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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: We're getting warmer (9/24) · 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: All right.
• 0:12
  Speaker 3: Once again, welcome to game day. Mike Benton with you.
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: The Kraken tonight take on the Calgary Flames in the
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: second of two preseason meetings. But in case you love
• 0:20
  Speaker 3: your Kraken and Flames matchups, don't be worried.
• 0:23
  Speaker 4: They'll see quite a bit of each other.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: In the not-too-distant future and for quite a while. As
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: far as preseason matters are concerned, it happens this evening
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: at Climate Pledge Arena. Take note, 6.40 p.m.
• 0:37
  Speaker 4: Start time.
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: We're also on the air exactly at that same time.
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: Short pregame show along with a short postgame show intermission
• 0:44
  Speaker 3: all wrapped around that on Sports Radio. 9.50 KJR AM.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: Everett Fitzhugh, Al Koniski on the call. I'll join you
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: as well for additional coverage later throughout the pregame intermission
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: and postgame sides. Coming up, we'll have a conversation with
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: Jeff Baker of SeattleKraken.com. You'll want to take a look
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: at some of his handiwork on the Kraken website. A
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: couple of great pieces he wrote, by the way, on
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Bobby McMahon, and also how the Kraken are growing the
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: game externally outside the glass, revolving around a new installation
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: of a sport court not too far away from Kraken
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: Community Iceplex. And a great story behind Ty Nelson, who
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: was a part of the proceedings. That plus our look
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: at developments on the Kraken roster here for training camp.
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: Jeff Baker has all of that coming up in.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: Just a bit.
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Well, the Kraken 2-0 in preseason had no problems handling
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: the Flames in their previous matchup. It was a Sunday
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: 4-2 victory where a majority of the Kraken future were
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: involved in the cause on goals from Ty Nelson, Jagger-Ferkus,
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: Logan Morrison, and an empty net goal from J.R.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Avon.
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: After that, sweeping roster cuts all across the Kraken training
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: camp side.
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: What's left right now?
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: 27 players, and barring injury, the Kraken must get those
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: numbers down to 23 for the opening night roster. So
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: what we could be looking at here for tonight.
• 2:07
  Speaker 4: And for Saturday.
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: as close of a look as it gets potentially to
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: the opening night roster. The only subtraction right now is
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: for Jake O'Brien, day-to-day with a lower body injury. Besides that,
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: as calm as it gets across all four forward lines
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: and the defensive pairings heading into preseason game number three
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: of four. Before we get to Jeff Baker, here's Cracket
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: Head Coach Lane Lambert meeting with the media after practice
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: on Wednesday, beginning with his views on a pretty calm
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: lineup situation.
• 2:38
  Speaker 5: Well, short camp, get some continuity here before heading into
• 2:43
  Speaker 5: the first game of the year. And last season I
• 2:49
  Speaker 5: came in, it was my first look at every player
• 2:52
  Speaker 5: and sort of some combinations that we had and switched
• 2:56
  Speaker 5: things up a little bit. This year we come in
• 2:58
  Speaker 5: with a little bit more knowledge potentially, make a couple
• 3:01
  Speaker 5: of adjustments to our lines, but for the most part
• 3:04
  Speaker 5: we're in a position here to kind of get going
• 3:08
  Speaker 5: right from the start based on the short training camp.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: Billy Altavainen was one of the guys who stayed through
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: the big round the other day.
• 3:17
  Speaker 4: What have you seen in his game? I know you
• 3:18
  Speaker 4: called him out the other day as somebody.
• 3:20
  Speaker 5: That stuck out to you. Yeah, he's a big body.
• 3:25
  Speaker 5: He defends well. He gets in the way. I think
• 3:28
  Speaker 5: from this year compared to last year, I think his
• 3:33
  Speaker 5: foot speed has improved. His stick position has improved. I
• 3:35
  Speaker 5: think they've done a good job with him in Coachella Valley.
• 3:39
  Speaker 5: you know, Derek Laxall and Stu Bichl when he was
• 3:42
  Speaker 5: coaching there. So, you know, he's put himself in a
• 3:46
  Speaker 5: position here to get a longer look.
• 3:49
  Speaker 3: You guys lost a big body off the blue line
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: with J.B.
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Alexiak leaving.
• 3:53
  Speaker 6: Is that almost part of the succession plan, knowing that
• 3:55
  Speaker 6: you had Otavainen there, who's another guy with a lot
• 3:59
  Speaker 6: of reach and size and all those kinds of things?
