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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Hot as Las Vegas Weather? (10/6) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Kraken This Morning, a presentation of the Kraken
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Audio Network and Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM. Here's Mike Benton.
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: Early returns look positive for the Seattle Kraken. Now can
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: they do it again against a much tougher opponent? Welcome
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: to Kraken This Morning on a Tuesday, October 6th. Mike
• 0:22
  Speaker 2: Benton with you. The Kraken take on the Vegas Golden
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Knights for the first time this season and for the
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: first time counting preseason and regular season. they will see
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: a U.S.-based opponent. Funny enough how we got here, but
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: the Kraken face nobody but the Flames and the Canucks
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: in preseason play and are now done with three games
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: to open the regular season against Calgary and Edmonton. So
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: it should be a tough one. Vegas coming in, defending
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: Western Conference champs will have All the action for you
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: beginning at 6.40 p.m. Pacific time. 6 p.m. airtime for
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: your pregame show served up by Frostbrood, Coors Light, Choose Chill,
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: Everett Fitzhugh, Al Kaniski on the call. I'll join you
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: once again back for the Coors Light landing in Section 20.
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: Then postgame will be live across the street at Tom's
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Watch Bar. Come on in, stop in, and certainly wherever
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: you may be, tune in. via 93.3 KJRFM and the
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: Global Credit Union Kraken Audio Network. Jeff Baker will be
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: joining us here in just a bit. We'll break down
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Sunday's victory for the Kraken, the early returns on the
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: kids so far, including Mackie Samaskevich, Berkley Catton, and Shane Wright,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: and much more. Plus a look ahead here to this
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: first matchup of the season coming up. against the Vegas
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: Golden Knights. Jeff Baker joining us momentarily. Well, the Kraken
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: came into Sunday looking to do something that's pretty tough
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: these days in the NHL, pull off a repeat performance
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: of a blowout that maybe wasn't on their mind, more
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: so just simply responding potentially against a Calgary team that
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: was aching for their first win of the season and
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: a fresh memory of the Kraken beating them 6-1 in
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: their own building, to open the season back on Thursday night.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: Whether you were looking for an early goal from a
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: big piece of their youthful core, highlight real stuff from
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: a newcomer, an alley-oop set up from one of your
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: top defensemen, timely goaltending, or just an offensive onslaught as
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: a whole, you could nearly check off every box when
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: it came to Sunday night.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: Here comes Gakko, right wide across for Shane Wright, intercepted, knocked.
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: Down, Berkeley Cat scores!
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: Berkley Catton follows the play and buries in the rebound.
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: The first goal at Climate Pledge Arena this season belongs
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: to number 27 in blue. And the Kraken on top, 1-0,
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: 17-38 to play in the first.
• 2:50
  Speaker 5: Well, it's Kapokako down that left side. He's trying to
• 2:53
  Speaker 5: feed Shane Wright. That puck gets deflected to Berkley Catton.
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: Coming from right.
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: To left, he puts that puck onto Dustin Wolfe. Top shelf,
• 3:02
  Speaker 5: glove side, 1-0 Kraken.
• 3:04
  Speaker 4: A story of the court for a moment.
• 3:05
  Speaker 5: Now Montour.
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: Will kick the stick back into the goal crease, and
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: Joey the Cord picks it back up.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: Now Mackie Samuskiewicz, what a move!
• 3:11
  Speaker 6: He scores!
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: Mackie Samaskevich fighting his way over the blue line. He
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: stayed with the puck, and he finds the back of
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: the net for his first goal in Kraken Colors. It's
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: a 2-0 Seattle lead, 15-20 to play in the first.
• 3:34
  Speaker 4: Well, this was.
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: A lob pass by Brandon Montour down at the bottom
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: of the circles in his own end.
• 3:40
  Speaker 4: He flips that puck all the way up the middle.
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: Of the far blue line, where Samaskevich gets it.
• 3:45
  Speaker 4: At full speed.
