Before Seattle Kraken rookies hit the ice for Sunday’s Prospect Showcase rematch with their Vancouver Canucks counterparts, coach Derek Laxdal gave them a thought experiment.
Laxdal, who’ll soon be coaching many of these same players back at AHL Coachella Valley, told his charges to visualize the difference between a freight train and a bullet train.
“Being back to back games, we didn’t want to have a slow start, with one guy pulling 19 cars.” Seattle had won Saturday’s first Prospect Showcase game, 7-3. “We wanted to make sure when you get into a bullet train, everybody’s going.”
Kraken Prospects Get Left At Station
Maybe the Kraken prospects took away the wrong message, because there were far too many passengers in the 5-2 loss to the Canucks at Rogers Forum in Abbotsford, BC. In the decisive 2nd period, Vancouver prospects scored three times within a 2:20 span and four goals overall against 18-year-old backup goalie Maks Corovic.
To hear the coach tell it, Corovic wasn’t getting much help. (Saturday’s starter and winner in goal for Seattle, Nikke Kokko, only played the 1st period.)
“The four goals they scored in the 2nd were missed assignments. Got a little lazy. Bad line change. We missed some checks and missed some assignments on the wall, got a little sloppy, and they took advantage.”
Vancouver got middle frame goals from Bennett Schimek, Gabriel Chiarot, Braeden Cootes, and Alonso Gosselin, adding to a 1st period tally from Adam Novotný. Seattle scored both its goals in the 2nd period as well, by Tyson Jugnauth and Jagger Firkus.
Jugnauth (image at right), a defenseman, failed to tie up his man on one of the Vancouver 2nd period goals. Laxdal cited the Kraken’s 4th round pick in 2022, though he scored, as an example of not giving his best in the d-zone on Sunday.
“We don’t have to rein in his offense. We just have to grow his defense; getting harder on pucks, getting harder in the corners, box-outs at the net. Those little areas are the difference between him arriving in Seattle a little quicker or later.”
Coach’s Train Of Thought
Between the 2nd and 3rd periods, Laxdal returned to his locomotive analogy. He told them, “Some of you guys jumped to the back car (of the train), sitting there a little bit.”
The coach also used the large deficit as an opportunity. “I challenged the guys in the 3rd period to get back to the way you should play.” The coach reminded them that even trailing by three, “You’re still being evaluated. Finish the right way.
“I thought the guys did a pretty good job in the (scoreless) 3rd period. We carried the play. It’s all about getting experience and reps. We’re trying some different d-zone coverages and neutral zone forechecks. It gives us a chance to grab some video and work on that teaching.”
After an off-day Monday, the teaching resumes with the final day of rookie camp on Tuesday at Kraken Community Iceplex. Some prospects will also be participating in the full Kraken training camp, which begins on Thursday at KCI.
Earlier Kraken:
— Robertson Rejection Releases The Kraken in Matty Beniers
Earlier Canucks:
— Simmer’s Holiday 9; Canucks, Kraken Bad Signings? A Remembrance
— Oh Yes! Preseason Kraken-Canucks Pacific Division Predictions
