Kraken 9
1) Kraken goalie Joey Daccord was the club’s lone representative at the US Olympic Orientation Camp in Plymouth, Michigan last week. The two-day affair involved learning a lot off the ice. Right now he wouldn’t be a likely choice for one of the top three spots, ahead of Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins, Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars, and Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets, but things change.
Daccord did himself a favor by backing up Swayman at the World Championships this past spring, winning two games to Swayman’s seven, and being a part of Team USA’s first Worlds Gold since 1933.
There’s solid representation from across the country in that goalie group. Swayman is an Alaska native, Oettinger from Minnesota, Hellebuyck from Michigan and Daccord from Massachusetts. If Thatcher Demko of the Canucks plays himself back into the picture; he’s from California.
The final roster won’t be chosen and announced until January. The Olympic Games are in February in Italy.
2) Seattle opens its regular season schedule on October 9th at Climate Pledge Arena against the young Anaheim Ducks and their new head coach Joel Quenneville. Yes, that Joel Quenneville, the bench boss who led the Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup wins. Two nights later the Kraken host the Vegas Golden Knights and their new winger star Mitch Marner, formerly of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Seattle’s first road game is October 14th against the Montreal Canadiens, the start of a six-game trip.
3) What are you going to get from new Kraken head coach Lane Lambert? Harken back to his press conference in June welcoming him to the team.
“I’m proud of the defensive abilities that my teams have had, but in saying that, defense is about getting the puck back,” he said. “If you don’t have the puck, you’re in trouble. So the faster you get the puck back, the more structure you’re in to get the puck back, and it turns into a transition game, and transition is so important in this league. Yes, we’ll be strong defensively, we’ll be strong structurally, but we’ll also create offense and we’ll play fast. We’ll be aggressive.”
4) The center position has been the subject of much hand wringing in this NHL region, with aficionados of both the Kraken and the Vancouver Canucks concerned about ‘strength up the middle’.
At the moment, the Kraken would have the depth advantage and the stronger prospects than their northern neighbor. That observation could change if Canucks top center Elias Pettersson rebounds and has a star/superstar season, one that he’s capable of, but hasn’t duplicated since posting 102 points in 2023.
Instead of a star in the top center spot, Seattle is going with strength in numbers; production by committee. We’ll see if it works out.
5) On Aug. 29, 2024, hockey playing brothers Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau were killed when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver outside of their hometown in southern New Jersey.
To honor their memory on the anniversary of their deaths on Friday, the Columbus Blue Jackets, Calgary Flames and the NHL all announced donations to a new foundation in the brothers’ names.
Earlier in August, the widows of the two men went on ABC’s Good Morning America show to launch the John and Matthew Gaudreau Foundation.
The NHL and Blue Jackets each are donating $13,000 in honor of ‘Johnny Hockey’s” jersey number, and another $21,000 in honor of Matthew’s number-21.
The Flames combined the numbers and donated $34-thousand to Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Canada.
Johnny played eight seasons with the Flames and then two with the Blue Jackets. Matthew never reached the NHL as a player and was just about to start a new position as a coach in junior hockey.
6) Kraken Trivia Time: What two players have scored the only sudden death overtime game winners in Seattle Kraken history. (Answer at bottom above the video)
7) Daccord wasn’t the only North American Kraken at an Olympic orientation camp. Seattle D-man Brandon Montour took part in Canada’s version in Calgary last week.
Although he wasn’t part of the Four-Nation’s Cup victory for his country in February, Montour is on Hockey Canada’s radar after posting nine points in eight games in this past spring’s World Championships. Canada didn’t fair very well in Sweden this time around — the US won Gold for the first time in 92 years — but Montour tied for the tournament lead in scoring among defenseman.
One potential opening: Perennial all-star and two-time Stanley Cup champion Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings turns 36 in December. He suffered a broken ankle last season and obviously isn’t getting any younger. He and Montour are both right shots. No ill will of course, but that is a potential opening should Montour be having a sterling season for the Kraken.
8) It’s pretty cool to see women get a serious crack at Para Hockey on an international level. Although the Americans dominated in winning this past week’s world championship in Slovakia, just the fact that there’s enough countries playing and they’re able to do so in such a format is tremendous.
The Yanks beat the Canadians 7-1 in the inaugural final, while going 4-and-0 in the tournament and outscoring opponents 34-1. That gold medal isn’t the big news, it’s the fact the women just played a World Championship in Para Hockey.
9) Last but definitely not least, a testament to lost friends. As I expressed in a different manner on our Vancouver site, it’s hard to start this season remembering we just lost two ‘beauties’ at the very end of last season.
Greg Millen was a 14-year NHL goalie before turning to a three decade career as a network television color analyst. He was excellent. He was also generous with his time and his information. I always popped by the Calgary Flames booth at Climate Pledge Arena to say hello, especially if I didn’t get a chance to speak with Millsy pregame.
He was fun and funny. I’ve included this short on-cam with him as we did a pregame set-up for a Flames-Kraken game in Seattle in early 2023.
Millsy died of a heart attack in Ontario at the age of 67 on April 7th.
Two days later we lost Ray Shero, the former general manager of the Stanley Cup champion (2009) Pittsburgh Penguins and the New Jersey Devils, to cancer. Loquacious and enthusiastic would be a great way to describe the son of late Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers head coach Fred Shero.
I got to know Ray during Stanley Cup coverage in 2008 and 2009 and then ran into him in Bratislava, Slovakia at the IIHF World Championship in the spring of 2011. We became chatty pals and were fans of each other’s work and approach.
Our big hockey family won’t be the same this season.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken ‘Identity’ At The Top Of The List
Of interest on the Vancouver site:
— The Canucks Jack Roslovic Question
Kraken Trivia Answer: Jordan Eberle scored at 3:00 of OT to win Game-4 of the opening round in 2023 against the Colorado Avalanche. In Game-1 of the 2nd-round against the Dallas Stars, Yanni Gourde scored at 12:17 of overtime to win in sudden death. The first win came at home, the second one on the road. The Kraken have yet to lose a playoff game in overtime.