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: Blowing past the Flames defenseman, point five hole on Wolfe.
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: 2-0 Kraken.
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: Seattle back in, in front, Bobby McMahon walks in, he scores!
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: It's a first period hat trick for the Seattle Kraken.
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: Head for Kevin Ball, now Matt Coronado shoots, nearside shot.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: Rebound on goal!
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: And Joey the Card shut it down, Morgan Frost was
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: right in front of him. Catten now in, he's got
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: some speed, Berkeley Catten on the right side, there's a backhand.
• 4:21
  Speaker 4: Shane Wright scores!
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, the price was right on that! Shane
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: Wright caught the puck in tight space. He bobbled it
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: for a moment. A spinorama five-hole backhand on Dustin Wolfe.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: And the Kraken up by four, four-nothing, with 8.02 to
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: play here in the second.
• 4:52
  Speaker 5: Well, it all starts with Berkley Catton down.
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: That right side.
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: He's a left-handed shot, so he's probably not thinking drive
• 4:58
  Speaker 5: the net, but he wants to push those Calgary defensemen back.
• 5:01
  Speaker 5: He takes them all the way down to the dot,
• 5:03
  Speaker 5: puts the brakes on, feeds right in the center, right
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: with a no-look backhand shot on net, beats Dustin Wolfe.
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: Four-nothing Seattle.
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: Picks it back up, left side, crack it onside, Matty Beniers.
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: Across, and Miscavige scores!
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: The return of the Mac, back to the back of
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: the net.
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: He's got two tonight.
• 5:30
  Speaker 5: Chris Frost across Coronado in front.
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: Sharon Govich right on. And Joey the Cord shuts the door.
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: The door sends it down. Eberle gets the pass. Scores.
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: Montour from the near blue line to the corner for Stevenson.
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: He finds Eberle, top of the right circle, and the
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: captain finds the back of the net for the second
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: time this season. It's a 6-1 Seattle Kraken lead.
• 6:02
  Speaker 5: Once again, it's quick, decisive passing. Montour drops it down
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: really quickly to Stevie. Stevie puts it back up to Eberle,
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: and Eberle with a top-shelf locker-side goal.
• 6:15
  Speaker 6: Kraken 6-1.
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: There you have it. 6-1 was your final score of
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: the second route in three games by the Kraken of
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: the Calgary Flames. So whether you want to buy stock
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: into the Kraken and their performance offensively or take careful
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: measure of the team that they just beat who could
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: be in line for a lottery pick in the Flames. Still,
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: there was plenty of satisfaction in what the Kraken walked
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: away with after getting out to a 2-1 start here
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: for this regular season. Mackie Samuskevich, a two-goal night. Berkley
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: Catton with a multi-point game. Brandon Montour with a multi-point game.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: And four of six goals scores, age 23 or younger
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: on this Kraken roster. Mackie Samaskevich, Berkley Catton, Shane Wright,
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: among those chipping in, in addition to Captain Jordan Eberle
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: and Bobby McMahon, now with goals in back-to-back games. Joey Decord,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: 32 saves on 33 shots. He has looked terrific. But
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: how much is goaltending helping out the Kraken in addition
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: to their youthful core? That turns our attention to this evening.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Two-game homestand wraps up tonight. Kraken taking on the Vegas
• 7:23
  Speaker 2: Golden Knights, and this man was front and center of
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: the dressing room from a euphoric win two nights ago,
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: Jeff Baker of SeattleKraken.com. That's where you can find, of course,
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: his handiwork. He joins us now on Kraken this morning. Jeff,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: first off, I don't think that home opener on Sunday
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: couldn't have gone better than planned. Where do we rank
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: that game on Sunday with levels of expectations?
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: I was trying to think of that yesterday, actually. I
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: was trying to think about, you know, how many, first
• 7:54
  Speaker 6: of all, how many openers, how many home openers the
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: Kraken have had where they've actually met expectations and exceeded expectations.
