Latest / Seattle Kraken Audio Network / KRAKEN THIS MORNING: State of the Kraken heading into the stretch drive, with John Forslund (2/25)

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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: State of the Kraken heading into the stretch drive, with John Forslund (2/25) · 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 KJRFM.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Here's Mike Benton. All right, you have waited long enough.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: The wait is finally over. Nearly three weeks of no hockey,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: at least for the Seattle Crack insider in the rearview mirror.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: The Olympic break is done and the Krack can get
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: back at it finally tonight against the Dallas Stars.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Look forward to having you by the way. Opening face off,
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: coming your way five pm Pacific time from American Airline Center.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: Mike Benton with you here for Cracking this morning on
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: a Wednesday, the twenty fifth of February, airtime four to thirty.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: Once again, albe at Network Central with you evere fits
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: you al Kiniski and Dallas to open up the first
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: of back to back games the Cracking in Saint Louis
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: tomorrow night, and then finally home coming this Saturday to
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: open a six game homestand against the Vancouver Canucks. As
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: far as this evening's contest is concern, a lot of
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: moving parts here around this game, beginning with two medalists
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: back here for the Kraken from Team Finland and Coppococko
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: and Ellie Tolvenin. We'll hear from them in just a bit,
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: plus also get more reaction for the games from John Foresland,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: Craken TV play by play voice. Great to have him
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: back with us once again. We'll get caught up as
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: well on depending trade deadline that's not too far away
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: by the way, coming up here on March six. John
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Forsland and his remarks as well, coming up in just
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: a bit.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Well, on the.
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Kraken side, you're gonna see a lot of questions Baar answers,
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: maybe closer here to face off because the Kraken skating
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: already with pretty much a full lineup in practice last
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: several days. We'll get reinforcements potentially here with Coopocaco and
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Ellie tolven And joining the team on the trip, both
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: capturing a bronze medal. Also Ryan Winterton and Ben Myers
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: each signing two year contract extensions. Myers technically for this
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: game still very much in doubt. He is on injured reserve,
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: but could be activated maybe closer here to face office.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: He was seen in a regular jersey most recently in
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: practice with a crack and along with Berkeley Catton also
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: on IR for Dallas. Well, where do you start. Miko
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: Rantanen will not play in the game. He's out two
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: weeks on IR, recently banged up at the Olympics. Raddick
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Foxa is questionable here for this game tonight. Rope Hints
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: is also out due to illness. Jake Ottinger will not
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: play in the game due to Team USA commitments. Remy
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Pourier also recalled from the American Hockey League in that place,
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: So still plenty of questions here for the Dallas side
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: on this game. Also just getting Miro Haskin and Esseln
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: Dell as well back from Team Finland and logging plenty
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: of ice time as well. We'll get to more of
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: this here with John Forsland in just a bit, well
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: the krack and celebrating the return of Capocaco and Ellie
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Toulvenan back to practice and beginning with Toulvenen, he had
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: three points in five games for Team Finland, capturing bronze,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: which was his first medal as an Olympian, but also
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: adding to a collection which includes gold medals with Team
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: Finland in two World Junior championships and Tolvi. Then after
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: practice spoke with the media, beginning on a moment he said,
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: was a once in a lifetime situation.
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: You know, come home with the bronze middal too. It
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: was pretty sure real. Yeah, I feel like the whole
• 3:25
  Speaker 4: whole whole country was supporting and uh, you know, we
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: went for the gold, but uh, luckily we got the
• 3:31
  Speaker 4: even theron.
• 3:32
  Speaker 5: Where does that rank in terms of just like your
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: hockey life experience and memories.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: No, it's up there.
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: It's it's definitely a top top memory for for for sure,
• 3:44
  Speaker 4: you know, best not best hockey. You know, how well
• 3:47
  Speaker 4: we played, how cool the experience was, seeing the all
• 3:52
  Speaker 4: the other athletes, all the hockey players, and just experience
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: and games too.
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: It was it was real.
