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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Examining the mid-season picture with Ryan Clark (1/8) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to Cracking This Morning, a presentation of the Kraken
0:05
Speaker 1: Audio Network Ken Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
0:10
Speaker 1: Here's Mike Benton.
0:12
Speaker 2: Clicks DROI Kracking this morning on a Thursday, January eighth,
0:16
Speaker 2: Mike Benton with you again the crack and take on
0:18
Speaker 2: the Minnesota while for the second time this season to
0:21
Speaker 2: end two games at home as far as that run
0:24
Speaker 2: seven o'clock face off once again at Climbate Pledge Arena.
0:27
Speaker 2: Ever it fits you, Alciniski on the call, airtime six
0:30
Speaker 2: point thirty on the Global Credit Union Crackin Audio Network.
0:33
Speaker 2: I'll join you back by the Corse Light landing in
0:36
Speaker 2: section twenty. Anders Hurst will also join me for the
0:39
Speaker 2: conversation up to an hour after the final horn for
0:42
Speaker 2: postgame coverage including Talkin' crackin of course Texas at four nine,
0:47
Speaker 2: four or five to one with your reaction on the
0:49
Speaker 2: KJR text line. This sating the Crack and hosting Pride
0:52
Speaker 2: Night presented by Sametrip Specialty jerseys designed by vegas Vecchio.
0:57
Speaker 2: More details, info, background and your chance to jump into
1:02
Speaker 2: the anchor auction at One Roof Foundation dot Oregon, NHL
1:06
Speaker 2: dot com slash Kraken Net proceeds will benefit Seattle Pride
1:11
Speaker 2: and One Roof Foundation. Coming up, we'll hear from Berkeley
1:14
Speaker 2: Catton two goals in the night that he scored his
1:16
Speaker 2: first career NHL goal, and also more intel in a
1:20
Speaker 2: conversation we'll get from Crackingweekly and our visit with Ryan
1:24
Speaker 2: Clark of ESPN. Where the Crack and stand right now
1:28
Speaker 2: at the halfway point, and where this Western Conference playoff
1:32
Speaker 2: picture looks like as far as the buyers and sellers
1:35
Speaker 2: here perhaps down the road. Ryan Clark of ESPN joining
1:40
Speaker 2: us here from Crackingweekly, which aired last night.
1:43
Speaker 3: Coming up in just a bit, our.
1:45
Speaker 2: Flashback takes us to the opener of this two game
1:48
Speaker 2: homestand and the end back to back games where the
1:52
Speaker 2: Kraken face the Boston Bruins with no signs of slowing down.
1:56
Speaker 4: Shop held donk side, ask for ro forced off the buck,
2:00
Speaker 4: Berkeley capton delayed penalty coming to Boston.
2:02
Speaker 3: Catten fires stop.
2:11
Speaker 5: There it is Berkeley Catton his first goal in the
2:16
Speaker 5: National Hockey League from the right side, fires it in
2:19
Speaker 5: by Slavon.
2:20
Speaker 6: Seattle leads too on while Berkeley Katten down the right
2:24
Speaker 6: side has the can trelling behind him. It's an odd
2:28
Speaker 6: man rush. Catton gets open for a one timeer. He
2:30
Speaker 6: puts that fuck back on Den Hard too, who cracking congratulations.
2:36
Speaker 4: Berkeley Chet lost his foot it Mason low Rack forcing
2:41
Speaker 4: him off the fuck in front.
2:42
Speaker 3: Goodres Ben Myers.
2:54
Speaker 7: In the rows slot off.
2:56
Speaker 5: The feed from Ty Carshay H's three two Seattle lead.
3:01
Speaker 6: Well starts with the Malonzi shot on net and that's
3:03
Speaker 6: a great work behind and that by ty Krcy. He
3:06
Speaker 6: goes to battle with Lorai right behind, swinging by the net.
3:09
Speaker 6: He comes up with a buck perfect feet out to
3:11
Speaker 6: Ben Myers, puts it on his tape, Myers putting it home.
3:15
Speaker 6: The fourth line strikes again three to two.
3:18
Speaker 3: Cracking seconds left.
3:19
Speaker 4: Fit's done, walks.
3:20
Speaker 5: In, passes it across, but can at the crosser st
3:31
Speaker 5: Sheriff mccan on the power play zeros.
3:36
Speaker 3: On the board.
3:37
Speaker 2: They will look.
