Welcome to the new Sound Of Hockey Kraken Roundtable series. During the Stanley Cup Playoffs, we’re planning to produce several collaborative discussions that reflect on the Kraken’s regular season and look ahead to the upcoming offseason. This first installment, featuring Blaiz Grubic, John Barr, Cameron Riggers, and Darren Brown, serves as our immediate reaction to the conclusion of the 2023-24 season.
What was your highlight of the season?
Blaiz – The Winter Classic was my highlight of the season. I actually had low expectations for the Winter Classic going into it, but I really enjoyed seeing 47K fans come out and support the team. Watching Joey Daccord’s glove save with Jack Eichel looking up in frustration has been ingrained in my memory. The first ever Winter Classic shutout was a nice touch, as well, and was a bit of an NHL “I’ve arrived” party for Daccord.
John – The Winter Classic was an unforgettable experience, but since Blaiz already mentioned it, I’ll share my memories of the Colorado-Kraken game in Denver back in November. I was lucky enough to be in attendance that night for my first game at Ball Arena. Nathan MacKinnon had three points in the game, but Oliver Bjorkstrand managed to hammer one home with 30 seconds left that won it for the Kraken. At the time, it felt like a turning point for the season, a huge win that injected some hope.
Darren – I was also in the building for that one, John, and that was also the night Ryan Winterton made his NHL debut. I recall asking him after the game about his no-bucket warm-up, and he told us he got to his stall before the game, and there was no helmet there, so that’s when he decided he wouldn’t wear it. You’re right, that was an awesome night.
But, yeah, there’s simply no denying that the Winter Classic was the moment of the season. I’ll never forget the beginning of that game with fish flying over the players’ heads as they walked in to a live performance from Sir Mix-A-Lot, helicopters flying over with guys dangling below them, fireworks… the whole bit was incredible, and the game was even better. I’m getting goosebumps thinking about it.
Cameron – Agreed, the Winter Classic was undoubtedly the high point of the season. It wasn’t just the immaculate atmosphere of the day celebrating the game of hockey in Seattle, but the team itself put everything together on that day, and it felt like that gave the Kraken another boost to continue on their nine-game win streak.
Everything about that day was pristine, and I think it will be the fondest memory of this season for Seattle fans for years to come. My only regret is not getting to be there in person.
And come on, Heart doing Barracuda? Live? There’s no beating that.
What was the lowlight of the season?
Blaiz – I’ll say Andre Burakovsky getting hurt six minutes after coming back from missing 20 games. The Kraken had a rough start to the season and were sitting with an 8-12-6 record. Coming into the Dec. 7 game against New Jersey, the Kraken were on a five-game skid and desperately needed Burakovsky to help generate some offense. He was injured again, and the skid continued to eight games.
John – Unfortunately, this season was filled with lowlights, but one that stands out to me is the team’s icy start. With just five wins in their first 17 games, they struggled to find their rhythm. Expectations were perhaps unfairly lofty after last season’s impressive 100-point effort, and the early slump meant an uphill battle for the rest of the season. Despite briefly holding a wild card spot on a couple of occasions, they couldn’t maintain momentum, and as injuries piled up, the gap became too vast to bridge.
Cameron – Like John mentioned, it’s hard to pick just one moment in a season where it felt like, at points, things couldn’t get any lower and still somehow got lower. But if I had to pick one, the 2-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 30 was about the lowest you could have gotten at that point in the season.
They lost to not only the worst team in the NHL this season, but quite frankly one of the worst in NHL history (which they would wind up doing twice, by the way), and they did it at a critical point in the season where it was so important to be stringing together wins against teams they were supposed to be beating. For them being two points out of a playoff spot at the time, it was the most deflating way they could’ve gone into the All-Star break.
Darren – I’m surprised nobody picked this one, but I guess there were quite a few lowlights, now that you all remind me of these terrible instances (thanks for ruining my beautiful Friday). The 5-4 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 12 was the straw that broke the camel’s back for this club and sent it spiraling out of contention. Seattle had a two-goal lead that night, before Vegas fought back and got the tying goal from Jonathan Marchessault with 17 seconds left. Jack Eichel won it in overtime, and from that night on, we just didn’t see the same effort from the Kraken. They knew they were cooked at that point.
What was your favorite moment of the season?
Blaiz – Saturday, Jan. 13, was the day the Kraken set franchise records with a nine-game win streak and 13-game unbeaten streak. The Kraken had a 19-14-9 record and looked poised to make a run at the playoffs. Everything was looking up, and it was a great feeling.
John – The Winter Classic was truly extraordinary. I’ve mentioned it before, but on the NHL to Seattle journey, we used to dream about hosting a Winter Classic in Seattle long before the team even existed here. It was a day that couldn’t have been more perfect, a monumental celebration of hockey in the Pacific Northwest. Even now, just thinking about it gives me chills.
