climate Pledge Arena but Sheahan isn’t looking at the game as a ‘revenge’ game. He only spent one season with the Sabres and says he made a lot of good friends on the team.
“It’ll be good to see those guys and have a couple laughs,” he said.
Kraken practice notes
— Jared McCann was not at practice Wednesday and remains in Covid protocol.
— Injured forward Colin Blackwell skated prior to practice again but Hakstol said there is no update on his return target.
— Chris Driedger was back in net at practice after coming off of injured reserve the day prior while Joey Daccord was returned to Charlotte of the American Hockey League. As to how long he’ll have to wait to get a start in net Driedger said, “I haven’t been told. I’m sure they’re talking about it, but I’m not privy to those conversations. I stop the puck when they tell me to.”
The Kraken were playing a preseason game against the Calgary Flames in Kent, Wash., and Chris Driedger was in net for Seattle. Partway through the third period, he made a butterfly save and got a whistle. We watched him do a little twirl to the corner and return to his crease. There, he banged his stick on the posts a couple times, then reached over his right shoulder with that stick and touched the back bar of the net.
Many goalies skate to the corner and bang their posts, but that over-the-shoulder move is unique. We couldn’t help wondering why he was doing that, and how that routine started for Driedger. So we asked. And we learned a lot more about his psyche along the way.
Goaltending is a fickle beast
The goaltending position in hockey is a fickle beast. You can come into a game feeling on top of the world, thinking you’re ready to stop everything thrown at you, and within minutes of the opening face-off, you can fall so deep into the abyss of your own thoughts that you don’t believe you’ll ever stop another shot.
This is why some goalies who are talented and physically gifted do not make it to high levels. You can have the lightning-quick reflexes and ballet-like flexibility that is required of professional goalies. But if you don’t have the mental fortitude to quickly shake off a bad goal or a bad night, you will not come close to reaching those levels.
It’s that mental fortitude that separates the good from the great.
We recently chatted with Kraken netminder Joey Daccord on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, and he was forthcoming with what happens in his mind before and during games. You can hear this topic discussed at length starting around the 27-minute mark of the episode below.
Daccord and Driedger have spent the last few summers training together in the Boston area, where Daccord’s dad, Brian—a goaltending guru who also works for the Arizona Coyotes—owns and operates the “Stop It Goaltending” school.
If you notice any similarities between what Driedger and Daccord do to keep themselves in the moment, it is not a coincidence. This is something they discuss at length as part of their offseason training because the mind is just as important to a netminder as the body.`
Inside the mind of Chris Driedger
Driedger does not aim to stay focused on what is happening in the game. Instead, he tries to keep his mind completely clear throughout. No thoughts, no distractions.
But he also knows that keeping the brain from wandering over the course of a long hockey game is easier said than done, so he employs several tactics to allow him to get back to “flowing,” as he calls it. We’ve all seen goalies skate to the corners during stoppages in play, and while it looks to the casual fan like they might just be bored, Driedger says there’s a mental benefit to doing that.
Kraken goalie Chris Driedger tries to stop Jack Rathbone of the Vancouver Canucks (Photo/Brian Liesse)
“It’s just a routine that you don’t have to think about and gives you a mental break. You don’t have to focus at all. You get a little cool air in your face, which feels phenomenal because obviously you’re pretty hot in your gear.”
When Driedger returns from his jaunt, he goes through his post-hitting routine, which is so common amongst his goalie brethren. But he adds that unique flourish by touching the back bar of the net with the toe of his stick blade. So where does that come from?
Local fans may recognize that move from the repertoire of a former Seattle Thunderbird.
“I think I actually copied another goalie from Winnipeg when I was probably 12 years old,” Driedger explains. “Calvin Pickard is from Winnipeg, and I think I saw him doing it, and he was the man growing up. I’m two years younger than him, and he was playing AAA or whatever… That was his routine, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s pretty cool, let me try it.’”
Routines, not superstitions
Driedger uses a comparable mantra to Daccord when it comes to his pre-game preparation.
