The Seattle Kraken claim they selected Chase Reid 7th overall in June’s NHL Draft because he skates fast and shoots hard. And he can bring it on a pitcher’s mound.
Now the NHL has released on video the skills that actually made the defenseman such a prized prospect. It was a series of five challenges called “The Social Media Combine.”
First, he was timed on how fast he could tape his stick. Reid finished in 13.43 seconds. “It doesn’t look very nice,” Chase said, “but it’ll do.” Next, he had to catch each of six tubes, as they were randomly dropped one by one. “Six for six!” Chase exclaimed after grabbing each one out of midair.
Third, he had to line up four pucks in the same order as four other pucks hidden from his view. The only clue he was given was how many were in the right place after each re-arrangement. Reid got it done after just five moves. Fourth, he had to grab a falling ruler as close to the top end as possible.
Finally, Reid had to bounce one plastic cup off of another into the air, trying to land the second cup inside the first.
Although he didn’t succeed, Chase managed 25 consecutive bounces before the second cup hit the ground. With that kind of hand-eye coordination, can a Norris Trophy be far behind?
Kraken Forward, Now Coach Bellemare
Former Kraken Pierre-Edouard Bellemare is adding a third legacy to his remarkable career.
He played 700 NHL games, including the final 40 in Seattle in 2023-24, the most by a player born and trained in France. That’s one. He was just hired by another former team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, as a player development specialist. That’s two.
And third? Bellemare is one of the genuinely nicest, most positive people you’ll ever meet, in or out of hockey.
“The Lightning are not hiring me just for my skill on the ice,” he told NHL.com. “They’re hiring me for something that I’ve done, the way that I talk, and the way that I’ve enjoyed every single moment at work in the NHL that made me a resilient player.
“My mom taught me that I should enjoy every moment, right? It’s not given to you, those moments, you have to cherish them. Her education created this opportunity for me because all I’ve done is try to be a good person, and eventually that person was good enough for a franchise to come and say, ‘Hey, we would like you to go and teach some of our young players.’”
Kraken Defenseman, Now Coach Giordano
Speaking of ex-Kraken, the first captain in Kraken history has taken his first coaching job.
Mark Giordano wore the “C” for the first 55 games in franchise history, before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2022 trade deadline. He retired in 2024, and now has been hired as an assistant coach for the Leafs’ AHL farm team.
Unsurprisingly, he’ll be in charge of the Toronto Marlies’ defense and penalty killing.
Giordano spent his first 15 seasons patrolling the Calgary Flames blueline, eight as captain. “For a long time in Calgary,” says FlameForThought.com, “Giordano was seen as a future coach given his immense leadership and hockey IQ. Now, the 42-year-old begins his journey as a coach, with many expecting him to one day end up behind a bench in the National Hockey League.”
Kraken In The Doghouse?
I have a bone to pick with how some national writers are characterizing the Seattle Kraken.
“Which teams are at the bottom of the league on paper?” asks Adam Proteau of The Hockey News, before answering that the Kraken are 4th worst. “What they have now is a dog’s breakfast of mid-tier talent.”
For those unfamiliar, a “dog’s breakfast” is a British expression referring to mismatched leftovers barely fit to feed your pet. Using such a phrase to describe hockey players is a dog’s regurgitation of a sentence.
It’s not that I disagree with Proteau’s underlying premise. “The Kraken have done little to improve their lineup this summer. GM Jason Botterill re-signed right winger Bobby McMann and added a notable piece by trading for Florida Panthers right winger Mackie Samoskevich. But these aren’t first-line talents, which is what this Seattle team needs desperately.”
Fine. But if Proteau and other writers want to take potshots, the NHL has plenty of worthy candidates: Mike Babcock, Carter Hart, Evander Kane, etc., etc. Otherwise, professional journalists should leave the juvenile insults to keyboard warriors.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken’s Big Rig Cashes In With Canucks