Cameron – It’s hard to go with anything other than the Winter Classic, but for me personally, my favorite moment was my first game at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 25. It’s every hockey kid’s dream to make it to the NHL, and I felt like I got to live out that dream that night as a media member. There were so many moments and memories from that day I’ll never forget, and I owe a lot to the people that have helped me to get to this point.
For the team specifically, I’ll pick Feb. 15 at Boston, as it was so cool watching Joey Daccord and Matty Beniers light up the arena they both essentially grew up in. Daccord had 36 saves, and Beniers had three points, and it was the best the team looked after the break.
Darren – Again, this is obviously the Winter Classic, but since we’ve hit that one hard at this point, I’ll go with Seattle’s 4-3 win at the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 18. I made the trip for that one, along with Curtis Isacke and a couple other folks, and we had an absolute blast. It was my first time ever attending a game as a fan (not as media), so I let loose with a few college sodas, we had great seats, and it was just an awesome game. I started an extremely loud “Let’s go Kraken!” chant on my way out of Rogers Arena and was convinced I was going to get jumped. Thankfully, Canadians are friendly foes.
Who was your favorite player to watch this season?
Blaiz – Alex Wennberg was my favorite player to watch this season, even though he was traded to the New York Rangers at the Trade Deadline. Wennberg was the first Kraken jersey in my collection of 10 jerseys (my wife thinks I have a problem, and she probably is right). Wennberg’s play on the boards has always been a treat to watch.
John – I love watching Oliver Bjorkstrand play. He ended the season with 20 goals and was second on the team with 59 points. He comes up with some big goals when the team really needs them and was one of the few consistent producers season over season.
Cameron – As a Spokane native that grew up going to Spokane Chiefs games, getting to watch Kailer Yamamoto as a pro in Seattle has been one of my favorite full-circle moments of the season. Seeing what he meant to that community firsthand, and knowing the people there got to watch one of their own shine on the biggest stage was amazing. Not many players get to do that in their home state. Yamamoto was also the first Kraken player I got to ask a question to, which added to the lore.
Darren – I’m biased toward goalies, but Joey Daccord was my favorite player to watch and talk to this season. He is just the best dude, and seeing his meteoric rise to stardom this season was incredible. From his scorpion save in Washington, which caused Chris Driedger to do this…
…to his Winter Classic heroics, there were a lot of bright spots for Daccord. But let’s not forget, this team wouldn’t have even sniffed the playoffs if he didn’t put it on his back and carry the group through that nine-game win streak. Plus, how fun is his puck handling? What if he had gotten the goalie goal on Thursday?
Man, if Joey Daccord had scored the goalie goal tonight…
It’s been a tough season for the Seattle Kraken, who seem to be closing it out with a whimper. One this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, John, Curtis, and Darren are trying to find reasons to be positive, even as this team has gotten them down.
Lots more prospect talk on this one and consideration of what we can look forward to for next season.
After San Jose Sharks goalie Devin Cooley stole a 3-1 win from the Seattle Kraken last Thursday, making a whopping 49 saves for just his second NHL victory, the lanky netminder was visibly elated to have had one of the best performances of his life. Jovial as can be, Cooley said during the game he had been reciting wonky phrases to himself like, “There are no thoughts, there is no future, there are no thoughts, there is no future,” and, “Nothing matters, nobody cares, nothing matters, nobody cares.”
The 26-year-old said those little sayings keep him “grounded” in net, as he tries to clear his mind during games.
That line, “Nobody cares,” rang a goalie-related bell. It’s one we’ve heard from Seattle Kraken backstop Joey Daccord when we’ve talked to him about his mindset in the crease. And it is not a coincidence that the two players say similar things to themselves to stay focused on the task at hand.
Cooley and Daccord—who faced each other that night for the first time in the NHL—are good friends who have trained together in offseasons since they were teenagers. But it’s more than just a training partnership. In a way, Cooley says he owes a big portion of his success to Joey and his dad, Brian Daccord.
Raw talent
Joey Daccord and Cooley met in the USHL when they became batterymates for the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Daccord said Cooley arrived in the middle of the 2015-16 training camp and wasn’t expected to be his goalie partner for the season. But Cooley got a chance to show what he could do in a game against one of the USA NTDP squads and earned his way onto the Lumberjacks.
Devin Cooley in net against the Seattle Kraken on April 11. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
“He stood on his head,” Daccord remembered. “He played awesome, and I remember he was so big and so athletic, but I just was thinking, ‘This guy needs some real goalie coaching. He’s so talented.’ You could just tell he had that raw athletic ability.”
That was the rub for Cooley at the time. Born in the hockey not-so-hotbed of Los Gatos, Calif., and a product of the San Jose Junior Sharks program, he arrived in the USHL without having ever received full-time goalie coaching.
Unsurprisingly, 2015-16 was a rough season for Cooley, who posted a 4.28 goals-against average and .873 save percentage in 19 games for Muskegon. But as Cooley floundered, he and Daccord formed a close friendship and began working together after practices.