Daccord tries to think of the things he does as “routines,” rather than “superstitions.” As he mentioned on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, when you have superstitions and something happens on gameday that doesn’t allow you to complete one of your regular steps, that can have a huge impact on your performance because it throws you off mentally. That’s why Daccord thinks of them as routines, because not doing something on a given night or doing something slightly out of order really means nothing in the scheme of things.
Driedger has a good explanation for why this shift in thinking is important. “If you don’t do a routine, it’s not like a night ruiner. One game in Florida two seasons ago, we had Luongo’s retirement ceremony. The communication was kind of weird, so we got to the rink, and they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, by the way, you guys need to be dressed [and ready for] warm-ups in 30 minutes.’”
Chris Driedger makes a save on a teammate at Kraken practice (Photo/Brian Liesse)
An event like that could push a goalie over the edge. They’ll typically get to the arena hours in advance and have plenty of time to go through their rituals, get dressed at a leisurely pace, and prepare their minds for battle. That night, Driedger did not have that luxury, but it still wasn’t enough to destroy his mental state for the game.
“If you have superstitions, rather than routines, and you don’t do them, you let it [get to you]. ‘Oh, no, I didn’t juggle before the game, are my hands going to be good?’ That’s a negative thought and it’s not going to help you.”
Of course, Driedger tries to complete all his regular routines before each game, but sometimes things are out of his control. Knowing that and knowing that the world will not end if he skips a step or two helps him be ready even on nights when things go haywire.
The slippery slope of the slump and how to avoid it
Slumps for a goalie can come from nowhere. One bad goal leads to a bad game, and a bad game can lead to a bad week. Then suddenly you’re viewed as “struggling,” and nothing you do seems to work to get yourself back on track.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s definitely a slippery slope when you start over-thinking,” Driedger says. “At its core, it just comes down to your confidence in yourself. And if you let in a goal, whether it’s a good goal or a bad goal… obviously bad goals are harder to cope with mentally. I tell myself when I let in a bad goal, ‘That’s a bad goal, but I don’t let those in very often.’”
For Driedger, knowing that bad goals are a rare event helps him shake them off quickly. But even he acknowledges that it’s easy to let doubt creep in when pucks get through that he knows he should have stopped.
“If you go the other way and you say, ‘Oh, shoot, that’s a bad goal, maybe I’m not ready for this,’ or ‘Maybe this isn’t my night, maybe I’m not feeling good.’ That’s negative self-talk that just snowballs throughout the night, and then all of a sudden—we talked about having a clear mind—your mind’s not clear if you’re doubting yourself.”
Bad goals go in sometimes, even when a goalie is playing with confidence. But if he can put it out of mind quickly and move on, knowing it doesn’t happen often, Driedger believes he can nip it in the bud before it grows into a real problem his mind.
Training the mind
Much like the body, the goaltender’s mind needs many years of training to prepare it for the top echelons of hockey. There are different methods to get the mind into tip-top shape, and with every goalie being different, not every method works for every individual.
For Driedger, he credits a sports psychologist that he visited when he was playing in the WHL for the Calgary Hitmen for putting him on the right track. He first reached out to the psychologist because he had started the season poorly and wanted to improve the mental side of his game. Scheduling challenges allowed months to go by, and by the time he finally met the psychologist, things had turned around on their own.
At that point, Driedger had started playing outstanding hockey, so he wondered if he needed to have the meeting at all. He decided to go through with the appointment, but it did not have the intended effect.
“I started using [the psychologist], and now I’m thinking [during the game] about these mental strategies that he was telling me. And my game drops because I’m thinking about them rather than just flowing with it,” Driedger recalls. “But long term, it was invaluable to work with this guy. He was incredible, but just in the short term—it takes a little bit of time to make the processes feel natural, and then you go through some growing pains.”
Of course, that wasn’t the end of the story for Driedger. It’s a never-ending process to strengthen his mind as he continues to strive to be the best goalie he can be. “That’s got to be eight or nine or 10 years ago now. So it’s good to get those things out of the way early, and you can kind of do more refinement as you get older and further along into your career.”