• 4:02
  Speaker 5: Well, I think that, you know, I think There was
• 4:06
  Speaker 5: a decision made with Jamie Oleksiak, and we feel like
• 4:11
  Speaker 5: certainly Cale Fleury and Josh Mahura, who spent months extra
• 4:17
  Speaker 5: skating last year and played well when they played, were
• 4:24
  Speaker 5: in and earned an opportunity to fight for that spot.
• 4:30
  Speaker 7: Lane, I know there'll be different combinations along the way,
• 4:33
  Speaker 7: but what specifically do you.
• 4:34
  Speaker 6: Like about Wright with Kenton and Kako?
• 4:39
  Speaker 5: Yeah, well, you know what? Shane, I think for Shane,
• 4:43
  Speaker 5: he's a shooter. You know, we've got Berkley playing in
• 4:46
  Speaker 5: the middle now instead of Shane. So we'll see how
• 4:50
  Speaker 5: that progresses and goes along. But Shane can use his
• 4:53
  Speaker 5: speed down the right side, and he can use his
• 4:55
  Speaker 5: shot down the right side. You know, Berkley, we feel Berkley...
• 5:00
  Speaker 5: has the ability to make plays, not that Shane didn't
• 5:02
  Speaker 5: from the middle. And then Kapo's a guy who's, you know,
• 5:06
  Speaker 5: he's a big body for those guys, and he can
• 5:07
  Speaker 5: make plays. And I think Kapo had a really good
• 5:10
  Speaker 5: finish to the season. He led our team in scoring
• 5:12
  Speaker 5: for a good chunk of the end. And so we're
• 5:15
  Speaker 5: looking forward to, you know, that line and using their
• 5:18
  Speaker 5: speed and then Kapo using his abilities.
• 5:19
  Speaker 6: I think the term I heard you say maybe just
• 5:22
  Speaker 6: more publicly this year is face-off-ready. Outside of that initial
• 5:27
  Speaker 6: battle on the dot, what does that mean to the
• 5:28
  Speaker 6: other four skaters on your team who are out there?
• 5:31
  Speaker 5: Well, they have to help out. You know, a lot
• 5:33
  Speaker 5: of times there's a 50-50 puck laying there, and whether
• 5:38
  Speaker 5: you win that puck or not, you know, is based
• 5:42
  Speaker 5: on how ready you are. You know, we have to be,
• 5:45
  Speaker 5: it's not just about the centermen, although we're working with
• 5:48
  Speaker 5: our centermen, certainly, but it's about the five guys on
• 5:52
  Speaker 5: the ice and everybody being ready and ready to do
• 5:54
  Speaker 5: their jobs, and you know, that's on wins and losses.
• 5:58
  Speaker 6: Where is the balance for you in coaching your players
• 6:00
  Speaker 6: where a set play maybe of how you hope a
• 6:02
  Speaker 6: face-off goes versus being able to read and react in
• 6:04
  Speaker 6: the moment where the puck maybe goes somewhere else?
• 6:07
  Speaker 5: Well, it's a great question. Certainly in our zone, everybody has,
• 6:10
  Speaker 5: you know, specific responsibilities on a loss, so there shouldn't
• 6:14
  Speaker 5: be any confusion there. Of course, things happen sometimes. You know,
• 6:18
  Speaker 5: guys fall down or whatever. And then, you know, the.
• 6:22
  Speaker 5: Thought process switches to what's the most dangerous play. You
• 6:26
  Speaker 5: have to be a hockey player at some point. But
• 6:29
  Speaker 5: it's a great question. Offensively, you may have to adjust
• 6:35
  Speaker 5: your route or whatever based on where the puck goes. Defensively,
• 6:38
  Speaker 5: you may have to adjust what you're doing based on
• 6:41
  Speaker 5: who the most dangerous player on the ice is.
• 6:43
  Speaker 7: Lane, when rookies are called up or inexperienced players during
• 6:48
  Speaker 7: the year, Are you more philosophically where you want to
• 6:52
  Speaker 7: protect them, what some people call sheltered minutes, or do
• 6:55
  Speaker 7: you want to throw them into the deep end because
• 6:59
  Speaker 7: the best way to learn is to sink or swim?
• 7:03
  Speaker 5: Well, I think it's a little bit of both. You know,
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: obviously when someone gets called up for their first game,
• 7:10
  Speaker 5: it's an exciting time, you know, and clearly there's the
• 7:14
  Speaker 5: butterflies going and whatnot. You know, and so It's always
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: good to get that first game under your belt. As
• 7:23
  Speaker 5: a coach, you can help a player with that, putting
• 7:25
  Speaker 5: them in good situations to have success initially. For us,
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: when we call our guys up, we feel they're ready.