“During that year, I was really struggling,” Cooley said. “I think I was last place in save percentage and goals-against average, and Joey kind of took me under his wing and was like my coach during juniors and just gave me a lot of tips and stuff.”
Daccord said he thought that with Cooley’s size and agility, there was something there for him to become a special goalie.
“I saw a real opportunity,” Daccord said. “He’s a great goalie, a great kid. We were just buddies, and I could see how much potential he had. We had a lot of fun doing that, and he’s always been a very curious kid. Like, he always wanted to get better, always wanted to improve, always asked questions, that kind of thing.”
It so happened that Joey knew a guy who could help Cooley more than even he could. Daccord’s father, Brian, is a pro goalie coach and founder of Stop It Goaltending in Massachusetts.
“Towards the end of year, [Joey] was like, ‘Hey, what are you doing this the summer?’” Cooley recalled. “He’s like, ‘You want to come train like with my dad in Boston?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely. That’d be great,’ so I went one summer, and I absolutely loved it, and then I’ve been going ever since.”
The right coaching
Enter Brian Daccord, who played seven years in the Swiss National ‘A’ League, and has since held such roles as Boston Bruins goalie coach, director of goalie operations for the Arizona Coyotes, and goalie coach for Boston University. Brian has taught countless elite-level goalies at his camp over the years, from Cory Schneider to Chris Driedger to his son, Joey.
Brian immediately saw in Cooley what Joey had seen.
“If you look at baseball players, when they go into training camp, they always go back and they start hitting off a tee,” the elder Daccord said. “And I think what we had to do was have Devin take a step back and work on some of the mechanics and the muscle memory that goes into either making saves or through his structure, and then kind of pulling him back a step so we can move two forward.”
Brian said he remembered Cooley showing up that first summer, getting himself an eight-week-long AirBNB rental, and going to work every day on his game. He said Cooley is a guy that has to be pulled off the ice because he is always working hard to improve.
“A nice thing about Devin is that he recognized where he needed to work, and that was more on the technical part of his game, the structural part of the game,” Brian said. “He’s a tremendous athlete, but he hadn’t maybe spent as much time on the technical game as he would have liked.”
Part of what gets discussed at camp is the mental side of the goalie position, which explains where Joey and Devin got that “nobody cares” mantra.
“That’s a me thing, I say it all the time,” Brian Daccord said. “If you walk into a rink, no one cares if your flight was late, and you didn’t get in until three o’clock in the morning. No one cares that your pads got stuck somewhere, and you had to use your backup pair of pads. No one cares if you’ve got a cold, no one cares if your girlfriend just broke up with you, no one cares. When you step on the ice, it’s time to perform, regardless, so you can’t use anything that happens to you as a crutch.”
High praise for the Daccords
Joey didn’t have to help Cooley. Teenage goalie tandems can be quite competitive with one another, as they grapple with tension-creating issues like uneven playing time. But Daccord didn’t see it that way. Instead, he went out of his way to help mold his buddy into a future pro, and Cooley has not forgotten this.
Joey Daccord facing the Sharks on April 11. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
“If you were to ask me in juniors, ‘Hey, how do you play this situation?’ or, ‘How do you make this save?’ I had no idea,” Cooley said. “I was just going out there and winging it. I had no clue what I was doing, but I had a lot of size, I was quick, I was mobile, and so I think they saw that raw talent. With the right coaching, [they thought] I could really make a lot of progress.
“Without them, without Joey and his dad and his family, I definitely wouldn’t be standing here right now. So there’s a lot of credit to him. I’m super thankful for him.”
Joey was flattered to know that Cooley had said that about him, but he sent the praise right back to the Sharks goalie.
“I think it’s really cool to be included in something like that, but at the end of the day, he put in the work, he put in the effort, and I think that’s the coolest part about the whole thing is he grinded,” Daccord said. “He put in the work, and he’s earned what he’s gotten.”
Two buddies in the NHL
The game on Thursday wasn’t the first time Cooley and Daccord had crossed paths in competition. They faced each other in the AHL Western Conference Finals last season and both backed up for their respective NHL teams in a 4-2 Kraken win at the Sharks on April 1.
But this was the first time the two had actually played one another in the world’s best hockey league, so it was a special moment for both.
“It’s just the coolest thing ever that we’re getting to play each other in the NHL,” Daccord said.
The two exchanged text messages before the game, wishing one another good luck, and although Daccord was not pleased with the outcome, he was happy to see his buddy succeed, and the feeling has been mutual from Cooley’s side.
“It’s been awesome to see [Joey] this year,” Cooley said. “He’s been absolutely killing it, so it’s been really cool to see. I’ve been getting a little jealous, though, especially at the beginning of the year; I wanted to do that. He’s been a blast to watch.”
Header photo: Joey Daccord and Devin Cooley pose before an April 1 game between the Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks. Photo courtesy Seattle Kraken.