• 3:57
  Speaker 7: How challenging was it to get over that last to
• 4:00
  Speaker 7: Canada and then come back right away and have to
• 4:02
  Speaker 7: play for a bronze medal, like to get up for
• 4:04
  Speaker 7: it after the letdown of of what happened in Canada
• 4:08
  Speaker 7: games of.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: Course, well obviously it sucks, but we had a you know,
• 4:12
  Speaker 4: we were talking that you know, it's Olympic medal. Still,
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: the bronze is a really big thing, and uh, you know,
• 4:20
  Speaker 4: it's hard harder to get ready for the game, for sure,
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: But I think the guys did really good Chop and uh,
• 4:25
  Speaker 4: you know, showed up and played the last game still,
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: you know, and we got the medal. So that's pretty sick.
• 4:31
  Speaker 4: They have have the medal and you know, the whole
• 4:34
  Speaker 4: whole country, uh, you know behind us for the for
• 4:36
  Speaker 4: the bronze medal game.
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: Too big a test?
• 4:38
  Speaker 7: Was this for you personally to to go up against
• 4:41
  Speaker 7: you know, some of the best athletes.
• 4:44
  Speaker 4: Well, well, I think it's just the honor for sure
• 4:47
  Speaker 4: playing for your country. Everybody's given one hundred percent and
• 4:50
  Speaker 4: even a little more when you play for your country.
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: And uh, that's what we did. And uh, I think
• 4:54
  Speaker 4: it was a school I think the international state is
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: the clost experience for sure, you know, playing against Sweden,
• 5:02
  Speaker 4: all the top guys there and you know, beating them,
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: I think that was that was a key moment of
• 5:06
  Speaker 4: the term.
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: And two, it wasn't your first Olympics, obviously, how would
• 5:09
  Speaker 5: you kind of compare the two experiences now you're so
• 5:11
  Speaker 5: much older and wiser from after the first one.
• 5:14
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I think this is definitely a different, different experience,
• 5:18
  Speaker 4: you know, back then I was eighteen seventeen. You know,
• 5:21
  Speaker 4: we didn't leave the village at all back then, and now,
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: you know, being able to explore Milan and you know,
• 5:27
  Speaker 4: see everything everything around it, and you know have family
• 5:31
  Speaker 4: there and friends and all that. So I think that
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: was even cooler than once.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: In twenty eighteen, Copo Kaco sits by Tolvenen in the
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: crack and dressing room. The two were teammates on Team
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Finland and Coco making the most out of his experience
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: with five points in six games, also capturing bronze, also
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: his first medal as an Olympian. It's also his fourth
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: medal overall here for Team Finland. He's got three gold medals,
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: two in the World Junior Championships and one at the
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: World Championship Hips as well. So Coco, speaking more of
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: the media, said, it wasn't experience. That was just plain fun.
• 6:06
  Speaker 8: A lot of good guys. You know, we did well also,
• 6:10
  Speaker 8: so it was really fun.
• 6:11
  Speaker 5: What moments stand out in your mind most from the
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: actual games themselves.
• 6:17
  Speaker 8: I mean the first first one was obviously a big one,
• 6:20
  Speaker 8: you know, like kinda didn't know what to expect, and
• 6:26
  Speaker 8: you know, the last one also when the win the medals,
• 6:28
  Speaker 8: So that was something you wanted when you when you
• 6:32
  Speaker 8: went there, and I mean we wanted to win the
• 6:35
  Speaker 8: whole thing, but last kind of about uh. I mean
• 6:39
  Speaker 8: still got the win on the last one, so that
• 6:41
  Speaker 8: was a good way to do in the tournament.
• 6:44
  Speaker 5: What was it like to get to share the experience
• 6:47
  Speaker 5: with Tolvenin?
• 6:49
  Speaker 8: That was pretty fun also. I mean he was helping
• 6:52
  Speaker 8: me out a lot with all the flights and everything,
• 6:54
  Speaker 8: so thanks for him about that. I was able to
• 6:59
  Speaker 8: get there, you know, so but yeah, that was that
• 7:01
  Speaker 8: was fun.
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: What is it like to be able to have the
• 7:04
  Speaker 5: opportunity to get to play hockey with just people from Finland,
• 7:07
  Speaker 5: all your teammates, you know, speaking the same language, having
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: that shared culture.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: What's that?
• 7:11
  Speaker 5: What's that feel like?