• 8:02
  Speaker 6: And certainly, you know, I think a lot of people
• 8:05
  Speaker 6: thought that the Calgary Flames would come back with a
• 8:09
  Speaker 6: lot of fight after the Kraken basically demolished them 6-1
• 8:13
  Speaker 6: last week in the Flames home opener. And no, we
• 8:16
  Speaker 6: saw the additional, the... We saw the exact same 6-1 score,
• 8:20
  Speaker 6: and this game was probably a little bit more of
• 8:23
  Speaker 6: a rout, I think, because just the way the Kraken
• 8:27
  Speaker 6: scored some of their goals. Both teams were tired. They
• 8:30
  Speaker 6: were both coming off a game the night before. They
• 8:32
  Speaker 6: both have to travel. You know, the Flames didn't travel far,
• 8:36
  Speaker 6: but travel is travel. And they traveled in from Vancouver.
• 8:40
  Speaker 6: Kraken traveled in from Edmonton, and the Kraken had the
• 8:42
  Speaker 6: length in that game. I mean, you saw it right away,
• 8:44
  Speaker 6: Maki Samuskiewicz going– Basically, length of the ice to catch
• 8:48
  Speaker 6: up to a clearance attempt by Brandon Montour and outraced
• 8:52
  Speaker 6: the defender and scored. And I mean, that was the
• 8:54
  Speaker 6: story of the game because Kraken had the legs. The
• 8:56
  Speaker 6: Plains did not. And six to one was our final.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, the tongue-in-cheek thing is, can there be more
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: games against Calgary here on the schedule? But this is
• 9:05
  Speaker 2: how crazy it's all kind of shook out here at
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: this point with your first two games against a team
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: that many are saying aren't going to be in this mix.
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: They're going to be well on their way to being
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: a lottery team. And I mean, Jeff, I think you
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: hit on it quite well, where it looked as if
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: they came off the plane last night and they were
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: still groggy from the previous game in Vancouver. The thing is, though,
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: you found a Kraken team that knew perhaps Calgary wanted
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: to come in with a bit of an angrier edge
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: here to their game because they were run out of
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: their own building on opening night, and yet the Kraken
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: basically ran them out of the building again in short
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: order even quicker as compared to Thursday night. 13 goals
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: the Kraken have scored this season. I'm not sure, though,
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: if you caught this stat here from Sportsnet. Worst goal
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: differential through the first three games of a season. in
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: NHL history. The Flames, this year, third worst start in
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: league history at a minus 13 goal differential. The only
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: other two teams who were worse are the 75-76 Kings
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: at minus 14, the 81-82 New York Rangers at minus 15.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: So you're going to have people talking about, well, is
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: this more of a Kraken offense or is this more
• 10:26
  Speaker 2: of just, I think, how much Calgary is on a
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: high-speed train here to Lotteryville. But what did you make
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: out of the effort from the Kraken side with what
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: also they faced here against Calgary for the first two games?
• 10:38
  Speaker 6: I think the Kraken pivot from the goaltending of Joey
• 10:41
  Speaker 6: Decord in both games, I'm not by a long shot
• 10:45
  Speaker 6: going to say those Kraken games were perfect. They had
• 10:48
  Speaker 6: some lulls in both of those games against Calgary, and
• 10:51
  Speaker 6: the lull that we saw in this one on Sunday
• 10:56
  Speaker 6: came in the second period. I mean, there was one
• 10:58
  Speaker 6: point where Calgary was really badly out shooting the Kraken.
• 11:00
  Speaker 6: It was still a 3-0 game, and Joey Decord was
• 11:03
  Speaker 6: making some big saves when he had to. And then finally,
• 11:05
  Speaker 6: you know, the Kraken broke through and got the Shane
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: Wright goal to make it 4-0. And that's kind of
• 11:09
  Speaker 6: when the roof fell in on the Flames. But if
• 11:12
  Speaker 6: the Flames get a goal there, it's 3-1. You never know.