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.
You know how NHLers sometimes appear to have eyes in the backs of their heads? Well, they don’t, but they can often make educated guesses without looking behind them that one of their linemates will be there if they make a drop pass at the top of the slot or fling a blind backhander across the blue line.
It’s not a perfect science, but it is all by design. Hockey looks chaotic at times, but on every inch of the ice, teams have a plan. Players are supposed to be heading to specific places, skating in specific directions and routes, and covering specific areas to make themselves “predictable” to their teammates.
“If you know where your teammate’s going to be based on structure, it’s so much easier to play, and that’s where the skill will take over later on,” Seattle Kraken forward Tomas Tatar said. “But if you don’t have the basics in the structure, then you’re kind of playing without knowing where the other players will be, so that just makes it harder.”
Systems are complicated, and the game is so fluid that it’s sometimes hard to decipher which one a team is deploying. For example, if the Kraken have the puck in the offensive zone, all five players have specific jobs they’re supposed to be doing. But those jobs can change in a flash, depending on where the puck is and what the defense is doing. Maybe the center goes to the slot and waits for a pass while the wing pulls it off the wall, like we saw when Shane Wright scored his second goal of the game against the Ducks last Saturday.
But if the puck is contested along the kick plate in the corner, perhaps all three forwards should be cycling to create confusion for the defense. And once the puck gets turned over, now suddenly the Kraken shift to their offensive-zone forecheck, looking to win the puck back. Fail to do that? Now they’re backchecking, and those switches from system to system all happen instantaneously.
We were curious about how much of what we see at the NHL level is pre-planned and how much is improvised, so we chatted with several Kraken players to find out.
Why systems exist
Systems exist in hockey for several important reasons.
They help players know where their teammates will be in those moments when they have to make split-second decisions. And while it’s still not advised to truly make a blind pass, players can look like wizards by evading pressure with passes into areas where they expect their teammates to be, even if they don’t physically see them there.
When a team has the puck, the offensive systems are all designed to overlap with one another with the goal of creating chances. On the flip side, defensive systems in all three zones are designed to minimize dangerous chances against and win back control of the puck, but they also create redundancies. If one player misses an assignment or gets out of position, there should often be somebody there as a backup.
By operating within the confines of these systems, a player with the puck should typically have multiple options that will allow them to work around what the opposing team is doing defensively.
They take the thinking out of the game for players, because, as Jaden Schwartz said, “Hockey happens so fast, you don’t really have time to think.”
Schwartz succinctly explained the systematic approach to the game from a Kraken perspective. “We do have systems as far as breakouts and going through the neutral zone and guys knowing their roles, not only for them to get the puck, but for them to maybe take a defender with them, and maybe it leaves another guy open. So there’s definitely some parts that we try to do consistently to kind of use our speed and get going offensively.”
The pace of play in the NHL makes structure even more crucial than at lower levels, where players typically have more time to look up, find a target, and make a pass. When an NHL player doesn’t have enough time to do that, they can often rely on the team’s structure and their muscle memory to make a quick play and (hopefully) keep the puck heading in the right direction.
Reading and reacting
Of course, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and that’s why NHL players also need elite skill to go with their understanding of their team’s structure. Rarely can a player simply follow a route as it’s drawn up on the whiteboard, make a pass to a linemate that is exactly where the coach told them to be, and watch them go in and score. It just doesn’t work that way.
“It’s usually just a read-and-react, instincts kind of thing because we have gameplans, but it depends on where [the opponents] are and what they’re doing a little bit,” Schwartz said. “Usually you’re just kind of playing off instincts and reading and reacting and kind of taking what they give you. But that kind of affects what you’re going to do with the puck and where the guys are going to go.”
So, within the systems, players have the freedom to make their own reads and try to create, based on what is happening in front of them. When you see a forward line that has “good chemistry,” it means that even when they aren’t following to a T what the team structure tells them to do, they’re still able to make an effective play by inherently knowing where their teammate is going.
“I think a lot of it for me is reading the play, understanding where the space is, and then obviously repetition of when you’re with guys and you’ve played with them for a while, that chemistry,” Jordan Eberle said. “[You learn] tendencies and things they like to do, and that kind of helps you make your thought process a little bit quicker and makes things predictable, which, for me, is how you play fast.”
It’s almost like the structure and the game plans give the players a loose roadmap to the ice, but then there are a million different paths they can take to get to the same destination, depending on what obstacles they face.
3-on-2 (or 4-on-2?) rushes
In these last couple Kraken games, a good example that you can look for to see players making reads in real time is when they get a 3-on-2 rush that starts in the neutral zone. When this happens, the puck carrier makes a decision, and the other two attackers try to do something that will increase the team’s chances to score.