3:38
Speaker 5: At it if it stands.
3:40
Speaker 6: Let's say four two Seattle recond lead on Jarren mckan
3:45
Speaker 6: with a bomb right from the blue line off the post,
3:48
Speaker 6: it in love side down laws swinging. If discounts, this
3:52
Speaker 6: makes it four two.
3:53
Speaker 5: This will count the buck crosses with about point four
3:58
Speaker 5: on the game.
3:59
Speaker 4: Crowns through the hands. It off to Cocko. Now capton
4:02
Speaker 4: side steps his way in control.
4:04
Speaker 3: It fought cock up.
4:14
Speaker 5: Berkley Catton's got two had the Seattle Cracking go up
4:19
Speaker 5: six two.
4:20
Speaker 8: Five thirty.
4:21
Speaker 6: That's here in the third host Freddy control coming down
4:25
Speaker 6: the line. He put the feet to Berkeley Cotton who
4:28
Speaker 6: was streaking down the slot area. He goes forehead, back end,
4:32
Speaker 6: hung the bar, glove side, second go up for Berkeley Cotton,
4:37
Speaker 6: third power play goal in the game.
4:39
Speaker 8: Six two Seattle.
4:41
Speaker 2: At the end of the night and offensive onslaught producing
4:43
Speaker 2: a season high seven goals the Crack and also getting
4:47
Speaker 2: their ninth straight game with a win or a point
4:49
Speaker 2: eight zero and one in that run, it is the
4:52
Speaker 2: second longest point streak in franchise history. In a seven
4:55
Speaker 2: to four win over the Boston Bruins, where Berkeley Canton
4:59
Speaker 2: became the They're a teenager in cracket history to score
5:03
Speaker 2: his first career NHL goal, and he added a thing
5:06
Speaker 2: of beauty for his second goal in period three to two,
5:10
Speaker 2: effectively put the game away. Afterward, here's Caton and his
5:14
Speaker 2: reaction meeting with the media.
5:16
Speaker 9: Ver, You've done a lot here up at the NHL,
5:18
Speaker 9: but now you get your first goal. You look like
5:20
Speaker 9: you were pretty, uh, a little relieved after that.
5:22
Speaker 10: Yeah, one hundred percent. A lot of weight off the
5:24
Speaker 10: shoulders for sure, but you know it's dreaming of that
5:28
Speaker 10: for a long time.
5:28
Speaker 7: So that was that was awesome.
5:29
Speaker 9: You said your teammates have been pretty supportive throughout this
5:32
Speaker 9: whole thing, because you've never gone this long a stretch
5:34
Speaker 9: in hockey.
5:36
Speaker 10: What were they like, one hundred percent? They've been nothing
5:38
Speaker 10: but great to me. And you know, lots of the
5:40
Speaker 10: guys have gone through droughts, maybe not that long, but
5:42
Speaker 10: they've they've gone through him and just kind of, you know,
5:45
Speaker 10: told me to keep going and eventually would go, and
5:47
Speaker 10: luckily enough tonight it did.
5:48
Speaker 11: Are you surprised that after you get the first one
5:50
Speaker 11: the second one comes a little bit easier.
5:51
Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't know.
5:52
Speaker 10: I figured it maybe if I had one, they would
5:54
Speaker 10: start to come a little bit more. So that one
5:55
Speaker 10: felt really good too.
5:57
Speaker 3: How did the both the goals happen?
5:59
Speaker 10: Honestly, the first one I kind of blocked out there.
6:01
Speaker 10: I don't really remember. I don't even know where it
6:03
Speaker 10: went in, to be honest. And then the second one,
6:05
Speaker 10: great pass by Freddy and kind of gave me a
6:07
Speaker 10: you know, a breakaway and just got it up and
6:09
Speaker 10: went in.
6:10
Speaker 11: You did a big smile on your face after that
6:11
Speaker 11: first one. What did Jared McCann say to you when
6:13
Speaker 11: he came over.
6:14
Speaker 10: Yeah, I just saw, honestay, apios for me. So you
6:16
Speaker 10: know that's pretty awesome. You know, guy, that's really been
6:18
Speaker 10: a mentor me. So you don't see that's been awesome.
6:21
Speaker 11: You mentioned it being a weight off your shoulders.
