Latest / Seattle Kraken Audio Network / KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Hello, road trip opener with John Forslund (1/10)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Well, there's only one guy that we want to talk
- 0:01Speaker 1: to here heading into the only matchup of the season
- 0:04Speaker 1: at the Carolina Hurricanes, because the hockey world is a
- 0:07Speaker 1: small world. But we are thrilled to say he is
- 0:10Speaker 1: our fifth year man behind the TV Mike play by
- 0:13Speaker 1: play wise, the great John Foresland, joining us once again
- 0:16Speaker 1: on Cracking This Morning, of course, also via Amazon Prime
- 0:20Speaker 1: in the NHL on TNT, Hi, Johnny, I think it's
- 0:24Speaker 1: been a while. Happy New Year to the man who's
- 0:27Speaker 1: got the key to Tobacco Road. I want to ask him.
- 0:30Speaker 1: We love where we live, but if there's something from
- 0:33Speaker 1: the Carolina as you wish Seattlees could experience, what would
- 0:37Speaker 1: it be.
- 0:37Speaker 2: Oh, that's a great question. Maybe it's the barbecue. I
- 0:43Speaker 2: don't know people around here. People around here will tell
- 0:46Speaker 2: you that I'm not a big fan of it either way,
- 0:49Speaker 2: and there's two different styles of it North Carolina, and
- 0:52Speaker 2: there's a huge debate over which one is the better.
- 0:56Speaker 2: I don't know. It's just a nice area and it
- 0:58Speaker 2: was a great place for us at the time. It
- 1:00Speaker 2: was a great place to embark upon a new frontier
- 1:05Speaker 2: for us after moving from Hartford and bring the NHL
- 1:08Speaker 2: to this market, but that's long gone and we're happy
- 1:13Speaker 2: where we're at right now. And you know, I would
- 1:17Speaker 2: say that's probably probably it, you know, in terms of
- 1:20Speaker 2: in terms of that even the sole Southern hospitality, I
- 1:23Speaker 2: think Mike is a little overrated if he.
- 1:25Speaker 1: Asked me, because not to compare to the PNW, you
- 1:30Speaker 1: know what, you've lived it here for yeah, the last
- 1:32Speaker 1: five years here. But I think, by the way, though,
- 1:34Speaker 1: if I do say, if I get out there, at
- 1:36Speaker 1: some point, I will be taking the golf clubs. I
- 1:38Speaker 1: have to hit a Pinehurst, Yeah.
- 1:40Speaker 2: And there's a lot of courses around the Pinehurst area
- 1:42Speaker 2: that are equal and even better. And there's plenty of
- 1:47Speaker 2: golf here. It's beautiful, and they've got a nice seashore
- 1:49Speaker 2: and the beautiful mountains, and it's a huge state that
- 1:53Speaker 2: spands about eight hours drive coast to coast. So it's
- 1:56Speaker 2: it's a nice place. There's no doubt about that.
- 1:59Speaker 1: I'll get the family I'm in there here, so it's
- 2:01Speaker 1: always a treat. And I move on to the hockey
- 2:03Speaker 1: side of this, with this team now eight ho to
- 2:06Speaker 1: two in the last ten games, and what a turnaround
- 2:09Speaker 1: versus the kind of conversation we were having I think
- 2:12Speaker 1: last time, which was I believe in the road trip
- 2:15Speaker 1: at Utah. Chandler Stephenson told me the other day about
- 2:19Speaker 1: how much this team is handling games late with a
- 2:22Speaker 1: greater sense of maturity. Then there is a goaltending part
- 2:26Speaker 1: of this. Then there's a power play part of this.
- 2:29Speaker 1: At one point, though, did this turn from just a
- 2:32Speaker 1: modest streak into something real now where they're contending for
- 2:37Speaker 1: first place heading into game forty three.
- 2:40Speaker 2: Well, I think the biggest component is that if you
- 2:43Speaker 2: can rely on goaltending consistently, you know, to carry you
- 2:47Speaker 2: through a schedule like this, and have two guys play
- 2:49Speaker 2: like they have, and especially Philip Rubamber, that's the first thing.