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
The script for the Seattle Kraken Monday looked awfully familiar as they fell 5-2 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Seattle (3-6-1) outshot and out chanced an offensively talented Oilers team but could not get enough goals to come out with two points on the road. It’s the same script as the night before in a frustrating loss to the New York Rangers.
“We had good chances tonight,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We had good chances off the rush and off of some good offensive opportunities…that’s the way it’s gone for us the last couple of nights so we’ve got to push and find ways to change that.”
Edmonton (7-1-0) were led by a two-goal, two-assist performance from Leon Draisaitl and the Oilers were able to get a lead early and add on after the Kraken had cut the lead to 3-2 in the second period.
Jaden Schwartz scored his first for the Kraken, Carson Soucy scored as well, and Joey Daccord made 18 saves.
It’s becoming a broken record, but the Kraken deserved a better fate Monday night.
They held the Oilers to eight shots on goal at 5-on-5, they forced 30 scoring chances to 19 against, and had 56% of the quality shot attempts. If you didn’t look at the score, you’d think Seattle walked away with an easy win.
That’s not how it ended up though.
Things started rough as Draisaitl had a puck ricochet off his skate in front of the net and in at 2:12 in the first period. After Schwartz tied it, Draisaitl would score again on a power play when he tapped in his seventh of the year on a down low 2-on-1.
The Oilers power play is tops in the league and entered the game clicking at 47.8%. Monday it went 1-for-3.
“It’s a tough power play to handle, they have a lot of different looks,” Hakstol said. “We got a save or two from Joey on the PK and I thought the PK after that first goal against worked hard and did a good job to fend off their opportunities.”
Edmonton built a 3-1 lead in the second before Soucy cut the lead at 18:40 to set up a third period where Seattle trailed by just one. The Oilers would add on though, getting an early third period goal from Kyle Turris and an insurance mini breakaway goal from former Spokane Chief Kailer Yamamoto.
More chances, more chances, more chances for the Kraken
Seattle’s lack of goal scoring this season is not for a lack of chances.
They’re 11th in the league in 5-on-5 unblocked shot attempts, getting 52 percent of them, they’re getting more quality shots than their opponents, and they have been creating 53 percent of the scoring chances through the first 10 games.
But they are only averaging 2.5 goals per game.
They have had some bad puck luck and Monday there was a hit post and a chance from Jamie Oleksiak that slid across the crease, inches from the goal line that somehow stayed out.
“We look at the positives,” Oleksiak said. “It’s been a few games where we’re right in there and if we get the goal at the right time, we have a different record… we’ve just got to bear down.”
The lack of consistent scoring is a concern but the shots and chances the team is creating is the positive. Goals have to start coming at some point, right?
“It’s frustrating. The last game was right there for us and so was today,” Schwartz said. “They were opportunistic to start and we had a lot of chances and good looks and we’ve just got to find a way to put them in the net… our power play has to start executing better for us to get us on the board and get us momentum.”
Kraken power play continues to struggle
After a four-game homestand where the Kraken went 0-for-14 with the man advantage, Monday it didn’t fare any better.
Seattle was 0-for-3 on the night with six shots. Scoring would help but the Kraken would hope to at least gain some momentum from the man advantage, and it hasn’t been happening enough.
Despite a penalty kill that came into Monday as the league’s third best, Seattle is losing the special teams battle.
Kraken game notes
– Jared McCann missed his second straight game Monday and remains in the Covid-19 protocol. Max McCormick was in the lineup again and played 9:03 with two shots.
– Schwartz and Brandon Tanev led the Kraken with four shots apiece.
– Seattle’s next two games are winnable as they host the Buffalo Sabres at Climate Pledge Arena Thursday before traveling to Arizona Saturday to play the winless Coyotes.