• 7:38
  Speaker 5: We need them to be able to step right into
• 7:39
  Speaker 5: the lineup and do the job and the role that
• 7:41
  Speaker 5: they play. Certainly, the goal is not to bring a
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: a leading scorer up from Coachella Valley, and play him
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: on the fourth line. There's a potential role for everybody.
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: That's the way it works.
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: Lane, your message over the first two games to me,
• 7:58
  Speaker 4: you seem to be about playing simple.
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: How does that message change or does it over the
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: next two games, the.
• 8:02
  Speaker 4: Next two preseason games?
• 8:06
  Speaker 5: The message doesn't change. It's our team philosophy. It's philosophy
• 8:11
  Speaker 5: from the start of training camp. Whether you're a young guy,
• 8:13
  Speaker 5: whether there's a bunch of veterans in the lineup or
• 8:15
  Speaker 5: not in the lineup, you know, the philosophy doesn't change.
• 8:18
  Speaker 4: All right, joining us right now is Jeff Baker.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: You can see his handiwork and read it at seattlekraken.com.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: Doing a fantastic job documenting not just the growth of
• 8:29
  Speaker 3: this game, but the growth also of this team as
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: Jeff joins us right now ahead of the Kraken and
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: the Calgary Flames for one.
• 8:35
  Speaker 4: More preseason go around on home ice. Jeff, I can't
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: believe it.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: It's a preseason that felt like just began yesterday, but
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: it will feel like it's going to end tomorrow.
• 8:46
  Speaker 4: Great to have you. How are you doing?
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: I'm doing great.
• 8:48
  Speaker 8: It feels like we're always going to play the Calgary Flames,
• 8:50
  Speaker 8: so then we're flying to Calgary a week from.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Today to start the regular season.
• 8:54
  Speaker 8: And, yeah, by the time October's over, I think we'll
• 8:57
  Speaker 8: be glad we've seen the last of the Calgary Flames.
• 9:01
  Speaker 8: I think I actually love short preseasons. I used to
• 9:05
  Speaker 8: cover baseball for 16 years for two newspapers, and now
• 9:09
  Speaker 8: Spring training would last two months. So the shorter it
• 9:12
  Speaker 8: is until we get the real games, the happier I'm
• 9:15
  Speaker 8: going to be. As for the players, I think they're
• 9:17
  Speaker 8: going to be happy as well. I don't think they
• 9:18
  Speaker 8: like playing games that don't matter, even though they like
• 9:21
  Speaker 8: to get themselves in shape. So they're probably just as
• 9:23
  Speaker 8: excited to get this season going.
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, yeah, first things first, it's going to
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: be crazy here to all of a sudden see Calgary
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: completely done on the Kraken schedule in after early November,
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: just before the team goes all the way out to Finland.
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: But this is kind of funny how it just works
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: out from time to time. But I mean, I love
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: where you got at with the preseason schedule. And I
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: happen to ask Jordan Eberle this question the other day
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: after practice at Kraken Community Iceplex. And paraphrasing this, he
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: explained just how much Or how beneficial it is, you know,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: for the veterans in this dressing room because the team
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: had injury issues this last season. And, you know, you'll
• 10:00
  Speaker 3: have some teams who echo those same sentiments where when
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: you go from, you know, say six or eight right
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: down to four, there's less opportunity for players to go
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: on the ice and get hurt. Now, knock on wood,
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: nothing's going to happen here in these next two games.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: The you know, anybody, let alone someone significant here in
• 10:17
  Speaker 3: this lineup. But I mean, it just seems like it's
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: as calm as it's been as far as this roster
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: is concerned with the regular season right around the corner.
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: But Did you happen to get a look at Rod
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: Brendamore's comments the other day where he went on, I believe,
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: on Toronto Radio, local sports radio out there, and said.
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: You know what? The heck with it.
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: I wouldn't mind actually just completely gassing the entire preseason
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: and going to 86 regular season games.
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: So I just think from your general observations, what's your
• 10:46
  Speaker 4: take on that?
• 10:47
  Speaker 8: My take is I told somebody exactly the same thing
• 10:50
  Speaker 8: down in the Kraken locker room today while we were
• 10:52
  Speaker 8: waiting for the players to finish getting dressed and everything.