- 2:54Speaker 2: I mean. If you have that, you can withstand you know,
- 2:57Speaker 2: lulls in your team game, you can stand some holes
- 3:01Speaker 2: in your special teams. You can withstand knights where your
- 3:04Speaker 2: energy is not the best you know, or injuries and
- 3:08Speaker 2: all of that is part of what's going on here.
- 3:12Speaker 2: And the backbone has been the goaltending of both of
- 3:15Speaker 2: these guys. So with that in place, the team gets
- 3:19Speaker 2: more confidence and is able to play, you know, an
- 3:22Speaker 2: exceptional team game, which I think by and large, if
- 3:26Speaker 2: we're fair about this. They've been able to execute that
- 3:29Speaker 2: from day one, and even in the times where it
- 3:32Speaker 2: was hard to find a win, I don't think they
- 3:34Speaker 2: varied much in terms of how they're trying to play,
- 3:37Speaker 2: and because of that trust factor, I think they didn't
- 3:40Speaker 2: come apart at the scenes. I think a lot of
- 3:42Speaker 2: teams would have blown up, you know, the way they
- 3:45Speaker 2: were playing, you know, maybe two or three weeks before
- 3:48Speaker 2: the holiday break, and then just before the holidays they
- 3:51Speaker 2: kind of reined it in, and then since the holidays,
- 3:54Speaker 2: it's been unbelievable. So these are times you take but
- 3:58Speaker 2: it's a new beginning now tonight, you know, starting in
- 4:01Speaker 2: North Carolina with this game against the Hurricanes. This is
- 4:05Speaker 2: a very important road trip because they're going to have
- 4:09Speaker 2: some interesting things they're going to have to deal with
- 4:11Speaker 2: here right off the hop. Jordan Beverley's injury is number one.
- 4:15Speaker 2: Chandler Stevenson will be a question mark for the game tonight.
- 4:18Speaker 2: I don't believe he's going to be able to play
- 4:20Speaker 2: in a personal situation, So you know, these are things
- 4:23Speaker 2: that they're going to have to get through, and you know,
- 4:26Speaker 2: interesting goaltending choice tonight. Whether he starts the trip with
- 4:29Speaker 2: Philip Grubauer or goes back to Joey in the rotation.
- 4:33Speaker 2: I think it's likely to be Decord and you know,
- 4:36Speaker 2: it's a nine easy team to play against the start.
- 4:38Speaker 2: So it's great to have this kind of footing and
- 4:42Speaker 2: confidence going into this road trip. But if you don't
- 4:46Speaker 2: gain more traction, then you're right back to where you were.
- 4:49Speaker 2: And that's kind of how the league is for every team.
- 4:52Speaker 2: So you got to ride the roller coaster, take the
- 4:54Speaker 2: good with the bad, and see where it takes you.
- 4:56Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, it certainly seems like it's no surprise
- 4:59Speaker 1: based on the injury anymore. I mean the Cracking went
- 5:01Speaker 1: through this on a greater degree with Jaden schwartz Ou
- 5:04Speaker 1: plus Jared McCann plus Ben's done plus Brandon Montor to
- 5:07Speaker 1: a four have not yet return here from this, and
- 5:10Speaker 1: we saw Oscar fiscoal moulguard called back up here for
- 5:13Speaker 1: road trip insurance should he get in there. I mean, man, Johnny,
- 5:17Speaker 1: for the first few games, I was just impressed by
- 5:21Speaker 1: just how much he handled the pace and handle the speed.
- 5:23Speaker 1: I mean, what do you really appreciate about his game
- 5:25Speaker 1: so far?
- 5:25Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's got an excellent chance of playing tonight.