6:23
Speaker 10: Just how much was it kind of impacting you day
6:25
Speaker 10: to day game to game is things went one? Yeah,
6:27
Speaker 10: obviously it was. I thought about it all the time,
6:29
Speaker 10: but I wouldn't say it was really impacted me too much.
6:31
Speaker 10: But it's just a relief, I think, more more than anything,
6:34
Speaker 10: just to kind of get it out of the way, to.
6:36
Speaker 8: Kind of have a nice skill one to go in
6:39
Speaker 8: right after that to the second one on swimming and
6:40
Speaker 8: beat him to the back end like that. How nice
6:42
Speaker 8: was that one to see two after having one kind
6:43
Speaker 8: of bouncing off a blocker on the first.
6:45
Speaker 10: One, Yeah, one hundred percent. I didn't even know it
6:47
Speaker 10: went in, to be honest, So I just I thought
6:48
Speaker 10: I hit the post. But you know that that one
6:51
Speaker 10: felt good too, And you know, again just great players,
6:54
Speaker 10: but great players.
6:54
Speaker 11: To me, I'm looking more generally at this game. I mean,
6:57
Speaker 11: how did this one play out from your perspective?
6:59
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's good.
7:00
Speaker 10: You know, we're we're on a roll right now, and
7:03
Speaker 10: you know we're playing the way you know we can
7:05
Speaker 10: play and obviously really really good defensively, but you know
7:08
Speaker 10: that leads to the great offensive chances that we've been bearing.
7:10
Speaker 4: So you know, that's our identity and we've got to
7:13
Speaker 4: continue to that.
7:14
Speaker 2: As it stands, the Kraken are just one point out
7:17
Speaker 2: of first place in the Pacific Division. However, it is
7:20
Speaker 2: a missed a very very tight Western Conference picture right now,
7:23
Speaker 2: with plenty of questions at the halfway point of who
7:27
Speaker 2: buys or who sells and if we even get there
7:31
Speaker 2: from an overall league standpoint. Ryan Clark of ESPN had
7:35
Speaker 2: more with us in our conversation first airing on Crack
7:39
Speaker 2: and Weekly.
7:39
Speaker 7: We think about how close the Flames were last season
7:42
Speaker 7: to make playoffs.
7:43
Speaker 3: Within the year before.
7:44
Speaker 7: That, we've seen other examples, going as far back to
7:47
Speaker 7: the Blues in twenty eighteen, where they missed the playoffs
7:50
Speaker 7: by what was it like a point or two? They
7:52
Speaker 7: just made the trade people thought, well, if you don't
7:54
Speaker 7: make that trade, maybe your playoff teamn in a year
7:57
Speaker 7: later they win the Stanley Cup. So that's sort of
8:00
Speaker 7: always been there where you've had these teams are going
8:02
Speaker 7: to the last two weeks of the season, like we
8:04
Speaker 7: saw last year with Utah Vancouver category trying to make
8:07
Speaker 7: a push. Where that's going to exist as far where
8:11
Speaker 7: some of these teams fall off, like that is the
8:14
Speaker 7: big mystery. So let's take San Jose. That's right now
8:18
Speaker 7: maybe the biggest question because there is so much you
8:21
Speaker 7: there's a.
8:21
Speaker 3: Lot of talent.
8:22
Speaker 7: You have Maclin celebrating, someone who is getting MVP vote,
8:25
Speaker 7: someone who's going to the oly big team some on
8:27
Speaker 7: that for all intention and purposes, looks the part of
8:30
Speaker 7: a true number one center in the NHL, But you
8:32
Speaker 7: also need a supporting cast. And the way that the
8:35
Speaker 7: Sharks have been structured the last few years ever it is.
8:38
Speaker 3: They've been a team that has gone out and Gott.
8:40
Speaker 7: Knows veteran players are on those one year deals so
8:42
Speaker 7: when the deadline comes, they can move on from those
8:45
Speaker 7: players and then.
8:46
Speaker 3: Get more draft capital.
8:48
Speaker 7: So what happens if they're still within a playoff playoffs
8:52
Speaker 7: face here like if you're in my career, do you
8:54
Speaker 7: sit there and say, maybe you add, maybe you subtract,
8:57
Speaker 7: you keep with things as planned because it's still been
9:00
Speaker 7: a strong season, But how do you sort of evaluate
9:03
Speaker 7: where you are and if you're ahead of scheduled. If
9:05
Speaker 7: you're the Utah man, the playoffs are the goal. You
9:09
Speaker 7: go get JJ Peterca. You saved the cap space you have.