• 7:13
  Speaker 8: Yeah, it's something what's not going to happen too often.
• 7:17
  Speaker 8: I mean we kind of knew each other pretty well already,
• 7:20
  Speaker 8: so it was very good to see all those guys
• 7:23
  Speaker 8: and to play with those also, So that was pretty fun.
• 7:27
  Speaker 7: A couple of weeks you were up there leading your
• 7:30
  Speaker 7: team and scoring for for quite a bit of the tournament.
• 7:33
  Speaker 7: How much do you think your experience last year the
• 7:35
  Speaker 7: four Nations helped prepare you to take the stage here.
• 7:38
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I think a little bit. You kind of know
• 7:40
  Speaker 8: the style, how we wanted to play, same coaches, so
• 7:46
  Speaker 8: so you know, like you had come, I had a
• 7:48
  Speaker 8: couple of couple of games at the Four Nations, so
• 7:50
  Speaker 8: so I knew a little bit what to do, and
• 7:55
  Speaker 8: I would I would say it help a little.
• 7:56
  Speaker 7: Bit, just confidence. Why so how did that help your
• 7:59
  Speaker 7: game to the fact that you've got to play a
• 8:00
  Speaker 7: year ago and now you against best on best and
• 8:03
  Speaker 7: now you get to do it again.
• 8:05
  Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean I would say a lot, you know,
• 8:07
  Speaker 8: like playing against teams like Canada and we played Sweeden
• 8:12
  Speaker 8: the EVN Slovak We lost the first first game, so
• 8:15
  Speaker 8: they had a good team also, so that was a
• 8:17
  Speaker 8: lot of a lot of good games playing against the
• 8:20
  Speaker 8: best ones, you know, especially the game against Canada was
• 8:24
  Speaker 8: it was you know, something you you're not gonna play
• 8:27
  Speaker 8: too often. So so I would say it's built your
• 8:31
  Speaker 8: confidence for sure.
• 8:32
  Speaker 7: How hard was it to come back then right after
• 8:35
  Speaker 7: you lose that game to Canada and I have to
• 8:36
  Speaker 7: compete for a bronze medal, Yeah, I.
• 8:41
  Speaker 8: Mean it was, I mean pretty close. We almost bid them,
• 8:46
  Speaker 8: and and you wanted to play for the final. I
• 8:50
  Speaker 8: mean that that was our goal also, and and you
• 8:53
  Speaker 8: lost the game and then then there's like twenty four
• 8:56
  Speaker 8: hours and you have to play again for a medal.
• 8:59
  Speaker 8: So I was not easy, Bob. I think the next day,
• 9:03
  Speaker 8: like in the morning, you kind of wake up and
• 9:07
  Speaker 8: you know there's not not a chance like that. You know,
• 9:10
  Speaker 8: like it's still have a chance to win, win something.
• 9:13
  Speaker 8: So I think that was kind of the mindset, and
• 9:17
  Speaker 8: I think we did well.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Well, it's a bad time.
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: We are finally able to get back after it the
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: Crack and take on the Dallas Stars this evening. And
• 9:25
  Speaker 2: who else would we want to talk to here to
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: celebrate getting right back into the stretch drive than our
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: own John Forestland as well, Fresh Ready Reset, I think
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: a bit tanned as well from the Carolina's out there
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: joining us right now from the Crack at Hockey Network,
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: NHL on TNT, Amazon Prime as well. Johnny, Hello, how
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: are you? How's family? How's vacation?
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: Well it says here that your name is Mike Benton.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Is that crank allegedly?
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: Okay, I just want to make sure because I forgot
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: I have no you know, I'm trying to recapture memory
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: of you, and I researched some images off the off
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: the internet, and I think I refreshed myself, Mike. Be
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: great to be back with you, and I can't wait
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: to get back to work, you know. That's that's the
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: bottom line. This was this was a nice chance to
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: refresh a little bit enjoy the Olympics. But it's the
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: break is long. It's it's way too long when you
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: get down to the end of it all, and hopefully,
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: you know the players will recapture whatever energies they had
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: before the break and get on with what should be
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: an incredible twenty six game.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: I have my high mind. Name is name tag here
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: for the next home game. I've been a fan of
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: your work here for a long long time, and hey,
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: when I can meet you here for the first time,
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: I'll look forward to sharing you with some of the
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: great moments I met with you know, watching and listening
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: here to your calls. But finally nice to meet you.
