I’m not here to cheer for the Kraken. As much as I love the fans, interacting with them, and appreciate their support, it’s not my job to be dishonest.
In covering hockey and the NHL in five different decades, I don’t use the experience and any gained “expertise” to support one club or another in terms of analysis. I’ve made lifelong friends of players, coaches, GM’s, staff members and fans over the years, so there’s simply no hate involved. I get along with 98.5 percent of the people who work in the NHL.
Some Kraken fans don’t like to hear the critical comments and I get it. It’s the team you cheer for … but just like I predicted last summer that the club wouldn’t make the playoffs in 2025-’26, I’m predicting the same result again this summer for 2026-’27. There’s no dislike there; it’s just a constructive breakdown.
I hope for the sake of our Kraken fans that I’m wrong. It would be way more fun to cover the playoffs after the regular season. And it would be terrific to see the building rocking with lots of nervous, smiling faces next spring.
Hey, I’ve been wrong before. I thought the Canucks were going to make the playoffs last season. Yikes!! Everything that could go wrong, did. They were overwhelmed with lousy organizational karma and they’ve since made some of the necessary changes.
Aside from line-up and depth, or lack thereof, there are a couple of other reasons it’s gonna be tough for the Seattle boys. While the Pacific Division is the NHL’s weakest, the young San Jose Sharks are zooming, as are the Anaheim Ducks. That latter club made the 2nd-round this past spring. That doesn’t bode well for a Kraken club that in many ways is standing still.
The LA Kings might drop off. The Flames and Canucks are a mess. So Seattle can put itself in the 5th or 6th place range heading into the season and hope for the best. What they’ll really hope for is a wild card opportunity via some drop-off from teams in the Central Division. The Utah Mammoth were the other wild card team, along with the Kings, and they’re improving. The Stars, Wild, and Avalanche aren’t dropping out of the mix.
So whether the play on ice is simply poor, or a management decision is atrocious, we’re gonna tell you about it. Would you prefer we didn’t? I don’t think so.
Regardless of the results, as I often say … Enjoy The Hockey Action!! Training camps open in about five weeks.
Earlier Kraken:
— Glenn’s Gems; Brighter Kraken Nights Will Be Lit By Emerging Stars