Seattle Kraken at Edmonton Oilers 6:30 p.m. Pacific time Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada TV: ROOT Sports Radio: KJR AM 950
Sunday’s game against the Rangers was always going to be a tough test for the Seattle Kraken, but things ratchet up another notch Monday against the Edmonton Oilers for a number of reasons. Not only do the Kraken take on one of the best offensive clubs in the NHL, which features two of the league’s best offensive players, but they’re doing it on the second night of a back-to-back set with travel. Winning on the road in this scenario is no easy task against any opponent, let alone against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Coach Dave Hakstol made the decision on Sunday to stick with starting netminder Philipp Grubauer for the first game of the set, rather than saving him for when the team would be tired and facing an even more dangerous offense. So Joey Daccord gets the nod tonight, and with Chris Driedger looking closer and closer to a return, this could be Daccord’s last start before he gets returned to AHL Charlotte.
Daccord’s first start came in a pinch the last time the Kraken were on the second of back-to-backs. After Driedger was surprisingly placed on injured reserve after coming on in relief in Philadelphia on Oct. 18, Daccord got the call-up and the nod against New Jersey on Oct. 19. He played well that night, especially under the chaotic circumstances. Daccord stopped 29 of 32 shots and made some very timely saves against the Devils, but the Kraken ultimately came up short.
Last-second lineup changes becoming the norm
Just before Sunday’s game, Kraken PR broke the news that Jared McCann and assistant coach Paul McFarland had been placed into COVID protocol. To deal with McCann’s absence, Max McCormick—recalled after Mason Appleton was officially placed on IR over the weekend—was slotted onto the fourth line and Ryan Donato was elevated.
That alteration seemed to have the lowest possible disruption to what the team had practiced with the day prior, as Jaden Schwartz, Alex Wennberg, and Joonas Donskoi stayed together, as did Brandon Tanev, Yanni Gourde, and Calle Jarnkrok.
On Monday morning, Hakstol was asked in his media availability if there would be any other changes coming to the lineup, and he said, “We’ve got some decisions to make at gametime and as we go through the afternoon.” Does he mean shuffling the lines again, or does he mean players coming in or out?
The team has shown a few times now that it prefers to hold on announcing significant changes to Seattle’s active roster until as close to gametime as possible. Examples are the clearing of four key players from COVID protocol prior to the Vegas game, Yanni Gourde returning from injury for the New Jersey game, and now McCann missing Sunday’s game against the Rangers.
Perhaps we’re reading into it too deeply, but we’re curious what those decisions are that Hakstol and his staff need to make, especially with a player and a coach in COVID protocol as of Sunday.
With that in mind, we aren’t even going to take a stab at the projected lineup for now, but we will add it after warmups, so feel free to circle back here at gametime.
Update: The only change to the lineup is Carson Soucy drawing back in for Haydn Fleury. Hakstol loves to keep us guessing.
Edmonton Oilers bring a potent offense
Hakstol was also asked Monday what makes McDavid so good. “Well, how much time do we have?” he quipped. “He’s a very special player. There’s not much that I can say that can bring to light anything new on Connor McDavid. He’s an absolutely dynamic player, and one of the things that stands out for me is his competitive nature. It seems every year that I’ve been able to see him there’s a new piece to his game, something new that he’s tried to round out and improve upon.”
Hakstol’s point is that McDavid—who has already proven that he is in a league of his own—continues to push to get even better, and it somehow continues to work. Last season, McDavid put up 105 points, an impressive total for an 82-game season. But last year was not an 82-game season, it was a 56-game season.
Though the current season is young, McDavid is on an even hotter pace so far with seven goals and nine assists (7-9=16) through just seven games played.
The Oilers also added a key piece in the offseason in Zach Hyman who has been impressive, scoring six goals in seven games. The former Maple Leaf is expected to skate on a potent top line with McDavid and Jesse Puljujarvi, while Draisaitl will go with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto.
Where the Oilers have always been vulnerable is on the blue line and in net. The roster took a hit from this standpoint when Adam Larsson was selected and signed by the Kraken during the Expansion Draft, and there was plenty of interest from the Edmonton media about the defenseman’s return, showing that he was valued in that market.
Despite this, former NHL Seattle advisor and now Oilers coach Dave Tippett has his team playing well at both ends of the ice, and the result is an impressive 6-1-0 record.