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: All right, tong is out of cheek here for this.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: It's great to get back once again. But I mean, Johnny,
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of us share a lot of
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: emotions here from these Olympics. I mean the women's side
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: capturing gold. I mean, they looked like the nineteen twenty
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: seven Yankees out there with how they played. The men's side,
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: first gold in the Olympics and SA miracle on ice.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Where were your thoughts as far as the end of
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: all this and where these gold medals rank?
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: Well? First of all, I was astonished at how dominant
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: the women played and how machine like they were and
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: how efficient they were, And you know it was until
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: it got to the final game. And then the final game,
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: you know, Canada put on a heroic performance in the
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: US had to as we know, you know, storm back
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: and then win the game and get their well earned
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: gold medal. As far as the men were concerned the
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: entire tournament, I don't know. I had a lot of
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: mixed feelings watching the preliminary rounds. As we got to
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: the quarterfinals and the metal rounds and the medal games,
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: I had to wrap my head around how they were
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: going to end. There's a lot of talk about three
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: on treat hockey and whether or not this is a
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: way to determine a winner of a game like this.
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: Certainly in the last game, I think it's a strong debate.
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: But the rules are in place, and they're there for
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: a lot of reasons, and everybody agreed to it, so
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: you have got to live with it, right, so I
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: thought as the as the tournament ramped up, so did
• 12:19
  Speaker 3: the drama. And whatever we saw there on Sunday morning
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: was historic and both teams were worthy of a gold
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: medal no matter what happened in the three on three,
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: and it was a goaltending performance for the ages from
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Connor Hallibuck. I think everybody knows that. So we'll see,
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: hopefully it leaves a mark that proves to everyone that
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: the United States, who won the World championships in the
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: spring and now one Olympic gold men and women, their
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: program is right up there with the best, if not
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: the best in the world now and as far as
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: we'll recognized for that right, it will and it will
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: spur on a general of players and fans will get
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: interested in hockey and.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: General and as far as the women's side, I mean,
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: there are several players who are on Team USA who
• 13:07
  Speaker 2: play right in this backyard, which is so I think
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: incredible for it Hill thear re Nite cementing herself as
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: the greatest of all time. On the women's side, she
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: wears a tour in Jersey and then on the men's
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: side as well. I mean, you've got players who captured
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: a gold medal for the first time in forty six years,
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: and we'll see, who knows how much it really spurs
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: on the growth of players who play, especially in this area,
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: all around the Puget Sound region Pacific Northwest. But I mean, Johnny,
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: I can't help but think quite a few players who
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: had a stake in this game, the men's game, to
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: get rid of the demons of you can't win the
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: big one. Was there anybody in particular who rewrote history
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: on their side in that men's game?
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: To you on Sunday, that's an excellent question, you know,
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: I think Ellabuck has you know, unfortunately, you know, a
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: guy's won the best three of the last four times,
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: but his playoff record and his play at times in
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, you know, gets looked at as a as
• 14:09
  Speaker 3: a scapegoat for his teams, his club team's lack of success,
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: and I think that's unfair. So his his performance throughout
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: the tournament and especially in the gold medal game, you know,
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: because he was he was good, but he was outplayed
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: by Jordan Bennington in the Four Nations. You know, I
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: think Hellibus took a huge step forward. Dylan Larkin proved
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: to be an unbelievable leader, which he is. You know,
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately for him and any player who plays in the
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: league and doesn't get an opportunity to play in the
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: Stanley Cup playoffs, unfortunately, their relevance goes away. And it's
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: not fair to that player, that athlete, because some guys
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: that play on great teams for their entire careers get
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: a lot more exposure and get a lot more notoriety
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: because of the neighborhood they're in. And Larkin's case, you know,
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: his team is on the rise and it looks like
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: they would make the playoffs this year. And I thought
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: he was an exceptional player. I thought Austin Matthews showed
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: everyone for the US that is a he's a two
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: way player. He too, is getting victimized all season in Toronto,
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: as did Marner the season before. Mitch Marner, who has
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: gone on to Vegas now played very well for Team Canada,
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: but Matthews made so many great defensive plays to go
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: along with his offensive side. You know, he needs to
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: get looked at as that kind of player as far
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: as the Hughes are concerned. You know, Jack's had a
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: tough year with a major injury. His team has struggled.