There are a few options for the puck carrier on a 3-on-2 rush. For one, they can stay along the boards and buy time for the other attackers to go hard to the net, looking for a pass and a tap-in. The puck carrier can also cut hard to the middle, which can lead to a cross-and-drop, or another angle for a netmouth tap-in. Or, they could simply funnel the puck to the net, meaning the puck carrier stays wide and shoots from distance, hoping for a rebound to one of the other two attackers who are straight-lining it to the top of the crease.
As the puck carrier is making this decision, the other attackers need to be recognizing what the carrier is doing and moving in a way that either makes them an option for a pass or gives them body position to win a rebound. So, there’s a lot happening in a play that lasts under five seconds. It’s a good example, though, of how teams have general guidelines for what they’re supposed to do, but the players still need to make their own real-time decisions on the ice.
A 3-on-2 rush can often lead to chances, but a 4-on-2 rush tends to create even more dangerous opportunities. But there are only three forwards on the ice at any given time, so who is the fourth player in that scenario? Well, it’s a defenseman of, course. Activating a defenseman on the rush is something Seattle does regularly, but it can be risky. If the Kraken turn the puck over or even get a big rebound off the goalie’s pads, it can lead to an odd-man rush in the other direction.
“We like getting our D involved and keeping plays alive,” Jamie Oleksiak said. “It confuses coverage when there’s a lot of movement and guys kind of coming up and down, and depending on how the team is playing, it could create some confusion and some opportunities to create offense. I think it’s kind of a systematic thing, just in terms of where guys are coming, and a big part of it is the D-man as well as just knowing that you have that forward support coming back to back you up so you can take those chances down low.”
Indeed, if the defenseman jumps up into the play at the wrong time and doesn’t have their partner or a forward trailing that can get back and help, that defenseman can leave their goalie hung out to dry.
“There’s so many different factors that go into it, like at what point in the game it is, what the score is,” Oleksiak said. “But I think for the most part, teams are so good defensively at getting coverage back that you kind of need that fourth or fifth guy to join in a rush and give you that option and kind of space things out a little bit. But it’s really up to [the defenseman’s] discretion. You’ve got to read the point of the game, the momentum, and if you’re up a goal or two, maybe you don’t take that chance. Maybe you play a little bit more conservatively.”
Oleksiak added that facing a 4-on-2 rush is a “worst-case scenario” for a defenseman, who can only cover so much of the ice.
The Kraken were victimized by a defenseman jumping up in the play last week against the Sharks. Here, Seattle had even numbers back for what appeared to be a nothing play. But Kyle Burroughs jumped up and made himself available to William Eklund, and Burroughs potted the eventual winning goal.
The other thing we learned from these conversations about Seattle’s tactics was teams that execute the best within their systems are the ones that look the fastest. The margins of skill and physical speed are slim from player to player and team to team in the NHL, which is what makes execution so critical.
“I honestly think there’s not many teams left who are not fast,” Tatar said. “The league is getting faster and faster, and I feel like everybody wants to play fast. Some teams are faster than other ones, but the concept of playing fast is pretty much everywhere.
“The good teams just know, playing very structurally, and this helps the speed, and all of a sudden the team looks super fast.”
This was the biggest difference we saw between the Kraken and some of their better opponents this season. When you saw the Dallas Stars (for example) cruise through the neutral zone with ease against Seattle in two recent matchups, they looked lightning quick. You would see a one-touch pass in the middle of the ice, in which a Stars forward would catch another one perfectly in stride, and suddenly Dallas was in perfect position in the offensive zone with Seattle on its heels.
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.
After enduring two rather uninspiring Seattle Kraken games this weekend, I didn’t have it in me to spend the time putting together my typical verbose narrative on the last week of Kraken hockey. To fill the void, I am going to dig into something that has been troubling this team all season: the lack of goal scoring.
The scope of this analysis is limited to aggregated team data and not individual player performance. I will spend some time examining the players’ performances in a future article, but for now, let’s explore to gain a deeper understanding of where this team has seen drops and try to understand why they have happened.
Average goals scored
Just to ensure we are all starting from the same point, let’s note that Seattle has had the largest drop in the NHL for average goals scored per game season over season and has the third-lowest goals scored per game in the league.
The lack of goal scoring was particularly evident in the last three games, where the Kraken only managed to score one goal in each. Sunday marked the 25th game of the season where the Seattle Kraken were held to one goal or less. They had only 15 such games last season, and even in the inaugural season, challenging as it was, they only had 16 games where they scored one goal or less.
Situations
Okay. We all know scoring is down, but where exactly?
The drop in even-strength goals is significant. There are still two more games to play, but the Kraken have seen a 35-percent drop in even-strength goals this season. Two factors could be impacting the scoring: the total volume of shots, shooting percentage, or both. Let’s examine the last two seasons.
The volume of shots on goal seems roughly in line with the league average, but there’s a significant drop from last season. A conservative estimate would still put Seattle with more than a 5-percent drop in shots on goal from last season. However, that’s not the whole story.
