Kraken 9
1) As seen in other expansion cities, minor league and NHL, youth hockey continues to grow leaps and bounds in Seattle since the arrival of the Kraken.
Kirkland is the new hot spot, as described in this story by Glenn Dreyfuss. He beat me to the punch and did a remarkably thorough job of explaining the details. Right down to the new facility’s impact on Kraken captain Jordan Eberle and his family. In a convenient way.
2) The National Team Development Program (NTDP) of USA Hockey has been a staple in the hockey world since 1996, recruiting and refining elite American talent and building out some of the best junior teams in the world. The momentum and talent base has grown exponentially as the program became more established.
For example, from the official start of the World Junior Championship tournament in 1977 to 2004, Team USA never won the title. They won it for the first time in 2004, then again in 2010, 2013, 2017, 2021, 2024, and 2025. Notice the increased frequency.
The tourney at a level just below the WJC is the Under-18 world championships. (U18). The Americans have been dominant along the way, winning the title eleven times since the formation of the event in 1999.
The Yanks liked their chances this year, but were booted out of the competition in the quarterfinals by none other than Latvia. Why?? Goaltending.
Team USA outshot Latvia 45-16, keeping in mind that two of those 16 shots went into an empty-net. Patriks Plumins was the eastern European netminder who stole this one.
“It wasn’t our night and we ran into a great goaltender,” American head coach Nick Fohr said. “It’s unfortunate it happened in this round but I’m still extremely proud of this group and everything that they’ve done.”
Remember, the name of the game is “goalie”. It doesn’t matter how strong one program is compared to another.
Plumins, 18, is eligible for the NHL Draft this June. He’s 6-foot-3, 215-pounds.
3) Two former Seattle Kraken forwards had a brief playoff run with the Utah Mammoth over the last two weeks. Brandon Tanev and Kailer Yamamoto helped the team go six games in the first round against the perennially powerful Vegas Golden Knights.
Yamamoto scored his lone goal of the postseason and his team’s lone goal in game-6, a 5-1 loss. He added four assists through the series. Tanev saw limited ice time, finishing the round without a point and a minus-3 rating.
Yamamoto put up 16 points over 59 games for the Kraken during the 2023-’24 season while “Turbo” Tanev, a popular original Kraken, played 238 games in Seattle and tallied 83 points before being dealt to the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline in 2025. He subsequently signed as a free agent with the Mammoth last summer.
4) A reminder. The NHL Draft Lottery happens this coming Tuesday, May 5th. Having finished with the NHL’s sixth worst record, the Kraken have a 7.5% chance of winning the 1st-overall pick in the NHL Draft in late June.
You can tune in and watch the results live. After the ping pong balls settle, it’s usually NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly delivering the outcome.
5) Ever heard of laundry trauma? Mr. Dreyfuss tells us about the amazing, season-long dedication of the Seattle Torrent’s staff.
6) Trivia Time! — (answer at bottom) Joey Daccord backstopped the Coachella Valley Firebirds all the way to the Calder Cup Final in 2023. Which Kraken organization goalie did the same thing the following season in the 2024 AHL postseason?
7) Cool graphic shown during the Hockey Night in Canada telecast on Friday night before the start of overtime in game-6 of the Lighting-Canadiens series:
That Canadian number would hop up to 673 after Gage Goncalves, a Mission, BC native, scored at 9:03 of OT to win it for the Bolts and force game-7.
Of the very non-traditional countries, a few jump out. Willi Plett was born in Paraguay 1955. The big fella won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1977 and played 13 NHL seasons. Hall of Fame defenseman Rod Langway was born in Taiwan in 1957.
Winger Plett tallied his sudden death goal in double-OT for the Calgary Flames against the Blackhawks in 1981 while Langway notched his OT GWG for the Capitals against the Rangers in 1990.
Ivan Boldirev is the player born in Serbia and Richard Park is the South Korean. Both forwards, Boldirev scored his OT winner for the Blackhawks against the Bruins in 1975 while Park scored for the Wild against the Avalanche in 2003.
8) Round two of the Stanley Cup Playoffs actually gets underway before round one concludes. The Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers will crank up their Eastern Conference semi-final on Saturday, one day before the aforementioned Habs-Lightning game-7.
Also Sunday, the Avalanche and Wild start their best-of-seven, 2nd round tilt in Denver.
The other Western Conference match-up sees the Vegas Golden Knights taking on the Anaheim Ducks. Their schedule hasn’t been set. Vegas just finished off the Mammoth on Friday night.
9) Interested in reading about how screwed up things are north of the border with Seattle’s closest NHL neighbor. You can start here.
All that said, enjoy the hockey action!! Make sure to catch that game-7 on Sunday at 3 pm pacific.
Earlier Kraken:
— Campbell Leaving Kraken Raises Questions
Earlier Canucks:
— Ex Canucks Coach Tocchet Prevails Against A Familiar Foe
Trivia Answer: Chris Driedger, and original Kraken, played in all 18 postseason games for the Firebirds in their second consecutive run to the Calder Cup Final in 2024.