9:13
Speaker 7: You're in a position that when you come back from
9:15
Speaker 7: the Olympic breaker, maybe even before, you can make at
9:18
Speaker 7: least one or two moves, depending on how you manage
9:20
Speaker 7: your money. So that's just the thing is with some
9:23
Speaker 7: of these teams. And let's play Anaheim to that conversation too.
9:27
Speaker 7: Anaheim is that team that people thought going in, if
9:31
Speaker 7: there's going to be someone from the outside looking in
9:33
Speaker 7: that makes the playoffs, if.
9:34
Speaker 3: It's not Utah, it's Anaheim.
9:37
Speaker 7: Because Anaheim has been building the last few seasons. Anaheim
9:41
Speaker 7: had this sort of off season where it went out
9:43
Speaker 7: and it made the moves, It freed up the cap space.
9:46
Speaker 7: You're able to get Chris Krider, and all of a sudden,
9:48
Speaker 7: you look at that team where what was once this
9:51
Speaker 7: sort of young team where he had veterans here and
9:53
Speaker 7: there it's a blend of both, and you're seeing contributions
9:57
Speaker 7: from everyone of all ages.
9:59
Speaker 3: In addition, having.
10:00
Speaker 7: A coach that is one of the all time great
10:02
Speaker 7: coaches this league is seen. And so that's just it is.
10:05
Speaker 7: There are so many variables with all those teams to
10:07
Speaker 7: where yes, it might be difficult to predict. But at
10:10
Speaker 7: the same time, how many of those same people who
10:13
Speaker 7: raise this question, the same people who say I can't.
10:16
Speaker 3: Believe for in January and it feels like the seasons
10:18
Speaker 3: already over. You have to be grady. You have the game.
10:22
Speaker 7: Either it's you want the season to be over by
10:25
Speaker 7: January so you can do whatever it is you want,
10:28
Speaker 7: or you want these to be as interesting as possible
10:31
Speaker 7: March going into April with the idea that it's only
10:34
Speaker 7: going to make the playoffs even more interesting.
10:36
Speaker 4: You know, it's funny you say that because I said
10:38
Speaker 4: this going into last year. I said this going into
10:41
Speaker 4: this year. If I'm the Seattle Kracken, for example, my
10:44
Speaker 4: goal is to play another cracket, right, My goal is.
10:50
Speaker 3: To play meaningful games into March.
10:53
Speaker 4: Right, Game seventy has to matter, that's got to mean something.
10:59
Speaker 3: But on the other side.
11:01
Speaker 4: Of that, I also hear the argument of man, I
11:04
Speaker 4: wish this team was worse than they are so we
11:07
Speaker 4: could just start selling off these pieces and plan for
11:09
Speaker 4: the future. So it's funny you say that because there's
11:12
Speaker 4: a lot of people, fans and other folks in Seattle
11:16
Speaker 4: and out of Seattle that are kind of stuck in
11:19
Speaker 4: that mushy middle there.
11:21
Speaker 7: But it's easy to understand why because, like go back
11:24
Speaker 7: to San Jose and let's go back to Anaheim.
11:28
Speaker 3: Part of the formula for how.
11:29
Speaker 7: These teams are able to be where they are right
11:31
Speaker 7: now is because they were able to get those high
11:33
Speaker 7: picks by being so far down.
11:36
Speaker 3: You look at the teams that are winning right now.
11:38
Speaker 7: In most cases, Tampa was able to draft exceptionally well
11:42
Speaker 7: throughout all rounds. But the way they were able to
11:44
Speaker 7: hit on those first round picks in the case of
11:47
Speaker 7: koutra off a high second, it has helped build a
11:49
Speaker 7: foundation for what it is today. And so you understand
11:54
Speaker 7: that argument and why people feel that way. Again, Let's
11:57
Speaker 7: take a team like the Attle whiche where like McKinnon
11:59
Speaker 7: was the number one pick, landeskod was the top three pick,
12:03
Speaker 7: mccarr was the top four pick.
12:05
Speaker 3: Like those things that absolutely matter.
12:08
Speaker 7: Dallas is no different or even going out and getting
12:11
Speaker 7: those players, because look, let's look at what the Wild did.
12:13
Speaker 7: They went out and got a top ten pick and
12:15
Speaker 7: Quinn Hughes and look what that has done for them NBA.