The real story of the season is the Kraken’s drop in 5-on-5 shooting percentage. Last season, they had the highest 5-on-5 shooting percentage in the league at 11 percent. While a drop was expected this season, this seems like an overcorrection that is unlikely to persist next season.
The Kraken will end the season with a 5-on-5 shooting percentage around 8.0 percent, compared to the league average of 9.3 percent. If they had shot at a league-average rate, that additional 1.3 percent would have netted them an additional 24 goals this season. Those 24 goals could have gone a long way for a team that lost 24 of their 38 one-goal games (adjusted for empty-net goals).
Quality of shots
The next logical question becomes why their shooting percentage was so low this season. A couple of theories could be related to talent on the ice or a systems issue, but for the scope of this post, I am going to look at the quality of shots that were taken. For this analysis, I will be leveraging the great work from Natural Stat Trick.
The volume of high-danger and medium-danger shots was down season over season, which means the mix of shot quality changed. With low-quality shots comprising a higher percentage of the overall shots, it helps explain why the overall shooting percentage is down.
For completeness, let’s examine the shooting percentage by shot quality.
Not only is the volume of high-danger and medium-danger shots down, but the shooting percentage of those two shot qualities is also down. In essence, it was a double whammy, lower quality-shot volume and lower execution on the quality shots.
Scratching the surface
This analysis covers a lot of ground, but it only scratches the surface. In the coming weeks, we will explore a couple of other areas that could be contributing factors to Seattle’s dearth of scoring. I plan to delve into the roster next week, but if there are other areas you want me to explore, please let me know, and I will see what I can do.
The Everett Silvertips were driving on flat tires on Friday night against the Portland Winterhawks. Portland exploded for eight goals on the evening, winning 8-2 in Game 1 of the WHL semifinals at Veterans Memorial Coliseum and taking a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday night in Portland.
Defensive units for Everett had their share of miscues covering open areas of the ice. With 13 players, including netminder Jan Spunar, having points for the Winterhawks, the Silvertips had trouble containing their opponents in dangerous areas and it easy for Portland to cash in. Being rather slow on closing gaps off the rush and an inability to block passing lanes like they normally do set the Silvertips up for failure.
Seattle Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth got the scoring started for the Winterhawks in what would turn out to be an impressive night for him offensively. A burst of speed across the blue line allowed him to shoot it over the glove side of Tyler Palmer for his first goal of the playoffs at 2:38 of the first period.
Everett allowed the pace to be dictated by Portland, forcing them to puck chase most of the night. If the Silvertips want to even up the series Saturday, quick patchwork is needed in stopping the relentless attack of the Winterhawks, as well as beginning to control possession battles again.
The game swung wide open during the middle portion of the first. Goals from Tyson Yaremko with his first of the playoffs and Josh Davies with his fourth made it a three-goal game.
Shortly thereafter, Tarin Smith jumped up into the slot and went above Spunar’s shoulder for his first goal of the playoffs, getting Everett on the board at 12:46. All three goals in this sequence came within the span of 54 seconds.
Injuries continue to persist as a thorn in Everett’s side, especially throughout Friday night. Co-captain and top-line forward Austin Roest was announced as absent from the Everett lineup before the game due to the undisclosed injury he sustained during Game 5 of the previous series.
In the second, Jesse Heslop had to be escorted to the locker room after falling near the bench area, and he missed the remainder of the game. And with Teague Patton missing for the entire first round and Friday night, that’s basically a whole forward line that coach Dennis Williams has had to do away with during these playoffs.
Kyle Chyzowski scored on one of his eight shots on goal, twice as many as the next leading player, and Portland got another from Jugnauth during the second period.
Jugnauth had a plus-three rating with two goals and an assist, while also doing some solid work in transition and in back-checking efforts. He was voted the game’s first star.
The second and final goal for the Silvertips on the evening came from Parker Berge who went to work at the top of the zone and found a power-play goal, his fourth tally of the playoffs at 7:20 of the second.
Palmer looked pedestrian for the Silvertips for the first time since Game 1 of the previous series against the Vancouver Giants. Palmer stopped only 23 of the 29 shots he faced and was again pulled for Ethan Chadwick before the third period.
After allowing only three goals over his last four playoff starts against the Giants, Palmer’s playoff save percentage dropped from second in the WHL to 12th at .907 after Friday’s performance.
A couple tallies from Nate Danielson and Jack O’Brien in the third period sealed the onslaught victory for Portland. The Silvertips were beaten at their own game on this night, with Portland controlling the shot totals at 47-23.
Spunar improved his playoff record to a perfect 5-0 with the win. 21 stops on 23 shots upped his playoff save percentage to .903.
Since Palmer had the lion’s share of the game with 40 minutes in net for the Silvertips, for Game 2 they might be willing to give Chadwick the start for the first time this playoffs. In his brief appearance in the aforementioned Game 1 against Vancouver, he looked ready to jump into the action by stopping 13 of 13. It was a similar story Friday night, in which he allowed two goals on 18 shots during the third period.