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: And the same thing happened in Calgary. You know, the
• 11:17
  Speaker 6: Kraken scored three goals on six shots in the first period.
• 11:20
  Speaker 6: A little bit of a lull, I thought, after that.
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: And the court made some big stops. And he kept
• 11:26
  Speaker 6: it a 3-0 game until early in the third period
• 11:29
  Speaker 6: where the Kraken put that one away. And so... You know,
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: it hasn't been perfect. And maybe, you know, there's a
• 11:34
  Speaker 6: good chance a better team might have capitalized on the Kraken.
• 11:37
  Speaker 6: So we shouldn't go planning any Stanley Cup parades just
• 11:40
  Speaker 6: yet unless they go right through downtown Calgary, maybe. We
• 11:45
  Speaker 6: might be able to do that. But in all honesty,
• 11:48
  Speaker 6: I mean, I like the Edmonton game. I like the
• 11:51
  Speaker 6: way the Kraken played in Edmonton, you know, against a
• 11:54
  Speaker 6: much better team. And I think we got a better
• 11:56
  Speaker 6: gauge of where they're at there because that was a
• 11:58
  Speaker 6: tough game. They got a, you know... Oilers caught a
• 12:02
  Speaker 6: bit of a break on their first goal. It was
• 12:04
  Speaker 6: a tough angle that they scored on. First shot on net.
• 12:06
  Speaker 6: Then the Kraken take a whole bunch of penalties and
• 12:08
  Speaker 6: somehow they survived that and then they got to play
• 12:10
  Speaker 6: their game. And we saw what the Kraken game looked like.
• 12:12
  Speaker 6: They went toe-to-toe with the Oilers. They weren't outskated by them.
• 12:15
  Speaker 6: They weren't. impressed by their speed. They really shut them
• 12:18
  Speaker 6: down and could have won that game. Devin Levi with
• 12:22
  Speaker 6: a fantastic save. If he doesn't make that save on
• 12:25
  Speaker 6: Jordan Eberle, maybe the Kraken are 3-0 right now. So
• 12:28
  Speaker 6: that was a good test of what they had. I
• 12:30
  Speaker 6: think a far more representative test of what the Kraken
• 12:33
  Speaker 6: can show. They didn't win that game and they lost
• 12:35
  Speaker 6: on a bad bounce, but You know, they went toe-to-toe
• 12:38
  Speaker 6: with the Edmonton Oilers, who are still a very formidable team.
• 12:41
  Speaker 6: And I think that bodes well. They have to play
• 12:44
  Speaker 6: their game, and they have to play it for more
• 12:46
  Speaker 6: than a period or two. And they took advantage of
• 12:49
  Speaker 6: the play. They had to win those games, and they did.
• 12:51
  Speaker 6: So I'm not going to criticize them for it, but
• 12:53
  Speaker 6: they weren't perfect.
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Jordan Eberle even tipped his cap to Devin Levi,
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: saying it was a heck of a save that he made.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: And you're right. I mean, if that glove is about
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: probably five more inches past the goal line, the Kraken
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: could easily be 3-0 here. on the schedule as Jeff
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: Baker joins us right now.
• 13:10
  Speaker 6: Let me tell you a funny story. Not too many
• 13:13
  Speaker 6: people know this, but Devin Levi's mother used to babysit
• 13:16
  Speaker 6: my brother and me when we were kids growing up
• 13:19
  Speaker 6: in the Montreal suburb of Laval. Actually, I was texting
• 13:21
  Speaker 6: with her after the game the other night, and she
• 13:25
  Speaker 6: actually read our story. She was very happy about it.
• 13:27
  Speaker 6: And so it's funny. It's a small world right now.