The Kraken lost Sunday due to a couple of lapses in transition. They will need to really batten down the hatches in the neutral zone to avoid a track meet with this explosive Edmonton Oilers team.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
As Seattle netminder Philipp Grubauer said after Sunday’s 3-1 Kraken loss to the New York Rangers, sometimes you win games you’re supposed to lose, and sometimes you lose games you’re supposed to win. On Sunday, the Kraken should have won, but instead got Shesterkinned.
Ranger goalie Igor Shesterkin followed up a dazzling 31-save shutout of the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday with another outstanding performance against the Kraken, stopping 31 of 32 this time and carrying his team to victory.
It’s a disappointing loss for the Kraken, no doubt, as they finish their first homestand with a 2-2-0 record, bringing them to 3-5-1 overall. This team is still learning and building, and coach Dave Hakstol was rightfully pleased with the effort. But not getting at least a point out of a game like this has to hurt.
A familiar game script
The Kraken started the first period against the Rangers in similar fashion to how they have started several other games this season… by conceding an early goal.
Chris Kreider—who has had a hot start to the season—streaked into the Kraken zone on a two-on-one with Mika Zibanejad. He looked off Zibanejad and snapped an absolute missile over Grubauer’s glove and right under the crossbar. It was one of those that hit the back bar and came out so quickly that not everyone in the arena was sure it had gone in. Indeed it had, and just like that, the Kraken trailed 1-0 3:38 into the first period on Kreider’s seventh of the season.
As we’ve also seen in prior games, Seattle began pushing back after allowing that goal, but Shesterkin stood tall to turn away several good chances, especially by Morgan Geekie and Jaden Schwartz.
Kreider had a bid for his second of the night and fourth in two games midway through the period when a pass hopped off of Vince Dunn’s stick at the offensive blue line. Kreider jumped on it and raced through the neutral zone, but Grubauer came up big and steered the shot away with his blocker to keep the Kraken within one.
Do the Kraken love second periods or what?
Once again, Seattle came out flying in the second and owned the puck for the bulk of the period. When the horn sounded, they had an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal during those 20 minutes of play.
Midway through the second, Shesterkin was continuing his dastardly ways and was especially unkind to Schwartz, who continues to look for his first goal as a Kraken. Shesterkin stole a sure goal from Schwartz by sliding from left to right in a full split. He lost his stick on that play, but with his team scrambling, he still managed to stop two shots by Mark Giordano and one by Ryan Donato to get a needed whistle.
Six minutes later, Jordan Eberle broke through. He took a simple drop pass from Schwartz at the right face-off dot. In one motion, he spun onto his backhand and lifted a shot over Shesterkin’s glove, clearly catching the netminder off guard with the deceptive shot.
Eberle’s second of the season knotted things at 1-1 at 13:46, and though Seattle continued to push, that score would remain through the end of the second period.
A disappointing finish
Compared to a completely dominant second for Seattle, the third was a bit more open for interpretation as to who had the better of the play.
With eight minutes left, Haydn Fleury forced a turnover at the Ranger blue line, and suddenly Brandon Tanev was in alone with Shesterkin. He deked and tried to tuck the puck around the outstretched pad of the Ranger netminder, but couldn’t get it to go. The Rangers countered, and off the rush, Artemi Panarin pulled up at the top of the left circle. He then found a trailing Adam Fox as he came over the blue line, and Fox made no mistake.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why Fox won the Norris Trophy last season and why Panarin continues to be one of the more dangerous forwards in the NHL.
With Grubauer pulled for an extra skater in the closing minutes, the Kraken did get one last good push to try to level the score a second time. A shot from the point got deflected by Yanni Gourde, and he found the rebound and with one hand on his stick poked it past Shesterkin. It just bounced off the base of the post, and again, the Rangers countered and Barclay Goodrow ended up with an empty-net goal at the other end to seal it.
Things don’t get easier on Monday
Hakstol has talked a lot about improving the team’s play in transition. Seeing New York score its goals off the rush Sunday was a bit surprising, especially after we had watched Seattle clog up the neutral zone to perfection at times on this homestand. Seattle’s coach gave credit to the Rangers after the game, though, saying that’s one of the things they do especially well, and his group knew that coming in.