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: It's kind of been a slog for him all year.
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: Quinn's elite as they get, so we got to see that.
• 15:43
  Speaker 3: But we got to see each and every one of
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: these guys for both teams. You know what they're about.
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: And I think the good news is now we get
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: to enjoy the contributions they make to their NHL teams
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: and we get back to the business year and we
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: get back to what should be a great stretch run
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: and a great playoffs.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: Here before we dive into more of that, here is
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: Matty Benier's back on Sunday with the crack and finishing
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: practice in Team USA for the men's side, fresh off
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: the gold medal, and Venier's talking more about the potential
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: for playing for Team USA again down the road. I
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: know you have short term goals here, but how do
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: you feel about playing in this thing four years down
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: the road?
• 16:20
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's for sure the goal. You know, that's every
• 16:25
  Speaker 6: US player I'm sure wants to be in it. So
• 16:27
  Speaker 6: it's you know, it's going to take a lot of work.
• 16:29
  Speaker 6: But yeah, that's that's the goal is to be on
• 16:31
  Speaker 6: that team.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: So he's already got Team USA experience in his back pocket.
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: But Johnny, based on what this team did the roster
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: construction as well, how do you feel about Beneers's potential
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: either for the World Cup in twenty twenty eight or
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: the Olympics in twenty thirty.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he has an excellent chance, obviously, and
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: I also think that his two way play, his his
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: dynamic of how he plays the game is vitally important
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: in terms of how they select these teams. You know,
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: a lot was made about the selection of the US
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: players by Bill garn In a little bit for Doug
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: Armstrong with Team Canada, but you know, in the States here,
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: I think a lot of it was about players who
• 17:09
  Speaker 3: were left off the roster. You know, the Jason Robertsons
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: and players like that, Cole Kawfield, et cetera, Adam Fox.
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: Maybe you know, players that you know should be or
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: could be, or they're better than this one or that one.
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: The bottom line is they picked a gold medal winning team,
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: and they also picked players that could fit roles within
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: a team concept because in every way it is an
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: all Star Team. But as you get through the list
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: of All Star players, you know there's a plethora of
• 17:37
  Speaker 3: great players with talent, but there's also players who can
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: bring you in tangibles in terms of killing penalties, being
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: strong defensively, you know, to win a game in the trenches,
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: which a lot of these games are like, they're all
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: game sevens when you get down to it, and that's
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: what wins. So he's going to have an excellent chance
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: moving forward. He's already made his contribution to a gold
• 17:58
  Speaker 3: medal at the World Championships. You know, USA Hockey doesn't
• 18:01
  Speaker 3: forget those contributions, especially in the spring of non Olympic years,
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: when players volunteer to play for their country at the
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: World Championships. That's a huge deal, as you know in Europe,
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: not so much here or in Canada because everybody's eyes
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: are on the Stanley Cup playoffs at the same time.
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: But Canada, over the years and throughout history, has taken
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: I think the World Championships more seriously than maybe the US.
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: That's changed within the last twenty years. Now players do
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: want to go, and the USA Hockey make sure that
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: those players that do go, Like a Clayton Keller, who
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: made this roster. You know they're will rewarded for making
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: that sacrifice at that time of the year to represent
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: their country.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: All right, here we go.
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: The Seattle Craken, entering tonight against the Dallas Stars, will
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: play in game fifty seven. They are a third place
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: right now in the Pacific Division. They are three points
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: clear of the cut line in the Western Conference and
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: the team that's on the outside looking in, the Los
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: Angeles Kings, just picked up our Timmy Paneren on the
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: day of for the Krack in their last game before
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: the Olympic break. Their odds are making the playoffs right
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: now are sixty eight percent according to moneypuck dot com.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: Strength of schedule wise twenty second in the NHL. Number
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: one is the hardest. That is a Pittsburgh Penguins Johnny,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: How do you describe the state of the krake and
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: right now entering this evening other than.