- 5:28Speaker 2: And what I like about his game is it's a
- 5:31Speaker 2: heady game. It's it's a game based on a really
- 5:34Speaker 2: good hockey sense and IQ and you know, high marks
- 5:38Speaker 2: for him, you know, making his Olympic team, and that's
- 5:41Speaker 2: going to be great for a player of his experience
- 5:45Speaker 2: and age. But the crack are going to need him,
- 5:48Speaker 2: and by all accounts, he's had an excellent season the
- 5:51Speaker 2: American Hockey League for first year guy. But that's how
- 5:54Speaker 2: he's going to do it. You know, he's going to
- 5:56Speaker 2: do it based on the soundness of his game, the
- 5:59Speaker 2: completeness of his game. That's what earns the trust of
- 6:02Speaker 2: a coaching staff, especially if you're a player like he is.
- 6:06Speaker 2: It's not like you're calling up another Ben Myers or
- 6:09Speaker 2: a John Hayden or someone who's going to come in
- 6:12Speaker 2: with pro experience. You're calling up a player with very
- 6:15Speaker 2: little pro experience. And Lane's going to have to trust
- 6:19Speaker 2: his game. And I think that built in trust has
- 6:21Speaker 2: been established. I think it was established in training camp.
- 6:24Speaker 2: I think it was there when it with his first
- 6:27Speaker 2: call up, and now that he gets the second opportunity
- 6:30Speaker 2: here it is again and he's going to be thrust
- 6:32Speaker 2: into a situation where it's going to be on the road,
- 6:35Speaker 2: and again it's going to be against some quality teams
- 6:37Speaker 2: on this trip, starting with Carolina, you know, and then
- 6:41Speaker 2: going from there, So that'll be interesting to watch.
- 6:44Speaker 1: You know. One of the favorite questions I have since
- 6:47Speaker 1: I took this job in a place where hockey is
- 6:50Speaker 1: a course prevalent, but the NHL is still new. Is
- 6:53Speaker 1: kind of addressing this here from both the sense of
- 6:55Speaker 1: how advanced hockey fans see this and new hockey fan
- 7:00Speaker 1: can see this. For the advanced hockey fans side, is
- 7:03Speaker 1: there somebody that Jacob Alanson reminds you of from the
- 7:06Speaker 1: passing games you've called? And for new hockey fans, how
- 7:10Speaker 1: can they learn a little more about this game by
- 7:12Speaker 1: watching that fourth line do work well?
- 7:14Speaker 2: I think if you if you concentrate on how they play,
- 7:18Speaker 2: and they think if you're at the game, it's easier
- 7:20Speaker 2: than say, if you're watching on television, certainly listening on
- 7:24Speaker 2: the radio, but if you're at the game, you can
- 7:26Speaker 2: watch how whoever makes up the fourth line, how they
- 7:29Speaker 2: play without the puck. And I think there was a
- 7:32Speaker 2: sequence which led to Jacob's first goal in Calgary. The
- 7:36Speaker 2: players talk about reloads, and I think the fourth line
- 7:40Speaker 2: is exceptional at doing that, and I think at times
- 7:42Speaker 2: they're better than other lines at reloading. What I mean
- 7:46Speaker 2: by this is that you know, they get in on
- 7:48Speaker 2: a Ford check where they put pressure deep in the
- 7:52Speaker 2: in the opponent's zone and try and force a turnover.
- 7:55Speaker 2: And if the other team gets the puck and they
- 7:57Speaker 2: work it up the ice, you got to really hustle
- 8:00Speaker 2: or be in find position to get back to break
- 8:04Speaker 2: the play, kill the play before it gets out of
- 8:06Speaker 2: the zone, and then counter and then come back in
- 8:09Speaker 2: and score. And in Calgary Monday night, that's what they
- 8:12Speaker 2: were able to do on Jacob Bronson's first NHL goal.