• 13:31
  Speaker 6: And so it was interesting seeing Levi play basketball playing
• 13:34
  Speaker 6: that and do so well. I'm not so sure his
• 13:36
  Speaker 6: glove wasn't five inches behind the line, to be honest
• 13:38
  Speaker 6: with you. The replays were kind of inconclusive. I actually
• 13:41
  Speaker 6: thought Everly did score that goal.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: I'll see your Devin Levi story and raise you a
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Dustin Wolf story. And it's pretty easy here for the
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: fact that kind of Connect the dots. Everett Silvertips for him.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Everett Silvertips for me. We did cross paths for a
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: few years. And Dustin's one of the all-time greats as
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: far as who I got to know off the ice
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: before he went on to Calgary. I had a chance
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: to play golf with him three times, Jeff. And this
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: is where I gave him the gears because I went,
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: wouldn't it be nice to have your kind of athleticism?
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: I might be the least athletic guy on the entire planet.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Dustin Wolf didn't pick up a single golf club. until
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: 16 years of age and by age 19 when I
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: played a round of golf with him out in Snohomish
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: he was already breaking 80 and I went you gotta
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: be kidding me here so that's just what hockey players
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: are they are freak athletes and the game of golf
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: really just kind of separates the haves and have-nots but
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: he's he's a fun guy to play with so you
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: have your own goalie story from early on in this
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: season I have my own goalie story from early on
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: here in this season but On to Mackie Samuskevich and
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: the kid production from Sunday as Al and I got
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: to the postgame show. Two goals for him. In his
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: home debut, there really couldn't have been a finer way
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: for him to say hello Seattle. He was bumped up
• 15:00
  Speaker 2: right back to the line that he played with in
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: training camp. Left wing Jared McCann, Matty Beneers as his center.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: And Jeff, you pointed this out. First goal, he left
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: an absolute vapor trail behind Kevin Ball and Zach Whitecloud.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: What did that game tell us where he's at and
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: where he fits in with that top line?
• 15:20
  Speaker 6: Well, it just changes the entire look of the team.
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: I mean, between him and Bobby McMahon, you've got two
• 15:24
  Speaker 6: of the elite, fastest skaters in the entire National Hockey League.
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: And so you throw them on, especially two different lines,
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: it's like, where do you start defending? You know, it's
• 15:35
  Speaker 6: just a whole other element this team has now. And
• 15:38
  Speaker 6: then you put a guy like Ryan Winterson, who we
• 15:40
  Speaker 6: know also has some jets. You've got Chandler Stevenson, who
• 15:42
  Speaker 6: can also skate very, very fast. You know, you've gone
• 15:46
  Speaker 6: down the line and all of a sudden, you know,
• 15:48
  Speaker 6: this team, when they play the Edmonton Oilers, they all
• 15:51
  Speaker 6: of a sudden don't look so slow because, you know,
• 15:54
  Speaker 6: suddenly we can keep up to them offensively and defensively.
• 15:58
  Speaker 6: You know, one of the things Lane Lambert wants to
• 15:59
  Speaker 6: do with this year's team is use the speed to
• 16:02
  Speaker 6: get in guys' faces. He wants to use the speed
• 16:05
  Speaker 6: to track down guys and knock them off the puck
• 16:08
  Speaker 6: before they can get in. uh, you know, possession started
• 16:11
  Speaker 6: in your offensive end and transfer from defense to offense.
• 16:14
  Speaker 6: And that, that's what speed does. So we saw the
• 16:16
  Speaker 6: raw speed, uh, on Sunday with Dennis Gavish, basically going,
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: you know, blue line, a blue line to track down
• 16:22
  Speaker 6: a puck that was about to bounce. And then, you know,
• 16:24
  Speaker 6: you saw the defender ball, it starts to panic. Cause
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: he could kind of, I think he could sense what
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: was happening and he tried to reverse course and, ends
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: up tripping over his own two feet, and Travis Davis
• 16:34
  Speaker 6: just burns by them. We saw Stevenson do that in
• 16:37
  Speaker 6: Calgary on the first night. Two defenders collided into each other,
• 16:41
  Speaker 6: and he basically leaped over the second one to score
• 16:43
  Speaker 6: a breakaway goal. But that's what speed does. It destabilizes teams.