The roster for Everett might be even more depleted for Game 2, as forward Caden Brown took an unnecessary run at Portland’s Marcus Nguyen late in the game and cross checked him across the back, forcing him to ground and causing a skirmish.
Dexter Whittle might draw into the lineup for the Silvertips for the first time during these playoffs. Whittle has been injured for most of the season up to this point, only making a few appearances near the end of season.
This was the Silvertips’ 15th straight loss at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, with the last win coming on Nov. 16, 2021. Ben Hemmerling, Roest, and Whittle are the only players still currently on the Silvertips roster to have played in that game.
Header photo by Brian Liesse, courtesy Seattle Thunderbirds.
The anticipation for this Round 2 series, set to begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, has been building all season long. The No. 3 seed Everett Silvertips know they have a tough task to get past the No. 2 seed Portland Winterhawks in a matchup between bitter rivals that were neck and neck in the standings throughout the regular season.
Round 1
Both squads were efficient in getting through their first round opponents, with Portland sweeping aside the Victoria Royals in four games, and Everett taking one extra game to get by the Vancouver Giants.
Both Everett and Portland had rocky starts to their respective Game 1’s, but once they got settled into grooves and found their offensive rhythms, both teams overwhelmed their opponents, as they commonly did throughout the regular season.
What to look for in the series
The Silvertips do well in transition through the neutral zone and into the attacking end, often headed by dynamic forward Ben Hemmerling, who is not afraid to skate and shoot the puck from anywhere. Hemmerling was fourth in the WHL during Round 1 with 27 shots on goal, while only shooting 11.1 percent with three goals.
Everett does the bulk of its offensive work getting to the front of the net, with Austin Roest and Dominik Rymon being the most active pests against Vancouver. Roest led the Silvertips with seven points during Round 1 (three goals and four assists).
Portland can at times struggle with allowing attackers to drift to the front of the net unimpeded and create opportunities, but more often then not they recover quickly and play much sounder than their opponents in setting up in transition. So taking advantage of the space they’re given will be crucial for the Silvertips in getting off to the start they need for this series.
It will also be a Seattle Kraken defensive prospect duel as Kaden Hammell and Tyson Jugnauth face off against one another. Hammell has two power-play goals, along with an assist thus far in the playoffs, while Jugnauth has not yet registered a point.
After his historic regular season, San Jose Sharks prospect Lucas Cagnoni adds an extra offensive dynamic to the blue line for the Winterhawks. With four goals and three assists against Victoria, Cagnoni is second in scoring among defensemen in the WHL playoffs. He, along with James Stefan, Gabe Klassen, and Nate Danielson, lead the offensive charge for the Winterhawks.
Special teams and goaltending
Special teams will need to be on point again for the Silvertips like it was in Round 1. After allowing three goals on the power play in Game 1 versus Vancouver, Everett went a perfect 14-for-14 on the penalty kill through the rest of the series. Granted, Portland has a more potent attack on the power play compared to the Giants, but things have trended in the right direction for the Silvertips in this area.
Portland’s six-foot-three netminder, Jan Spunar, is tough for any attacker to beat, but with the volume of shots Everett is known for achieving, and him allowing goals in bunches on a few occasions this season, keeping Spunar on his toes could bring offensive success for the Silvertips.
Silvertips goalie Tyler Palmer was arguably the best backstop in Round 1 with a 0.937 save percentage and a 1.63 goals against. He will see more consistent shot quality from the Winterhawks, as they find themselves at the top the circles and between the hashmarks more often the Giants. There’s a level of consistency and poise that’s needed out of goalies in the playoffs, and Palmer showed that against Vancouver. Can he keep his form against a much tougher opponent in the second round?
With there being potentially two or three back-to-backs in this series, Ethan Chadwick could also make an appearance or two.
Arena madness
There have been some hijinks from the WHL and the powers that be from Paw Patrol Live and Professional Bull Riding, which have created scheduling issues for this series.
Both teams were projected to go on deep playoff runs, yet Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett and Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland still scheduled overlapping events. Something funky was bound to happen, and it did.
It was decided by the WHL and both teams that Games 3, 4, and 5, if necessary, will be played at Angel of the Winds Arena instead of 3, 4, and 6. Game 3 will be on Monday night, and then there will be a three-day gap for PBR Live before games 4 and 5 on Friday and Saturday.
Then Games 6 and 7, if they become necessary, would be played in Portland on the Monday and Tuesday due to Paw Patrol Live creating another conflict.
Notes
• Austin Roest was absent for the majority of Game 5 of the Vancouver-Everett series. No further update on his status has been given.
• Everett has had issues when it comes to playing in Portland for the last two and a half years. Including playoffs, the Silvertips’ losing streak at Veterans Memorial Coliseum is at 14, with their last win there dating back to Nov. 16, 2021.