• 10:56
  Speaker 8: I said, you know, I think it was Adam Larson
• 10:58
  Speaker 8: I was saying it to. I said, man, I wish
• 11:00
  Speaker 8: you guys would just show up for camp, have a
• 11:02
  Speaker 8: practice or two and start playing the way you used
• 11:04
  Speaker 8: to do it sometimes in youth sports. And yeah, I mean,
• 11:08
  Speaker 8: I don't know that we're getting all that much observation
• 11:12
  Speaker 8: out of a couple of games. Let's face it, the
• 11:14
  Speaker 8: real Kraken roster is only going to be out there
• 11:16
  Speaker 8: for the final two exhibition games. So, you know, is
• 11:19
  Speaker 8: that going to make a huge difference? I'm sure if
• 11:21
  Speaker 8: your name is Lane Lambert, yes, it will. Or Jason Botterill.
• 11:25
  Speaker 8: But for Jeff Baker, no, I'd rather see him just
• 11:27
  Speaker 8: practice a couple of times and head out there and
• 11:30
  Speaker 8: take your shot.
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: Well, it's going to happen as far as this next
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: preseason game coming up tonight when the Kraken take on
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: the Flames. And just based on the large amount of
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: roster cuts, we'll see as close as it gets to
• 11:41
  Speaker 3: the opening night roster on the Kraken side, which also
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: means the preseason debut of Bobby McMahon. And folks, if
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: you haven't seen this yet, go ahead and check out
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: Jeff's piece at NHL.com slash Kraken on Bobby McMahon. But
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: he's one of the big storylines, Jeff, heading into this season.
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: How can he take... last year and especially the end
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: of last year and make it better? What were you
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: able to pick up, at least from Bobby's background, for
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: a player who was never, ever, ever given anything? It
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: was all earned, and here he is now, fresh off
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: the extension.
• 12:15
  Speaker 8: Well, I guess the natural thing is I just hope
• 12:18
  Speaker 8: that he doesn't.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I think you worry.
• 12:19
  Speaker 8: About that sometimes. You worry about guys maybe easing up
• 12:24
  Speaker 8: a bit after they get their first big contract.
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: It happens.
• 12:27
  Speaker 8: You see it all over sports and all sports. And
• 12:29
  Speaker 8: sometimes guys put too much pressure on themselves to try
• 12:31
  Speaker 8: to live up to their contract. So you worry about
• 12:33
  Speaker 8: that a little bit. In anybody's case, you would worry
• 12:36
  Speaker 8: about it. I think what plays into this very well
• 12:39
  Speaker 8: in his case in his world is that he doesn't
• 12:43
  Speaker 8: know any other mode, but go, go, go when it
• 12:45
  Speaker 8: comes to off the ice. I mean, for me, the
• 12:49
  Speaker 8: most telling part of that feature I wrote was talking
• 12:51
  Speaker 8: to his former assistant coach at Colgate, Dana Borges, who
• 12:56
  Speaker 8: told me, you know, about how Bobby would just literally,
• 12:59
  Speaker 8: you know, show up early to practice, run the stairs,
• 13:02
  Speaker 8: go out and practice, try to get teammates to run
• 13:04
  Speaker 8: the stairs with him, go out and practice, go home,
• 13:06
  Speaker 8: eat a burger or something, come back three hours later
• 13:08
  Speaker 8: when the rink is all closed up at night, and
• 13:11
  Speaker 8: start practicing again at night. I mean, that's a guy
• 13:13
  Speaker 8: who just lives at the rink, who just lives.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: To work out.
• 13:17
  Speaker 8: And he really didn't change that much. Even when he
• 13:19
  Speaker 8: made the NHL, he's still a workout king, going to
• 13:22
  Speaker 8: the gym all the time.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: That's just his life.
• 13:24
  Speaker 8: That's all he knows is work, work, work. And he
• 13:27
  Speaker 8: told me he's still as hungry as ever. And I
• 13:29
  Speaker 8: think that's good. I think he's got to take that mindset,
• 13:32
  Speaker 8: got to go in here and just do what he's
• 13:34
  Speaker 8: done well. in Toronto and now in Seattle for the
• 13:37
  Speaker 8: last couple of seasons. I mean, he's been a 20-goal
• 13:41
  Speaker 8: man now basically for at least two or three seasons,
• 13:44
  Speaker 8: and he almost hit 30 last season. So he knows
• 13:48
  Speaker 8: how to score. That's not going to change overnight just
• 13:50
  Speaker 8: because he got a big contract. So I think as
• 13:51
  Speaker 8: long as he keeps putting in the work, keeps doing
• 13:54
  Speaker 8: the extra stuff that's made him so good and doesn't
• 13:57
  Speaker 8: put pressure on himself, to sort of carry this team
• 13:59
  Speaker 8: by himself because he's not going to do it by himself.