• 16:47
  Speaker 6: And we've already seen some really good examples of it
• 16:49
  Speaker 6: here in the first three games. This looks like a
• 16:51
  Speaker 6: different Kraken team. Again, we're not planning any Stanley Cup
• 16:55
  Speaker 6: parade routes unless they go through downtown Calgary. But right now,
• 16:59
  Speaker 6: it's been nice to see, and it's one thing to
• 17:02
  Speaker 6: talk about it, but I think fans getting a chance
• 17:05
  Speaker 6: to see it the other night, I think that really
• 17:07
  Speaker 6: meant a lot for the Kraken, and I think it
• 17:10
  Speaker 6: bodes well.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: They beat a team twice, and convincingly, who they could
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: beat and should beat as well. I want to point
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: out the fourth goal that Berkley Catton set up for
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: Shane Wright. That capped off a multi-point game for Catton.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: And the point of this is that virtually none of
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: the goals the Kraken scored were back on Sunday night
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: were cheap. And what Catton did to absolutely turn the corner,
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: stop on a dime, and then set up Shane Wright,
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: a bit awkwardly for Wright's backhand, but still parked it
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: in swift, near-spinorama fashion. I mean, my goodness. It was
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: impressive as it gets. I said in the postgame show,
• 17:44
  Speaker 2: Bertley Catton's shifts are turning into must-see stuff here these days.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: It took him 28 games last year for him to
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: get his first career NHL goal. He got his first
• 17:55
  Speaker 2: in just his third game of the season. He's got
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: a pretty good weapon here with Shane Wright on the
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: right side, who moved over from the center, and the
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Kraken can utilize his shot as a weapon on that line.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: But back to Katton, who is a facilitator on that line.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: How convinced, Jeff, maybe are you that he could hit
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: 20 goals, maybe between 40 and 50 points this season?
• 18:18
  Speaker 6: Well, I mean, I think those are expectations that are
• 18:21
  Speaker 6: realistic with where he was drafted. That said, we're talking
• 18:25
  Speaker 6: about statistics. I thought he had a really good game
• 18:28
  Speaker 6: on the opening night. I think he had one assist
• 18:31
  Speaker 6: in Calgary, if I'm not mistaken. But even when he
• 18:33
  Speaker 6: wasn't involved in scoring plays, you could see it on
• 18:36
  Speaker 6: all his shifts, both offensively and defensively. He was playing
• 18:39
  Speaker 6: with confidence. He was playing with speed. And he's playing
• 18:42
  Speaker 6: with controlled speed, which is important. You don't want to
• 18:44
  Speaker 6: go flying out of control and get caught up ice.
• 18:47
  Speaker 6: I mean, he was not getting bumped off pucks, which
• 18:49
  Speaker 6: was nice to see. And that's what 10 pounds of
• 18:51
  Speaker 6: extra muscle will do for you. And I was sitting
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: next to a scout in the press box. He was
• 18:57
  Speaker 6: saying that's the best he's seen Berkley Catton look at
• 19:00
  Speaker 6: any time in his NHL career. And at that point,
• 19:02
  Speaker 6: I think it was still like a 1-0 game or something.
• 19:05
  Speaker 6: It wasn't even close. but Berkeley was setting himself up
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: for some really good scoring opportunities. He teed one up
• 19:10
  Speaker 6: for Brandon Montour to have a great scoring opportunity. He
• 19:13
  Speaker 6: looked really good. And so that's what I've been seeing.
• 19:15
  Speaker 6: I mean, if he keeps playing like that, I think
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: good things will happen for him. Whether he gets 20,
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: 30 goals, I don't know. It would be nice, really
• 19:22
  Speaker 6: nice for the Kraken. You've got a bunch of guys
• 19:24
  Speaker 6: now in the Kraken who are pacing towards 50-point seasons.
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: Whether he keeps up or not, that remains to be seen.
