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MEET THE KRAKEN: Eeli Tolvanen working for the Olympics, the defensive game and more · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: It's time to meet the Krackling powered by Mechanics Bank,
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Trusted Community first banking with deep Northwest roots and thirty
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: plus branches. Visit Mechanicsbank dot com Mechanics Bank where relationships
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: metter member FDI see Ellie Tolby.
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: Then back once you get up front here for the
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: krack and Ellie thank you again for a few moments.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Great to see you once again. Hope the summer was well.
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  Speaker 2: And I'll first begin with this is your fourth partially
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: full season here in Seattle. So what was the perception
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: about this place when you got here and how do
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  Speaker 2: you look at it now?
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  Speaker 3: I mean, it's been awesome, really enjoyed every second here.
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  Speaker 3: The guys are great, the city is great, the fence
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  Speaker 3: are off awesome.
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  Speaker 4: You know, the facilities are awesome too.
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  Speaker 3: So you know, I've been enjoying every second ever since
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  Speaker 3: I got here. It was kind of a nice moment
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  Speaker 3: and yeah, I really love to hear.
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  Speaker 2: Now we have been through this before, but there's always
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: a door open to change your mind. Give me three
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  Speaker 2: NHL players from Finland you loved growing up watching and
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  Speaker 2: you put out there for three on three with a
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: trip to the playoffs on the line it be old
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  Speaker 2: school players or it can be old school too.
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: All right, well, I probably have to start a d Hayscannen.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, it's probably one of the best finished demonds, probably
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  Speaker 3: tem Oslani and bark Up.
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  Speaker 2: All you had to do is feed team of Sloni
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  Speaker 2: all day, right, yeah, seas upper corner. You have two brothers.
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  Speaker 2: When's the last time you had a chance to play
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  Speaker 2: a game with them as first pick up?
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  Speaker 3: Not all us three together, but uh, I got a
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  Speaker 3: chance to play against my middle brother World Championship last year.
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  Speaker 4: Uh. He was in Austria national team, so that was
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  Speaker 4: pretty cool.
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  Speaker 2: You had a chance to sit together for nearly half
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  Speaker 2: a year in the same room together. What's the funniest
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  Speaker 2: thing that you've ever heard Coppocaco say? Oh boy, there's
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  Speaker 2: plenty of them.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, there is. I don't know where it started.
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  Speaker 3: I mean kind of living with him, uh when he
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  Speaker 3: got here, and right now he's living with us too,
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  Speaker 3: so it's every day, you know, he comes up with
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  Speaker 3: something crazy. Either he's in Finnish or not that much
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  Speaker 3: in English, but in Finnish.
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  Speaker 4: He's he's a hilarious guy.
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  Speaker 3: But I don't think there's just the one thing that
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  Speaker 3: you know, he's just one of those goofy guys.
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  Speaker 2: What do you admire about Coppo Coco as a roommate, Well,
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  Speaker 2: I feel.
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  Speaker 4: Like he takes care of himself pretty well.
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  Speaker 3: You know, he's always, you know when he's living with us,
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  Speaker 3: you know, always trying to help, you know, even if
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  Speaker 3: it's during dinner or doing dishes, all like all that stuff.
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  Speaker 4: And it's pretty cool.
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  Speaker 3: You know, his couple years younger, but he still has
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  Speaker 3: that you know mindstitute that he wants to help.
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  Speaker 2: And we're still a few months away. But what would
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  Speaker 2: a trip to the Olympics mean for you both?
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  Speaker 4: Uh? Yeah, it would be a dream come true.
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  Speaker 3: I feel like everybody once playing the Olympics, and of
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  Speaker 3: course for the team Finland for us, you know, Field's
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  Speaker 3: a little smaller country, so there's a maybe a better
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  Speaker 3: chance to make it. But yeah, it would have been
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  Speaker 3: It would be awesome. You know, it's it would be
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  Speaker 3: not bit of hockey and you know, first time really
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  Speaker 3: putting the jersey on with you know, every NHL player
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  Speaker 3: on it.
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  Speaker 2: Now you get to this part of your career, you
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  Speaker 2: have a lot of money here to spend and try
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  Speaker 2: to take care of yourself. And it also means what
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  Speaker 2: you wear here on a nightly basis to the game.
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  Speaker 2: What's the one teammate that you admire for his elite
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  Speaker 2: suit game?
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  Speaker 3: I know, I gotta go right now. I feel like
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  Speaker 3: Kubar has some nice suits. Vince Done, I feel like
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  Speaker 3: he always has nice fading suits.
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  Speaker 2: So what's the most important attire for you on and
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  Speaker 2: off day? Is a sweatpants? Is a sweatshirt? Is a
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  Speaker 2: golf shirt? Pants?
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  Speaker 4: No shorts?
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  Speaker 2: Shorts?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I always wear at house and even
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  Speaker 3: when it's kind of chilly outside, when you know you
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  Speaker 3: go to the course here run, I always have my shorts on.
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  Speaker 3: So it's at crazy, but yeah, I couldn't live without
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  Speaker 3: my shorts.
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  Speaker 2: Let's go back to last season here for a little bit.
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  Speaker 2: Last time you cracked twenty goals was in a different league.
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  Speaker 2: Where do you feel you've grown most in your game
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  Speaker 2: over the last six years?
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  Speaker 4: Just overall game. I feel like.
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  Speaker 3: Defensive game and take a big step in a better
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  Speaker 3: direction overall. You know, physicality, you know battle readiness. I
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  Speaker 3: think that's that's a key factor.
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  Speaker 4: On that too.
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  Speaker 3: And you know when you play play good all around hockey,
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  Speaker 3: you get more going chances and you get the opportunity
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  Speaker 3: to offensively.
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  Speaker 2: Do we talk a lot about your shot as a
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  Speaker 2: vital part of your game. Defensively, that's a big part
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  Speaker 2: as well, and it's something that's always gotten a lot
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  Speaker 2: of credit. But what's the most important thing a coach
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  Speaker 2: ever told you about playing on the defensive side of
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  Speaker 2: the puck.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know if there's something one thing, but you know,
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  Speaker 3: growing up kind of wanted to be the offensive guy,
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  Speaker 3: and you know, some situations they're like, you've got to
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  Speaker 3: be more le reliable and not defensively if you want
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  Speaker 3: to play on the last last couple of minutes of
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  Speaker 3: the game. So I think those things just a little
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  Speaker 3: mindsets that you know, it's not always West quring, just
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  Speaker 3: having the team.
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  Speaker 2: New coach, some new teammates as well. For this year,
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  Speaker 2: where do you want the mindset of this team to
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  Speaker 2: be all year round?
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  Speaker 3: A playoffs for sure? I think, you know, start with
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  Speaker 3: the camp. I think we just have to have the
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: mindset that, you know, we'd have to bring the playoff
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  Speaker 3: hockey back, and you know, I think the last couple
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  Speaker 3: of years it has been a kind of a step back.
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  Speaker 3: But I feel like they might just have to be
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  Speaker 3: there that you know, we want to play for something
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  Speaker 3: in April and June.
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  Speaker 2: The mindset is there. Ellie, appreciate you as always, Thank you,
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  Speaker 2: thanks for having me.
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  Speaker 1: You're home for the crack Sports Radio ninety three point
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  Speaker 1: three k j R f M