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: I think he's going to do all right.
• 14:03
  Speaker 8: You know, I think we've seen the proof he can
• 14:05
  Speaker 8: be a 30 goal scorer and getting the top line
• 14:09
  Speaker 8: exposure that he has here in Seattle, top six exposure anyway,
• 14:13
  Speaker 8: I think that bodes very well for him. And he
• 14:16
  Speaker 8: brings an element of speed that this team hasn't had before.
• 14:21
  Speaker 8: And I think that's going to be really good to watch,
• 14:23
  Speaker 8: especially when you, when you have another speed guy like Mackie, uh,
• 14:28
  Speaker 8: that's now coming in new. I mean, 12 months ago,
• 14:30
  Speaker 8: this team didn't have that. Now we we've got that
• 14:32
  Speaker 8: extra element.
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: When Bobby McMahon was acquired near the trade deadline, it was,
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: For the ambition to increase team speed, we certainly saw it,
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: especially the amount of breakaways that he earned in the
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: last several days when he was a part of this
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: roster toward the end of the regular season. Then you
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: get Mackie Samuskevich, who has turned, I mean, my goodness,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: countless heads as far as the type of speed he has.
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: Played with Matty Beneers, two guys who are at Michigan.
• 14:57
  Speaker 3: Makes a lot of sense that he had Jeremy McCann's
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: finish on the left wing, which is especially huge given
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: the fact that he is playing under healthy conditions. I
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: want to turn the spotlight here to the third line, Jeff.
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: And the guy in the middle, if these lines hold
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: up like they have been in practice this week, very
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: likely we see Berkley Catton in the middle between Kapo
• 15:18
  Speaker 3: Kako and Shane Wright on the right wing. I've been
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: impressed with Catton's speed and what appears to be improved strength.
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: Others have been impressed with Catton's speed and his improved strength.
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: What's caught your eye about Catton's game so far?
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: Oh, he's stronger.
• 15:35
  Speaker 8: That's for sure. I mean, he's gotten a little bit bigger,
• 15:37
  Speaker 8: and everybody says this.
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: It's a cliche. You're in the best shape of your life.
• 15:41
  Speaker 8: You better be coming in a training camp if you're
• 15:43
  Speaker 8: a modern pro athlete. You better be in the best
• 15:44
  Speaker 8: shape of your life. But in his case, he's built
• 15:48
  Speaker 8: himself up a little bit more. He knows now what
• 15:51
  Speaker 8: it takes to play at the professional level. And don't forget,
• 15:56
  Speaker 8: he never had any pro time. He didn't get to
• 15:58
  Speaker 8: go to the NHL, the AHL. He's only been an
• 16:00
  Speaker 8: NHL player. So you look at a guy like Shane Wright,
• 16:03
  Speaker 8: it was the same thing for him. He came out
• 16:06
  Speaker 8: of junior hockey. He didn't get to play AHL right
• 16:10
  Speaker 8: away either, but the minute he went to the AHL,
• 16:12
  Speaker 8: he saw what he needed to do physically to improve,
• 16:15
  Speaker 8: and he did. He came back in camp looking like
• 16:17
  Speaker 8: a different guy, and he sort of acclimated to the
• 16:20
  Speaker 8: pro level, scored, what was it, 18 goals his first
• 16:23
  Speaker 8: full NHL season. Last year, he spent a lot of
• 16:27
  Speaker 8: the time rounding his way into what they call a
• 16:29
  Speaker 8: two-way player. I don't want to use that cliche. But
• 16:32
  Speaker 8: learning more of the defensive aspects of the game, working
• 16:35
  Speaker 8: on the responsibilities he's going to have if he does,
• 16:40
  Speaker 8: in fact, become a center full-time. So he worked on
• 16:44
  Speaker 8: a lot of that stuff, and he got better at
• 16:46
  Speaker 8: it now. He's got to improve putting the puck in
• 16:48
  Speaker 8: the net, for sure.
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: And he knows that. Everybody knows that.
• 16:50
  Speaker 8: And so that's the next step that he takes now.
• 16:53
  Speaker 8: So he's gotten over his sophomore struggles a little bit,
• 16:56
  Speaker 8: and now he gets to come back and try to
• 16:59
  Speaker 8: put it all together again.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: This season.
• 17:01
  Speaker 8: It's interesting when you mentioned that lies. So Berkeley cat
• 17:03
  Speaker 8: and back to him for a second. We knew, we
• 17:05
  Speaker 8: knew he was always elusive. We knew he was like that.