• 19:27
  Speaker 3: Just say they're in a great spot and they've worked
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: hard to get there. I have no idea, you know,
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: And I like it when I can say that. I
• 19:34
  Speaker 3: like when I can say that I don't have an
• 19:36
  Speaker 3: opinion on anything, because I don't think any of us
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: really know what this is going to be like when
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: play resumes tonight. You know, we haven't had a situation.
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: We've had bye weeks, and we've had All Star breaks,
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: and we've had Olympic breaks in the past, but this
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: was exceptionally long. And I don't recall a season with
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: a condensed schedule the way we've had it, and theedule
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: is heavily condensed as we resume. Strength of schedule I
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: never put any credence into because I have no clue
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: when they come up with these determinations because some of
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: these teams that were look to be better than they
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: are now maybe in October. The strength of schedule kind
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: of changes as the season goes along based on where
• 20:19
  Speaker 3: the teams are at. So yeah, I get it. There
• 20:21
  Speaker 3: are teams that are in playoff position now and they're
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: not maybe in a week. So how does your schedule change?
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: Bottom line is it's methodical, it's a team approach, it's
• 20:31
  Speaker 3: a day by day situation. All of these are cliches,
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: but they're all true, and this is how the team
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: has played under this coach all season. So Mike, I
• 20:39
  Speaker 3: think that's how they have to look at it. That's
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: how we have to look at it though the fans
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: should look at this is with anticipation, but we have
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: no idea what's going to happen. I can't tell you
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: what's going to happen tonight. When the puck goes down,
• 20:52
  Speaker 3: the Dallas lineup's not going to look the same due
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: to some injuries, some key injuries based on what happened
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: in Italy. M Kraken should be fit, ready to go
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: and get after it. And I like the fact that
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: they're starting on the road. It's hard to have a
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: back to back right out of the shoot, but it is,
• 21:08
  Speaker 3: you know what it is. I hate that saying, but
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: that's kind of applies here to the circumstance that we're
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: in and no one has any idea where this is going.
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: It's really hard to recapture anything that happened weeks ago.
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: That's why I season series sometimes when we look at
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: it and say, oh the crack and beat this team
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: back in October doesn't matter, you know, because the conditions
• 21:33
  Speaker 3: changed daily in the National Hockey League. So I don't
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: know what it will look like tonight. I think it
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: might be a little bit sloppy, which sometimes is exciting
• 21:43
  Speaker 3: hockey because there'll be a lot of chances. The goalies
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: better be ready and we'll just see. We'll just see
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: how it goes, and then we can analyze more on Thursday,
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: and certainly by Saturday we're back at it again. You know,
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: now we're into it. There's a small sample side of games.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: We've seen how the league has returned and now the
• 22:02
  Speaker 3: games are being played, because I can tell you before
• 22:06
  Speaker 3: the break, the style of play for me had really
• 22:08
  Speaker 3: dropped off, you know, because the players were flushed, they
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: were fatigued league wide, not just New crack Ins case,
• 22:14
  Speaker 3: league wide. The schedule had caught up to everybody. And
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: so we're still in that situation. And of course we
• 22:20
  Speaker 3: have the trading deadline that's just days away, two which
• 22:23
  Speaker 3: is going to make this very interesting.
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: So how far Johnny, We had this conversation back around
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: the Quinn Hughes deal and you mentioned trades are exciting
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: and you wish that you you know, saw more of
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: these here in this day and age. But a think
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: of the crack end taking.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: A big swing.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: We'll see what happens here. But to you, with this roster,
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: how far does a big trade move the needle for
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: them in this playoff race?
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: It to put them where they absolutely need to go.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: Could be the key, could be the difference in all
• 22:51
  Speaker 3: of this. Do I think they have enough as they
• 22:55
  Speaker 3: are to make a push? Yes, I think that's pretty obvious.