As Seattle goes right back to work against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton on Monday, it will need to do a better job of cutting down those odd-man opportunities, or it could be a painful night.
By the way, at Hakstol’s media availability on Sunday night, we asked him what the Kraken need to do to beat Edmonton, which has a lot of starpower. At the end of a relatively long presser, Hakstol looked at us and said, “Well, first off, we need to wrap this up so we can get out of here.” That got a good chuckle in the room.
Point taken, Dave.
Jared McCann and Paul McFarland in COVID protocol
Kraken forward Jared McCann was a late scratch from Sunday’s game, as the team announced that he and assistant coach Paul McFarland had been placed in COVID protocol. Last time Seattle had players in protocol, they ended up being cleared in time for the season opener in Vegas, but Hakstol did not want to speculate on what might happen with McCann.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Seattle Kraken versus New York Rangers 6 p.m. Pacific time Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, Washington TV: ROOT Sports, NHL Network Radio: 950 AM KJR
The Seattle Kraken go from one spooky test Thursday to an even spookier one Sunday and Monday, as they enter back-to-back games with travel against the New York Rangers and the Edmonton Oilers. They did pass the last test with flying colors, defeating the Minnesota Wild 4-1. Seattle also gets to enjoy Sunday’s contest at the friendly confines of Climate Pledge Arena before hustling off to Edmonton, but New York is riding high, so Seattle will again need its ‘A’ game.
On the back-to-backs, coach Dave Hakstol says, “Stay in the moment. Right now we’ve got a game against the Rangers. We’ll turn the page later tonight and worry about game No. 2. Right now the focus is purely on the job at hand, and that’s the New York Rangers here at home tonight. That’s our approach.”
Since the win against Minnesota, Mason Appleton has officially been placed on injured reserve, and Max McCormick was recalled to take his spot. Hakstol said Appleton is out “indefinitely.” We wouldn’t expect McCormick to get into the lineup, especially with the Kraken coming off of two-straight wins, but he is present and accounted for should something else happen.
As for other injuries, it seems Chris Driedger is getting closer to a return, but he did sit out one of the small-area drills Saturday. We still think he’s out for at least a few more days, and Hakstol confirmed Grubauer will start against the Rangers. We’re guessing this means Joey Daccord likely gets one more start against Edmonton Monday before being returned to Charlotte.
Marcus Johansson and Colin Blackwell both skated on Saturday and Sunday, but Blackwell does not appear close to returning and has not yet fully participated. Johansson looks a little closer but is still listed on IR.
Kraken coming together
The vibe at practice on Saturday was notably looser from the players than in training camp, when it felt like everyone was trying to feel things out. Winning can do that, of course, but it does seem like the camaraderie is improving amongst the group. Chemistry has improved on the ice as well, as has the team’s play within Hakstol’s structure.
From listening to Hakstol talk, he continues to indicate that there’s room for improvement, but he’s pleased with the progress the team is making.
New York Rangers
It truly is impressive how quickly the Rangers have re-stocked their roster with a mix of veteran superstars and young up-and-comers. Of course, Artemi Panarin remains the lynchpin, but add in the likes of No. 1 overall pick Alexis Lafreniere and reigning Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox, and this is suddenly a very good team again. Fox is such a stud, and his exceptional skill and vision were on full display Thursday.
The Blueshirts as a team have gotten off to a hot start as well, currently sitting at 5-2-1, and won 4-0 at home on Thursday against the Columbus Blue Jackets. In that game, Chris Kreider scored two goals—both off re-directions in front of the net—and extended his team lead for goals to six.
Netminder Igor Shesterkin was unbeatable Thursday, stopping all 31 of the shots he faced. He’s now 4-1-1 with a 1.81 goals against average and .944 save percentage, and we assume he’ll go again on Sunday, being that coaches don’t like switching goalies after a shutout.
Says Hakstol, “We know how good of a team they are, we know the depth that they have and the ability they have at all positions from goal through their D-core—the ability that they have there—and it spreads throughout their forward group. So our focus is on our preparation and what we need to do to be successful.”