• 17:08
  Speaker 8: We knew, you know, when he's got the block, he
• 17:10
  Speaker 8: knows as a junior hockey player, he knew how to
• 17:12
  Speaker 8: avoid crushing hits and basically getting destroyed out on the
• 17:16
  Speaker 8: ice because he's not the biggest guy, but you know,
• 17:18
  Speaker 8: you also have to battle for pucks and he showed
• 17:20
  Speaker 8: last year, even though he didn't always have the physical
• 17:23
  Speaker 8: size working for him, he showed that he could be tenacious.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: He showed that he.
• 17:26
  Speaker 8: Doesn't let up and he can battle for the loose puck.
• 17:28
  Speaker 8: That's a huge part of hockey. Because if you don't
• 17:30
  Speaker 8: have the puck, you're not going to score. So you've
• 17:32
  Speaker 8: got to be able to battle for the puck. You've
• 17:33
  Speaker 8: got to be able to hold on to the puck
• 17:35
  Speaker 8: in the corners and take it out and make a
• 17:37
  Speaker 8: play with it, do something. And so I think he's
• 17:39
  Speaker 8: going to be better at that this year because he's
• 17:41
  Speaker 8: had another year to mature. I mean, I'm trying to
• 17:43
  Speaker 8: think back when I was 19, 20 years old and
• 17:45
  Speaker 8: how developed my body was then.
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you're going up against a grown man.
• 17:49
  Speaker 8: It's very difficult. It's very difficult to do at that age.
• 17:52
  Speaker 8: And so I think he's going to be good. And
• 17:54
  Speaker 8: what's interesting is all three of these guys, you've got Kako,
• 17:57
  Speaker 8: who was a number two overall pick in 2019. You've
• 18:00
  Speaker 8: got Shane Wright, who was number four overall, but spent
• 18:03
  Speaker 8: the whole year as the consensus number one overall. And
• 18:05
  Speaker 8: you've got, you know, Berkeley Catton, a number eight pick overall.
• 18:10
  Speaker 8: Some people think that was a bit of a steal.
• 18:11
  Speaker 8: And so you've got three really, really high draft picks,
• 18:14
  Speaker 8: the kind of guys that teams often tank for. Again,
• 18:17
  Speaker 8: you've got them all here on the same line. It's
• 18:19
  Speaker 8: going to be interesting to see what they do and
• 18:21
  Speaker 8: to try to take that next step forward in their progression.
• 18:24
  Speaker 3: You've got two forwards on that line who are natural
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: centermen but can play wing. They have played wing before.
• 18:33
  Speaker 3: We've seen the right shift over to the right wing.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: Lane Lambert explained it earlier after practice, but what's your
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: view with Wright playing on the right side with Katton?
• 18:42
  Speaker 8: I think they want to see what he does when
• 18:44
  Speaker 8: they isolate his goal-scoring abilities. you know, aside from the
• 18:48
  Speaker 8: center possibilities. I mean, we've seen that done with other
• 18:51
  Speaker 8: players as well. You know, it's not easy to play center,
• 18:54
  Speaker 8: especially at the NHL level. I mean, Matty Beneers has
• 18:57
  Speaker 8: taken years to perfect the defensive aspects of that game.
• 19:01
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of responsibility. There's a lot of ground
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: that you have to protect.
• 19:04
  Speaker 8: And so if you take that away a little bit
• 19:06
  Speaker 8: and isolate the player out on the wing, you know,
• 19:09
  Speaker 8: it just frees them up to do more of what
• 19:11
  Speaker 8: they do best sometimes, which is score. And so I
• 19:14
  Speaker 8: think they want to see if, you know, Shane is
• 19:16
  Speaker 8: maybe freed up from some of that if maybe that
• 19:18
  Speaker 8: can unleash some of his offensive potential. I mean, we've
• 19:20
  Speaker 8: seen Shane Wright. He's not a player who's afraid to
• 19:23
  Speaker 8: go to the net. He's not a player who's afraid
• 19:25
  Speaker 8: of doing the hard work. And so, you know, we'll
• 19:29
  Speaker 8: see if maybe they take away just a little bit
• 19:31
  Speaker 8: of that defensive responsibility.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: Maybe it's going to help him out.
• 19:36
  Speaker 8: But I don't think they've given up on him at
• 19:38
  Speaker 8: the center yet. by any stretch, but I mean, I
• 19:41
  Speaker 8: think they want to see, they want to see if
• 19:43
  Speaker 8: this can help his progression by, by doing some of that.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: Plus, I think they want to see what Berkley Catton does.