•Everett led 1-0 after the first period in each of the games they won in Round One.
That one was a little harder than the 5-0 score indicated for the Seattle Kraken, who were buoyed (no mascot-related pun intended) by an outstanding night from netminder Philipp Grubauer and rolled past the Arizona Coyotes.
Grubi stopped all 39 of Arizona’s offerings for his second shutout of the season, while Karel Vejmelka had a leaky night at the other end of the ice that featured two real stinkers. Seattle took advantage early, then jumped on Grubauer’s coattails to get through the second period before stepping on the gas pedal again in the third.
Shane Wright scored again, Justin Schultz had a goal and an assist, and Matty Beniers and Oliver Bjorkstrand each had two assists.
Here are our Three Takeaways from a 5-0 Kraken win over the Coyotes.
Takeaway #1: Stellar Grubi
I’ve spoken about this on many occasions and in many forums, but there’s an interesting phenomenon that happens for goalies where—on some nights—the puck finds a way to stay out of the net. It hits you even when you don’t see, and when you miss it, it somehow finds a way to hit a post, hit a stick, deflect wide… name a way for the puck to stay out of the net, and that’s what happens on these nights.
This was one of those games for Grubauer. There was a handful of chances in his 18-save second period when Arizona looked primed to get themselves on the board, and yet the Kraken escaped the frame unscathed thanks to a mixture of huge saves and several lucky breaks.
“There were a couple situations in the second period where they hit the post, and then it went through like a skate or hit me in the glove, a couple of those situations,” Grubauer said. “But overall, it doesn’t really affect my play or my mindset. It’s just like, you’ve got to let it go and then focus on the next shot.”
Of course, the opposite can also happen for goalies. Some nights you feel like you’re sharp, in position, and ready to make a save, and yet the puck just finds a way through. That was probably how Vejmelka felt for Arizona on Tuesday. The way it went for Grubauer on Tuesday is how you want it to go, and it was enjoyable to watch.
“Grubi is the story of the second period, really,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We got off to a really good start. It’s what you want to do at home, get off to a one-goal lead going into a power play. You execute, that builds a two-goal lead, but as we scored the third goal in the second period, we stopped playing a little bit, and that’s where Grubi was really good.”
The total shot volume was high at 39, but the quality was also there for Arizona, which had a whopping 4.8 expected goals and a 73-percent share of the shot quality, according to Natural Stat Trick. Those are big-time numbers for Grubauer, who is having his best regular season with the Kraken.
Takeaway #2: Wright does it again
Shane Wright has put together an extremely impressive stint with the Kraken since being called up from Coachella Valley on March 31. With his goal Tuesday, he’s now tickled the twine four times and has one assist in his four games with the big club. The one he scored against the Coyotes wasn’t quite as pretty as the others, and it was certainly one that Vejmelka wanted back.
“I’ll take anything anyway I can get them,” Wright said. “I mean, they all count the same on the scoresheet, that’s what I’m going to say. But yeah, just kind of tried to get it on net there, and [got a] lucky bounce for sure. But we’ll take it.”
Aside from the goal, it was another solid night for Wright, who logged 15:51 of ice time and won 62.5 percent of his face-offs. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; Wright looks very different than he did on his previous times in the NHL.
“He’s a year advanced, right?” Hakstol said. “He’s just turned 20 years old. Everybody wants to spin the clock ahead and fast forward, it doesn’t work that way. So huge compliments to Shane and the way that he’s continued to elevate his game. He’s obviously done a lot of work there with his teammates and the coaching staff in Coachella, and his confidence and his overall play have taken a nice step.”
Despite his outstanding performances, we still expect Shane to be sent back to Coachella Valley within the next two games. If he plays nine or fewer NHL games this season, then his contract slides, and Seattle gets to keep him on his entry-level deal for an extra season. If he plays 10 games, he burns a year of his ELC, which makes no sense for the Kraken. Wright has played seven this season, so expect him to return to the Firebirds no later than Saturday night.
Takeaway #3: The Killer B’s
Our Twitter intern created this incredible piece of art after Oliver Bjorkstrand was acquired two offseasons ago, but it has hardly seen the light of day since.
That’s because Bjorkstrand has almost never skated with Beniers and Andre Burakovsky. The B’s might buzz together for at least another game or two, because they did look good together in this contest.
Burakovsky’s goal, which made it 2-0 just 2:14 into the game, came on a power play but was assisted by Beniers. Beniers and Bjorkstrand helped set up Schultz’s goal off a 2-on-1 rush, and Bjorkstrand added another assist on Will Borgen’s late-game leaker through Vejmelka.
🚨 BURKY BOMB! 🚨
Schultz shoots from the point, and it redirects right to Andre Burakovsky, who scores the power-play goal.
Of course, we would like to see injured Jared McCann return to the lineup ASAP, but the idea of the “Killer B’s” line is fun for now.
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.