• 22:58
  Speaker 3: Can you take some pieces off the team and replace
• 23:00
  Speaker 3: them with some younger players who maybe we have already
• 23:03
  Speaker 3: seen or have not, or we just need a longer
• 23:06
  Speaker 3: look like a Fisk or Moleguard or a newman, you know,
• 23:09
  Speaker 3: Can those players come back at the after the trading
• 23:11
  Speaker 3: deadline and make a contribution? Probably? Could they make the
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: playoffs with some of those young guys that would be terrific. Yes.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: But if they're able to swing a deal and it's
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: for somebody who can break a game open and can
• 23:26
  Speaker 3: give you a little bit more street cred offensively, that
• 23:30
  Speaker 3: could be the difference. And I see it twofold or
• 23:33
  Speaker 3: maybe threefold, because it would not only, you know, energize
• 23:37
  Speaker 3: the team, but it would energize the room for the athletes.
• 23:42
  Speaker 3: And it would also re energize the fan base because
• 23:46
  Speaker 3: I think the fans are looking for something to happen
• 23:49
  Speaker 3: here and so it is a position of strengths that
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Jason Boutro is in here and GM's always like to
• 23:57
  Speaker 3: work it from strength. He's got a he's got some prospects,
• 24:02
  Speaker 3: he has some draft choices, he has some expiring contracts,
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: He's got a lot of things to come to the
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: board game with here, so it'll be interesting and I'm
• 24:13
  Speaker 3: sure he's trying. I'm sure that's the focus of what
• 24:16
  Speaker 3: the Kraken will attempt to do by March sixth, is
• 24:20
  Speaker 3: you know, get that type of player and then you
• 24:23
  Speaker 3: infuse it in the lineup. And that's why I was
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: happy to see and I hope the reports were true
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: that they were in on Paneren because our temmy Paneren.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Although the contract, if it were a four year deal
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: as opposed to two, might be a little bit large
• 24:36
  Speaker 3: and might not age well, but the least it shows
• 24:39
  Speaker 3: that they're swinging for the fences, which those of us
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: that are close to the team know that's always been
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: the case. But when things don't happen, people make their
• 24:49
  Speaker 3: opinions based on what doesn't happen, and all of a sudden,
• 24:53
  Speaker 3: it's like, you know, the ownership doesn't have a commitment
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: to win. This ownership group does. It just has to
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: be smart in terms of what they do with the money,
• 25:01
  Speaker 3: and if that player is is you know available, They'll
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: get after it. I'm sure they would.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: And for the grand finale of this conversation, what's your
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: prevailing thought on Ellie Tullividen Coppocco, Philip Grubauer in the Olympics,
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: and even then Oscar Fisker Mulgard. But on top of that,
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: how does Lane Lambert manage workload here going forward?
• 25:20
  Speaker 3: You think, well, you know, he's going to have individual
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: conversations with all those guys. It's hard for me to
• 25:25
  Speaker 3: say how any of them feel. I don't know. And
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: it wasn't lucky enough to get over there and watch
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: the games in person to see, you know, how they
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: played exactly and and how you know, maybe they you know,
• 25:38
  Speaker 3: come out of there with an injury or whatnot. I
• 25:40
  Speaker 3: don't believe that's the case. All the guys played great.
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: I thought it was great to see Oscar Fisker Moleguard
• 25:47
  Speaker 3: represent his country. Yes, and on the first power play,
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: I mean that it's a twenty year old player that
• 25:52
  Speaker 3: spent most of the year in the American Hockey League.
• 25:54
  Speaker 3: We're going to see a lot of him moving forward.
• 25:57
  Speaker 3: So that was good. Coco did a nine job. Tolven
• 26:01
  Speaker 3: in plays the same way all the time. I understand
• 26:03
  Speaker 3: he had a little bit of an illness at the
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: end of the tournament, which a lot of the players
• 26:07
  Speaker 3: were fighting off in Italy, and Gruby, you know, did
• 26:11
  Speaker 3: his thing. You know, I think he just kind of
• 26:14
  Speaker 3: brought the game that we've seen all year with in Italy,
• 26:17
  Speaker 3: tried to keep his team in the Atlanta position. But
• 26:20
  Speaker 3: unfortunately that's the problem with the tournament, and without Russian
• 26:24
  Speaker 3: involvement and Bella Russian involvement, you know you're going to
• 26:29
  Speaker 3: have disparity here. There are drop offs with some of
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: these countries. You know, when you're stacked up against a
• 26:34
  Speaker 3: roster laden with you know, twenty three twenty five National
• 26:39
  Speaker 3: Hockey League players as opposed to maybe six or seven.