- 8:15Speaker 2: It was a reload of all three guys Myers, Winterton
- 8:18Speaker 2: and he, you know, doing just that. They do that
- 8:21Speaker 2: exceptionally well. And the other thing they do very well too,
- 8:24Speaker 2: And it's pretty easy to see and define its first
- 8:28Speaker 2: man pressure. You know, when the puck is available and
- 8:32Speaker 2: there's not total control, you know they have to read
- 8:35Speaker 2: that play first and if the puck is is a
- 8:38Speaker 2: fifty to fifty or in a situation where you might
- 8:40Speaker 2: be able to kill the play deeper in the zone,
- 8:43Speaker 2: saying back of the goal, they get in there and
- 8:45Speaker 2: make a hit, they make body contact, you know, and
- 8:48Speaker 2: really that's part of their DNA is fourth line players.
- 8:51Speaker 2: You see it with every team. The fourth line is
- 8:54Speaker 2: usually an energy group and they go out there and
- 8:56Speaker 2: they try and be physical, but it has to be
- 8:58Speaker 2: with a purpose. And I think that's how Malonson plays
- 9:02Speaker 2: the game, at least in the small sample size. He
- 9:05Speaker 2: is physical. He's purposeful though, you know, it's not like
- 9:09Speaker 2: you go out there and you run around and you're
- 9:11Speaker 2: trying to stir it up and get momentum on your
- 9:13Speaker 2: side and maybe start a fight. It's not necessarily that.
- 9:17Speaker 2: It's more or less, you know, playing the game in
- 9:19Speaker 2: a sense where you're going to get territorial edge that
- 9:22Speaker 2: will feed into the next line and then that's the key,
- 9:26Speaker 2: you know, that's the key in any game is you know,
- 9:28Speaker 2: the follow up shift. A good shift is a good
- 9:31Speaker 2: one only if it's followed up by a better one.
- 9:33Speaker 2: And when a better shift comes out, and if you
- 9:35Speaker 2: can put a third shift after that, then you're onto something.
- 9:39Speaker 2: Now you're you're dominating play, which is kind of how
- 9:42Speaker 2: the crack And played on Thursday night. They were able
- 9:46Speaker 2: and in the third period to finally do that against Minnesota.
- 9:49Speaker 2: Back to back shifts of quality kind of turn the
- 9:52Speaker 2: game around, force Minnesota to take a couple of penalties.
- 9:56Speaker 2: The Cracking we're able to cash in with a power
- 9:58Speaker 2: play goal, you know, and at least and a point
- 10:00Speaker 2: out of that game, where it was not a good
- 10:02Speaker 2: It wasn't a great game for the Crack and by
- 10:04Speaker 2: any stretch, was a poor start. There's some holes in
- 10:07Speaker 2: their game. It wasn't as efficient as we've seen, but
- 10:10Speaker 2: they were able to navigate through the game and at
- 10:12Speaker 2: least get a point.
- 10:13Speaker 1: So who's the first player from the past that may
- 10:16Speaker 1: come to mind that Malanson remind you of.
- 10:19Speaker 2: I'm going to think about this because I don't know
- 10:22Speaker 2: exactly what he's going to turn into if he becomes
- 10:25Speaker 2: an NHL player, you know, is he going to become
- 10:28Speaker 2: a player that's going to be able to put points
- 10:31Speaker 2: on the board? You know? For instance. I'm not going
- 10:34Speaker 2: to make this comparison by any stretch, because Brad Marsham
- 10:37Speaker 2: is going to be in the Hall of Fame someday, okay,
- 10:39Speaker 2: But when he was a rookie, he was a fourth
- 10:41Speaker 2: line player, okay, and he was antagonistic, and he came
- 10:46Speaker 2: up and he broke into the league, and that's how
- 10:48Speaker 2: he did it. And I don't think when he broke
- 10:50Speaker 2: in anybody expected what we have seen now over the
- 10:55Speaker 2: last you know, fifteen years.
- 10:57Speaker 1: So funny enough, what numbers do do they also wear?
- 11:01Speaker 2: It's the same number, and it's the same area upbringing.
- 11:05Speaker 2: You know, it's Halifax. He's from amhers, Nova Scotia, but
- 11:08Speaker 2: he's listed Jacob's listed as a Halifax birthplace. So is Marsham.