• 19:30
  Speaker 6: But if they can transfer some of that defense-first mentality
• 19:34
  Speaker 6: into more offense, which is what they're trying to do
• 19:37
  Speaker 6: by connecting the forwards and the defenders, then I think
• 19:39
  Speaker 6: it could be for an interesting season this year.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: What's your read on goaltending so far through three games.
• 19:44
  Speaker 6: It's been outstanding the goaltending honestly has been uh it's
• 19:50
  Speaker 6: been playoff caliber goaltending i don't think anybody's going to
• 19:53
  Speaker 6: disagree with me joey the court came you know three
• 19:57
  Speaker 6: minutes from a shutout his first game he was like
• 19:59
  Speaker 6: five minutes from a shutout on sunday night and then
• 20:01
  Speaker 6: philip grubauer allowed that one goal early and then didn't
• 20:04
  Speaker 6: allow a thing the rest of the game until they
• 20:05
  Speaker 6: got a lucky bat oil has got a lucky bounce
• 20:07
  Speaker 6: and scored on him but i mean If your goalies
• 20:09
  Speaker 6: are allowing one legit goal a game, you should win 90%
• 20:12
  Speaker 6: of those games, right? 95%. So I think that bodes
• 20:17
  Speaker 6: very well. I think it was interesting that they got
• 20:19
  Speaker 6: Drew Bauer in right away this time. Last season, I
• 20:22
  Speaker 6: think they had to wait. I'm trying to remember. It
• 20:24
  Speaker 6: was a few games before they were able to get
• 20:26
  Speaker 6: him in. I think they got him in to the
• 20:28
  Speaker 6: Ottawa game, which was the fourth game of the year.
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: This season, they got him into the second game of
• 20:32
  Speaker 6: the year. So we'll see if they can work him
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: in a little more earlier. and keep both goalies going
• 20:36
  Speaker 6: at a good rhythm. But Decord so far looks like
• 20:40
  Speaker 6: he did at the start of last season, and he
• 20:42
  Speaker 6: was very good at the start of last season. So
• 20:45
  Speaker 6: I think that's the least of their concerns at this point.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Jeff, I think it's fair to say the test gets
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: a little bit tougher coming up tonight because here come
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: the Vegas Golden Knights defending Western Conference champions. Rolling into town,
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: so it's a bit of a steep climb, presumably more
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: so uphill than what the Kraken saw in their first
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: two out of three games. Vegas did lose a guy
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: in Pavel Dorofeev, but they still got a familiar cast
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: who has been helping them out from the William Carlsons
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: down to the Markstones, etc., We saw perhaps last season
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: the Kraken figure out Vegas a little bit more, and
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: they got them for three games in four days. But October,
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: of course, can be very sloppy hockey. We presume that
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: when you face a team that can be as big
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: and as brawny and as muscular as Vegas is, you've
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: got to win the battle here in the Weaves. But
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: to you, the biggest key coming up here for tonight
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: is what?
• 21:41
  Speaker 6: I think the Kraken have to keep playing their game.
• 21:43
  Speaker 6: They have to keep using their speed. You know, Steve
• 21:46
  Speaker 6: can negate a lot of size most of the time.
• 21:49
  Speaker 6: And the Kraken have gotten bigger. They're not, you know,
• 21:51
  Speaker 6: they're not the team you push around as much as
• 21:54
  Speaker 6: you could have a few seasons ago. They've gotten bigger.
• 21:58
  Speaker 6: They've gotten bigger up front. They've got more of a
• 22:00
  Speaker 6: feisty attitude, I think. And, I mean, I think that
• 22:04
  Speaker 6: bodes well. I think they're running on a bit of
• 22:06
  Speaker 6: momentum right now. One game in a row is not
• 22:08
  Speaker 6: necessarily momentum, but I think they've played three really good
• 22:11
  Speaker 6: hockey games. I don't think they've been overly sloppy, at
• 22:15
  Speaker 6: least not more than any other team given the short preseason.