12:19
Speaker 3: So there is something to be said for that.
12:20
Speaker 7: It's just a hard part for a team like a
12:23
Speaker 7: crack like the crack, and there's multiple factors.
12:26
Speaker 3: Number one is it's like, so what are you. Are
12:29
Speaker 3: you the team that in year one you are.
12:31
Speaker 7: A lottery team that looked like you were going down
12:33
Speaker 7: this path, or are you the team in year two
12:35
Speaker 7: where maybe the playoffs are a reality and that's kind
12:38
Speaker 7: of where they're at right now.
12:39
Speaker 3: But then there's other.
12:40
Speaker 7: Factors to consider too, such as like what makes the
12:43
Speaker 7: most sense long term? How do you justify this in
12:46
Speaker 7: a market where, look, the Seahawks are very good, the
12:50
Speaker 7: Mariners are very good.
12:52
Speaker 3: You dub looks like you could do something with football,
12:55
Speaker 3: You loub women's.
12:56
Speaker 7: Soccer, men's soccer are a thing there, the Storm, the Ring,
12:59
Speaker 7: it's a competitive market there. But then also too not
13:03
Speaker 7: to get too much down this path.
13:04
Speaker 3: But it is also the economics of it, because.
13:06
Speaker 7: Like if you were charging that price weight in that market,
13:10
Speaker 7: you're expecting they seeing a team that's competitive.
13:13
Speaker 3: Not a team that's languishing in the standings. And so
13:16
Speaker 3: in a lot of ways, you're almost in a no
13:17
Speaker 3: win situation.
13:19
Speaker 2: Ryan, if this cluster in the Western Conference holds firm
13:22
Speaker 2: after the Olympic break, do you think that there's more
13:24
Speaker 2: sellers or more buyers.
13:26
Speaker 7: It's so hard to say because it all depends upon
13:29
Speaker 7: the team and it's overall.
13:31
Speaker 3: I guess you could say a landscape.
13:32
Speaker 7: So let's go tell you neame a random team in
13:35
Speaker 7: the East or West, just any random team that you
13:38
Speaker 7: think can be.
13:38
Speaker 3: A buyer or seller.
13:39
Speaker 2: Philadelphia.
13:41
Speaker 3: Okay, So the Flyers are a great, great pick.
13:43
Speaker 7: So the way of Flyers are currently built and where
13:46
Speaker 7: they currently stand right now is this.
13:48
Speaker 3: They are holding down the first wild card.
13:51
Speaker 7: They are a team that has youth, they have veterans,
13:53
Speaker 7: they have a good mix. You could see a situation
13:56
Speaker 7: where they think they're ready to add because they've been
13:58
Speaker 7: building and building and building to get to that point.
14:02
Speaker 7: If let's see the Winnipeg Jets get Connor Helbok act back,
14:05
Speaker 7: they go on a little bit of a run. The
14:06
Speaker 7: way Winnipeg is built, you would think that's a team
14:09
Speaker 7: that would look to try to add Florida is the
14:11
Speaker 7: same thing. Net if you're the Buffalo Sabers and you
14:15
Speaker 7: have a decision to make, This is where it gets
14:18
Speaker 7: really fascinating because on one hand, you know what it's
14:21
Speaker 7: like to go through the draft and you've added great
14:23
Speaker 7: talent in the draft. Well, on the other you're now
14:25
Speaker 7: being ran by Armo Kakalin and who the man has
14:27
Speaker 7: experiences not only getting really good talent with winning and
14:30
Speaker 7: going to the playoffs and so again, everyone's situation is different,
14:33
Speaker 7: and it seems like the macro and the micro in
14:37
Speaker 7: terms of where you're at an organization on your grand
14:40
Speaker 7: scheme as well as where you're at and the moment
14:42
Speaker 7: seems like that's going to determine what teams.
14:44
Speaker 3: Do ahead of the deadline.
14:46
Speaker 8: Yeah, I think one of the things that concerns me
14:48
Speaker 8: is is the goal differential. And you know, being a
14:51
Speaker 8: stat guy, it stands out to me that the Pacific
14:54
Speaker 8: is all read and you know, championship teams tend to
14:59
Speaker 8: hover more the green and certainly the top three or
15:01
Speaker 8: four teams in the Central are in that area. And
15:05
Speaker 8: I have to look at you know, the comment around
15:08
Speaker 8: buyers or sellers. I think the bigger that red number gets,
15:11
Speaker 8: the more likelihood you're probably a seller. You know, if
15:15
Speaker 8: you can't get that goal differential into the green, you're
15:18
Speaker 8: probably not making the playoffs or you're probably not going deep.