• 19:48
  Speaker 8: I mean, he was drafted number eight to be a
• 19:50
  Speaker 8: center man, so he's had only one year as a
• 19:53
  Speaker 8: 19-year-old in the NHL, and so I think they'd like
• 19:56
  Speaker 8: to see a little bit more of what he picked
• 19:58
  Speaker 8: up last season.
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: Next week on October 1 for the regular season opener,
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: they'll see him the following Sunday for the home opener.
• 20:10
  Speaker 3: Feels like cracking flames, cracking flames, cracking flames all over again.
• 20:14
  Speaker 3: Leather and torpedoes, Jeff Baker got to. We don't know
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: so much as of this recording with who the flames
• 20:20
  Speaker 3: will suit up except for 18-year-old prospect Chase Harrington. We
• 20:24
  Speaker 3: do know so much as this for the Kraken lineup.
• 20:26
  Speaker 3: It's going to be as close as it gets to
• 20:28
  Speaker 3: a dress rehearsal here for opening night for this game
• 20:32
  Speaker 3: against the Flames. But I want to turn my attention
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: finally here to a great piece, Jeff, that you were
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: able to publish recently about an opening once again of
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: a new sport court for ball hockey around the area.
• 20:43
  Speaker 3: Here in Seattle, you had Ty Nelson among Kraken prospects
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: going out to visit this. All done in Northgate, which was,
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: of course, spearheaded by One Roof Foundation's nonprofit arm. It
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: really is, once again, another example of just how much
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: this game has grown exponentially in the last five years
• 21:02
  Speaker 3: with access since the Kraken arrived. And this is kind
• 21:05
  Speaker 3: of what the mission is outside the glass, and it
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: is to grow the game. I remember when I first
• 21:10
  Speaker 3: got into hockey, this was my introduction, was starting with
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: ball hockey. And who knows if you have a kid
• 21:16
  Speaker 3: that might want to enjoy this, I think from a
• 21:19
  Speaker 3: development standpoint or a recreational standpoint, but it very well
• 21:23
  Speaker 3: could be that you could find a young kid on
• 21:26
  Speaker 3: these sport courts who then wants to graduate into ice
• 21:30
  Speaker 3: to learn to skate, to learn to play, go through
• 21:32
  Speaker 3: the junior program. And then who knows through the college
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: or junior ranks, and all of a sudden he finds
• 21:38
  Speaker 3: himself in the pros because of something like this. What
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: was the biggest impact that you took away from this
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: great event a few days ago, Jeff?
• 21:47
  Speaker 8: Well, this is the fifth sports court that our One
• 21:51
  Speaker 8: Roof Foundation from the Kraken and Climate Pleasure Arena, the
• 21:54
  Speaker 8: One Roof Foundation, they do a terrific job of improving
• 21:58
  Speaker 8: access to play for people from underrepresented communities. And, you know,
• 22:04
  Speaker 8: what I mean by that is, you know, hockey is
• 22:06
  Speaker 8: not always the easiest sport to get into. And a
• 22:09
  Speaker 8: lot of times, you know, it's easier if you can
• 22:11
  Speaker 8: pick up a basketball and go down to a basketball court,
• 22:14
  Speaker 8: dribble and just shoot on any of the hoops you'll
• 22:16
  Speaker 8: find in any of the parks around the city or
• 22:18
  Speaker 8: pick up a baseball bat and ball and just go
• 22:20
  Speaker 8: hit it at the ballpark.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: I mean, you don't have to find skates. You don't
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: have to. buy equipment. You don't have to do all
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: that stuff.
• 22:26
  Speaker 8: And so a lot of times the barrier to entry
• 22:28
  Speaker 8: is there.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: It's real.
• 22:30
  Speaker 8: And there's no ice time, you know, ice time is
• 22:32
  Speaker 8: very precious in all corners of the United States. And
• 22:35
  Speaker 8: so by, by doing this, as you mentioned, you give
• 22:38
  Speaker 8: them that entry level, you give them that taste of
• 22:41
  Speaker 8: whether or not they like it. And then a lot
• 22:43
  Speaker 8: of times they'll use inline skates, also a roller skate,
• 22:46
  Speaker 8: do roller hockey, rollerblading. And so it just kind of
• 22:49
  Speaker 8: makes it easy. And then you find out, you know,
• 22:51
  Speaker 8: are these kids interested enough? And then you create more
• 22:54
  Speaker 8: entry-level stuff for them to get out on the ice, actually,
• 22:58
  Speaker 8: and for them to get equipment and things. So this
• 23:00
  Speaker 8: is really just an introduction to the sport. I know
• 23:02
  Speaker 8: that it's near a couple of Title I schools that,
• 23:07
  Speaker 8: you know, again, underserved communities. And the kids can just
• 23:10
  Speaker 8: go there and play. And the Wondery Foundation does a
• 23:13
  Speaker 8: great job. They give free ball hockey sticks, free balls.