• 22:19
  Speaker 6: So I think it's an interesting test because I think,
• 22:22
  Speaker 6: you know, even when the Kraken didn't have as much speed,
• 22:24
  Speaker 6: as you mentioned last season, they were still able to
• 22:27
  Speaker 6: win three out of four against Vegas. And, you know,
• 22:31
  Speaker 6: I don't think they're, they've seen Vegas so much and
• 22:34
  Speaker 6: they've never, they never quite had as many problems with
• 22:38
  Speaker 6: Vegas as they have, let's say winning games in Edmonton.
• 22:40
  Speaker 6: The record hasn't always been great, but they've always played
• 22:42
  Speaker 6: Vegas really tight, really close. And, and I, I think,
• 22:46
  Speaker 6: I think their styles, you know, they might not compliment
• 22:50
  Speaker 6: one another, but I do think the cracking matchup. Okay.
• 22:55
  Speaker 6: I do think that what they have to do is just, Vegas, look,
• 22:58
  Speaker 6: we know this. They get all their goals. They get
• 23:00
  Speaker 6: the puck back to the point. They throw it to
• 23:01
  Speaker 6: the net. They got a ton of guys in front
• 23:03
  Speaker 6: of the net, and that's typically how they score. So
• 23:05
  Speaker 6: I think the Kraken just have to keep doing what
• 23:08
  Speaker 6: they've been doing, blocking shots, boxing out lanes, and keeping
• 23:12
  Speaker 6: the lanes free so that their goaltenders can see what's
• 23:15
  Speaker 6: coming in. I think if they do that, they'll be
• 23:17
  Speaker 6: all right. They haven't been allowing a lot of stuff
• 23:20
  Speaker 6: down low this season so far. Even Edmonton, a lot
• 23:23
  Speaker 6: of their shots were kept to the perimeter. So that's good.
• 23:26
  Speaker 6: They can keep that. going with Vegas and just box
• 23:29
  Speaker 6: those guys out in front, I think they'll be okay.
• 23:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah, because you have to answer here for guys like
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: Jack Eichel, like Mark Stone, Mitch Marner, Ivan Barbashev, guys
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: who know how to execute and guys who know how
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: to produce, especially at the front of the net as
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: Vegas squeaked one out over Vancouver in their last game,
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: 3-2 on Sunday. Looking forward to it. Jeff, thanks very
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: much once again. We'll catch you soon.
• 23:50
  Speaker 6: Sounds good, Mike. Take care.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: All right, Jeff, looking forward to seeing you once again
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: around these parts. Appreciate you once again. Jeff Baker of
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: SeattleKraken.com joining us here ahead of the Kraken and the
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Vegas Golden Knights. It will be the first of four
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: matchups on the regular season. The Kraken don't go to
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: Vegas until January and the Golden Knights come right back
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: here at around spring training time to wrap up the
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: regular season series on March 23rd. Some AHL news we
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: need to give a nod to. Yanni Newman on Monday
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: was named AHL Player of the Week. He is off
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: to a torrid start right now for the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Back on Saturday, he picked up the first hat trick
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: of his American Hockey League career in a win over
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: the Ontario Reign. He has started this season with a
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: whopping five goals and six points. in just two games.
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: Could it be a matter of when, not if, he
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: is called back up? Time will tell, but for the meantime,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: Newman and the Firebirds getting set to get back to
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: work for their next game Friday at home against the
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: San Diego Goals. In the meantime, the Kraken looking for
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: three wins in their first four games against the Vegas
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Golden Knights this evening. First of four matchups, and we've
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: got it all for you. beginning at 6.40, airtimes at
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: 6 on 93.3 KJR FM and the Global Credit Union
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: Kraken Audio Network with Talkin' Kraken taking you up to
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: an hour after the final horn. Big thank you once
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: again to Jeff Baker for joining us after Kraken this morning.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: I'm Mike Benton. Have a happy Tuesday. Your home for
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: the Kraken. Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.