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: Hard to play that way, right, And so I think
• 26:44
  Speaker 3: in Germany's case, sure they I thought they were a
• 26:47
  Speaker 3: dark horse team. I thought they would have done a
• 26:49
  Speaker 3: little bit better than they did because they have very
• 26:52
  Speaker 3: good NHL players on their roster with Stutsleern Drysidle, Insider
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: and so on and Grubauer. But when you get into
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: the deep miss of games and you're you're rolling out
• 27:03
  Speaker 3: a plus players on your fourth line, and they're playing
• 27:06
  Speaker 3: against players who play in the European pro leagues or
• 27:08
  Speaker 3: the minor leagues. You know, it's difficult. You know, that's
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: what Slovakia ran into with a goalie that's number four
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: in the Minnesota Food Change, right, so like he's the
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: second goalie for the Iowa Wild in the American Hockey League.
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: But he played heroically in the Olympic tournament. But at
• 27:23
  Speaker 3: the end of it, the NHL greatness will override it all.
• 27:28
  Speaker 3: And really there were the two teams left standing the
• 27:31
  Speaker 3: way it should have been. That's the way we're designed.
• 27:33
  Speaker 3: That's what happened, and we were treated to a historic game.
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: On some And when we all get back home, I
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: can't wait to meet you the first time for the
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: thirty second time.
• 27:42
  Speaker 3: Yeah, welcome back, reinduce, reintroduce yourself. And I can't wait
• 27:48
  Speaker 3: to see the fans again. And then and get back
• 27:52
  Speaker 3: to it, you know, let's get back to business here,
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: and enough with the hiatus and let's go.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: I'll raise the glass.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: I'll raise a glass that I appreciate you. Thank you, Johnny, Okay, Mike,
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: take care all right, big thank you to John Forestland
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: here for joining us. Johnny great calls to you, glad
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: to have you back with us as well as the
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: kracking gets set here for the Dallas Stars in their
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: third and final matchup, and the Kraken would love to
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: salvage at least a win here in this series, Dallas
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: taking the first two matchups out of three here for
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: this regular season set. The Stars are a pretty good
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: face off team, fifth best numbers right now at the
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: circle this year in the NHL, and the crack and
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: penalty kill wed Chess hat their struggles want to avoid
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: having their hands full here with Dallas, as the Stars
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: power play comes in second best in the NHL goals allowed,
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: though that could be a bit of a variable here
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: for games like this. Coming out of the break, Dallas
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: is fourth best in the NHL at just two point
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: seven goals per game. Conversely, on the Kraken side, they've
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: got health and one of the most important offensive players
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: looking to pick up right where he left off, Jereed
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: McCann nearly at point per game, totals thirty one points
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: in thirty two games. He's got a five game points
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: scoring streak heading into this contest, with nine points overall
• 29:11
  Speaker 2: and four goals as well.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: In that span.
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: No confirmations yet, but based on the pattern of back
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: to back it wouldn't be surprising here to see Philip
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: Grewbauer start this evening against Dallas and then see Joey
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: Decord get the second leg of the back to back
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: that tomorrow night in Saint Louis. Grewbauer by the way
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: against Dallas for his career a nine to one to eight,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: say percentage in fifteen career games, although just a two
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: seven and three record to show for it, and the
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: crack and looking to support him should he start as
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: well in his first game out of the Olympic break.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Coming back here from Team Germany, A lot to get
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: to you here for this one. Hope that you can
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: be with us as once again. We'll be on the
• 29:52
  Speaker 2: air at four thirty face offs little past five pm
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: Pacific time here from Dallas. Everett now on the call.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: I'll join you once again and Network Central here, so
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: open up coverage right here all across the Global Credit
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: Union Kraken Audio Network. We certainly hope that you can
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: join us. Big thank you again to John Forestland for
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: being with us and for Kraken this morning. I'm Mike Benton,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: have a happy Wednesday.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: You're home for the Kraken. Sports Radio ninety three point
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: three kJ R FM