• 23:17
  Speaker 8: out to people usually running these sports courts or running
• 23:19
  Speaker 8: the schools themselves, and they can go out and they
• 23:23
  Speaker 8: can play and really see whether they like it or not.
• 23:26
  Speaker 8: And I think once you give them that taste, that's
• 23:29
  Speaker 8: the real first lifting of the barrier. And, you know,
• 23:33
  Speaker 8: talking to Ty Nelson, it was great, because Ty Nelson
• 23:35
  Speaker 8: came from a very disadvantaged area, part of Toronto, a
• 23:38
  Speaker 8: lot of gang violence there. And, I mean, even though
• 23:40
  Speaker 8: hockey is second nature in Canada, And stuff. I mean,
• 23:44
  Speaker 8: he still had to he couldn't go to the park
• 23:46
  Speaker 8: across the street anymore because there was a lot of
• 23:48
  Speaker 8: gang violence there. Him and his buddies had to go
• 23:50
  Speaker 8: like three miles away to a school to find a
• 23:52
  Speaker 8: place to play. So it's good to give people a
• 23:54
  Speaker 8: place where they can go and, you know, safely practice
• 23:58
  Speaker 8: their sport. And the One Roof Foundation does a tremendous
• 24:00
  Speaker 8: job of that. Andrew Bloom is the guy with them
• 24:03
  Speaker 8: who runs a lot of these development camps, a lot
• 24:05
  Speaker 8: of these what they call clinics that they invite players
• 24:08
  Speaker 8: to where they introduce players. kids to the sports and stuff.
• 24:12
  Speaker 8: So that's the fifth one they've opened around the region.
• 24:15
  Speaker 8: I believe it's the third one they've opened this year,
• 24:17
  Speaker 8: the fourth one. It might be the fourth one they've
• 24:18
  Speaker 8: opened this year. I think I've gone through the other
• 24:20
  Speaker 8: three as well.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: And so, you know, it's great.
• 24:23
  Speaker 8: It costs a lot of money to do these things.
• 24:25
  Speaker 8: They did this one in partnership with King County. King County,
• 24:27
  Speaker 8: you know, contributed $ 50, 000 to this court. And so now
• 24:32
  Speaker 8: the kids have a place to go and play right
• 24:34
  Speaker 8: in their neighborhoods.
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: It's a great day to play hockey, certainly.
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: It is a multi-sport core facility for hockey, basketball, soccer.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: And in case you're interested, Hubbard Homestead Park is the
• 24:46
  Speaker 3: place to go to check it out. Just a block
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: from Kraken Community Iceplex. Jeff Baker with a great read
• 24:51
  Speaker 3: on that, by the way, at SeattleKraken.com. Jeff, appreciate you.
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: Looking forward to the penultimate preseason game. We'll get you
• 24:57
  Speaker 3: back on again soon, man.
• 24:58
  Speaker 4: Thanks again.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Thanks again, Mike. I appreciate it.
• 25:02
  Speaker 8: Looking forward to seeing all that Calgary Flames action the
• 25:04
  Speaker 8: next month or two.
• 25:06
  Speaker 4: Thanks, Jeff.
• 25:06
  Speaker 3: And, well, if we can put it this way, that's
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: one way to get us warmed up here for the
• 25:11
  Speaker 3: regular season.
• 25:13
  Speaker 4: I'll show myself out the door.
• 25:14
  Speaker 3: Anyway, looking forward to having you here for tonight's game.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: The Kraken take on the Flames.
• 25:19
  Speaker 4: 6.40 p.m. Pacific time.
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: Puck Drop will have lineup notes ready for you closer
• 25:24
  Speaker 3: to the opening faceoff. And once again, we're on air
• 25:27
  Speaker 3: also at 6.40 on Sports Radio.
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: 9.50 KJRAM.
• 25:31
  Speaker 3: Brief pregame. and post-game coverage wrapped around the game. Everett,
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: Al Koniski, myself, we can't wait for you.
• 25:38
  Speaker 4: To join us.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Big thanks once again to Jeff Baker for hanging out
• 25:42
  Speaker 3: and for cracking this morning.
• 25:43
  Speaker 4: I'm Mike Benton. Enjoy the game. You're home for the Kraken.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.