15:21
Speaker 3: And that's a fair point.
15:22
Speaker 7: But I think it also depends upon what team you're
15:24
Speaker 7: talking about. So let's keep it to the Pacific. If
15:27
Speaker 7: you are the Vegas gold Knights, you know what you're
15:30
Speaker 7: there to do, and that is to win, and it
15:32
Speaker 7: is to win at all costs. It's just how do
15:34
Speaker 7: you find the goaltending to find a way to get
15:38
Speaker 7: you that consistency, because look, your top six has gone
15:41
Speaker 7: through changes with the Axotrangelo gone of course Nick Haagen
15:44
Speaker 7: being gone, so you've had to do some different things.
15:47
Speaker 7: If you're the Edmonton Oilers, it's the same story. It's
15:50
Speaker 7: pen which is you're trying to find consistency in that.
15:54
Speaker 7: Maybe you found that. Who knows. If you're the Kraken,
15:57
Speaker 7: it's a native goal differential as of today, but who's
16:00
Speaker 7: to say that doesn't evaporate because you.
16:02
Speaker 3: Think about the last eight games, they've been the best
16:04
Speaker 3: team in the NHL.
16:05
Speaker 8: Yeah, Golden on bar for sure like you're.
16:08
Speaker 7: Getting goldtending, you're getting offensive output from everyone from Tolden
16:13
Speaker 7: into to Freendi control like you're finding a way to
16:16
Speaker 7: make it work and so long.
16:17
Speaker 3: Yes, that's just a snatch out of eight games.
16:18
Speaker 12: It's just how do you take eight games you make
16:20
Speaker 12: it into ten to twelve to twenty, so that way
16:23
Speaker 12: you get a better idea of what you are.
16:25
Speaker 7: But to that point, I certainly get what you're saying,
16:28
Speaker 7: but it also goes back to, well, how can you
16:30
Speaker 7: correct these things?
16:32
Speaker 3: And if you can't correct these things, you're left with
16:34
Speaker 3: a difficult decision.
16:35
Speaker 7: Unless, frankly, at this point you're one of those teams
16:38
Speaker 7: in the Central Division where gold differential just hasn't been
16:40
Speaker 7: a problem for Colorado, Dallas or Minnesota.
16:43
Speaker 4: I love asking this question to folks who come on.
16:46
Speaker 3: You know you're you're dialed in.
16:47
Speaker 4: You've got friends and contacts all across the league.
16:50
Speaker 3: Clarky, what are folks saying about Seattle?
16:54
Speaker 4: I mean, in the beginning of the year, you get
16:56
Speaker 4: off to the best starting franchise history. We're all aboord
17:00
Speaker 4: the lane train where all Laniacs, this team defensively is
17:03
Speaker 4: playing well. You go on the one, nine and one run.
17:07
Speaker 4: Now you're on a seven, zero and one run. What
17:10
Speaker 4: are what's the word on the streets? What are they
17:13
Speaker 4: what are they saying on the streets about the Seattle Kraken.
17:17
Speaker 7: It's this sort of wait and see because you just
17:19
Speaker 7: don't know, and like, let's see about what you just
17:22
Speaker 7: said about what things look like from late November to
17:25
Speaker 7: mid December with this team, that's a lot of losses,
17:29
Speaker 7: and it's the sort of losses that make you wonder, Okay,
17:33
Speaker 7: are they a lot or a team? Maybe this is
17:35
Speaker 7: how they move forward, maybe they move on from players.
17:38
Speaker 7: And then you look at the last eight games and
17:40
Speaker 7: now they're a playoff team, and they're a playoff team
17:43
Speaker 7: at a timing which a lot.
17:45
Speaker 3: Of teams have an opportunity to really make a run.
17:48
Speaker 7: And so the top of the granite, it just seems
17:49
Speaker 7: to be like, let's wait and see, because that's kind
17:52
Speaker 7: of what this organization has been from day one, where
17:55
Speaker 7: like you see these glimpses where you go, Okay, maybe
17:59
Speaker 7: they're not there.
18:00
Speaker 3: Maybe they go.
18:00
Speaker 7: Through the draft and they try to do it that way.
18:03
Speaker 7: But then when they start winning these games and they
18:06
Speaker 7: start flirting with a playoff spot, whether it be a
18:08
Speaker 7: wild card in one of the division places. You're then
18:11
Speaker 7: left wondering, maybe, but we just need to see more.
18:15
Speaker 7: And that's the thing with them, is just you need
18:18
Speaker 7: to see more because the reality is is goltending you
18:21
Speaker 7: know what you have in Joey to Core. When Philip
18:23
Speaker 7: Grubauer is healthy, you know what you have with him.
18:26
Speaker 7: It's just a matter of can you keep the continuity
18:29
Speaker 7: in the offensive zone defensive zone.
18:31
Speaker 3: Compared to what they were.
18:32
Speaker 7: Last season, there has been a dramatic change, but it
18:35
Speaker 7: is about seeing can they keep this going in the
18:37
Speaker 7: offensive end. If they can do that and they can
18:40
Speaker 7: have all those pieces working, but more importantly, they.
18:42
Speaker 12: Can avoid these banks of losing four or five, six
18:47
Speaker 12: upwards of seven games, and they can manage that so
18:50
Speaker 12: whole pace.
18:51
Speaker 7: In a Western conference where frankly, having defense in goaltending
18:54
Speaker 7: is what's going to make a difference, you would think
18:56
Speaker 7: that they have a really good chance of making the playoffs.
19:00
Speaker 7: At the same time, you just don't know because it's
19:03
Speaker 7: the Western Conference.
19:04
Speaker 2: That's Ryan Clark of ESPN joining US again has handled
19:08
Speaker 2: Ryan Underscore s Underscore Clark at X with the Kraken
19:13
Speaker 2: coming in here for this second matchup, trying to avenge
19:15
Speaker 2: a four to one defeat in their prior matchup, and
19:18
Speaker 2: right now they carry Jere McCann's offense into this one
19:21
Speaker 2: with points in five straight games, with the veteran Ford
19:25
Speaker 2: Coppocaco also with points in four straight games. Not to
19:28
Speaker 2: mention the fourth line right now, not just playing physically,
19:31
Speaker 2: but they're on an offensive heater. Ben Myers the course
19:34
Speaker 2: as their center, helping generate a go ahead goal in
19:38
Speaker 2: period two where the Kraken would not look back. That
19:41
Speaker 2: line by the way, contributing with a goal now in
19:45
Speaker 2: five consecutive games in total, the Kraken offense picking up
19:49
Speaker 2: plenty of steam in the recent going. They have scored
19:52
Speaker 2: four goals or more now in four consecutive games. Up
19:56
Speaker 2: against Minnesota, the Wild have been winless in two straight games.
20:00
Speaker 2: Games first time the kra can see them though, since
20:02
Speaker 2: the blockbuster Quinn Hughes trade, and they come in fourth
20:06
Speaker 2: best power play ranked in the NHL right now with
20:09
Speaker 2: plenty of weapons to go around Hughes. Is there a
20:12
Speaker 2: big power play guy of course, seventeen points, fifteen of
20:15
Speaker 2: them coming off assist, no surprise. Carill Caprisov leads the
20:20
Speaker 2: power play nine goals also with sixteen points. That second
20:24
Speaker 2: Matt Boldy fourteen points. Angel Ericsson Eck also a threatening
20:28
Speaker 2: NetFront presence right behind him with ten points as well
20:32
Speaker 2: on the power play.
20:33
Speaker 3: For this season.
20:35
Speaker 2: That will set you up here for this one. Next
20:37
Speaker 2: home game won't come until January nineteenth. The Kraken after
20:41
Speaker 2: this on the road for five consecutive games and looking
20:45
Speaker 2: to run the table. Here in the brief pitched top
20:48
Speaker 2: of two in a row at home and looking to
20:51
Speaker 2: dis some payback, of course against Minnesota in this second
20:54
Speaker 2: matchup of the season. Once again, puck dropped a little
20:56
Speaker 2: past seven o'clock Pacific time. Airtime is six thirty. We
21:00
Speaker 2: certainly hope that you can join us big thanks again
21:02
Speaker 2: to Ryan Clark and for kraking this morning. I'm Mike Benton.
21:06
Speaker 2: Have a happy Thursday and enjoy the game.
21:09
Speaker 1: You're home for the Kraken Sports Radio ninety three point
21:12
Speaker 1: three k j R FM