- 11:12Speaker 2: So they're Maritimers and it's a hard edge in the Maritimes.
- 11:17Speaker 2: They learn how to play the right way there. They
- 11:20Speaker 2: learn how to play with passion and emotion. And that's
- 11:23Speaker 2: kind of why I look at his game and say, well,
- 11:26Speaker 2: maybe there's a little bit of that in there. And
- 11:29Speaker 2: I don't want to sell him short, because anything's possible
- 11:32Speaker 2: for a player who kind of earns his key first
- 11:36Speaker 2: instead of the other way around. And then in each
- 11:39Speaker 2: off season if he becomes an NFL or, he refines
- 11:42Speaker 2: his game and then he gets more ice time and
- 11:44Speaker 2: lo and behold, he's playing with better players. He's going
- 11:47Speaker 2: to the net and they're easily putting it on his
- 11:49Speaker 2: tape and he's scoring so I don't know. I think
- 11:54Speaker 2: there's some potential there for him to play that way,
- 11:58Speaker 2: but I also believe that, you know, as of right now,
- 12:02Speaker 2: he's a he's a player that's making a difference by
- 12:05Speaker 2: doing things correctly but also getting underneath the opponent's skin.
- 12:09Speaker 2: Case in point would be Thursday night when Marcus Felino
- 12:12Speaker 2: wanted to rip his head off. You know, something happened
- 12:15Speaker 2: within that game. No penalty was called on the exchange.
- 12:18Speaker 2: Melanson went in, made a great hit on their d
- 12:21Speaker 2: it was late in the game, they went to the benches,
- 12:24Speaker 2: a couple of words were exchanged. Felino put him at
- 12:27Speaker 2: the headlock and dropped them. Should have been penalized, but
- 12:31Speaker 2: was not, probably because because it was a rookie and
- 12:33Speaker 2: a veteran in the time of game, so the officials
- 12:36Speaker 2: looked the other way. That's hockey. But to me, those
- 12:39Speaker 2: are the things that he does without taking foolish penalties,
- 12:44Speaker 2: at least till now, and he doesn't put his team
- 12:46Speaker 2: in a bad spot. So he plays an honest game
- 12:49Speaker 2: that's hard and it has a ton of energy attached
- 12:52Speaker 2: to it. And I'm cheering for him. He's a great story.
- 12:54Speaker 2: He really is.
- 12:55Speaker 1: He's so fun to watch and even more fun to
- 12:58Speaker 1: talk with as well, and one of the most warm
- 13:00Speaker 1: personalities already that you'll certainly approach in that dressing room here. Finally, Johnny,
- 13:05Speaker 1: we had a chance to watch Little Carolina. You and
- 13:07Speaker 1: I I remember back in the booth a couple of
- 13:09Speaker 1: games ago before we got underway. I mean, man, it
- 13:12Speaker 1: feels like again, same team, different year under Rod Brendam Moore,
- 13:15Speaker 1: and they're still doing their thing, moldoring all the way
- 13:17Speaker 1: to first place in the Metro at twenty seven to
- 13:20Speaker 1: fourteen and three. They've won three in a row, but
- 13:23Speaker 1: was going to find the challenge coming out of two
- 13:26Speaker 1: nights ago heading into the only matchup at Lenovo Center.
- 13:29Speaker 2: The ability to play with energy against this team will
- 13:33Speaker 2: be hard for the first game out east, given the
- 13:36Speaker 2: fact that the krack and traveled out here today or yesterday,
- 13:40Speaker 2: I should say, and have to play tonight and get
- 13:43Speaker 2: into a situation where they're going to have to find
- 13:45Speaker 2: their legs early. Because the Hurricanes have always been like
- 13:49Speaker 2: this under Rod, they worked exceptionally hard. Their game is
- 13:54Speaker 2: based on pop possession. They win a ton of face
- 13:57Speaker 2: stots and the crack and are not very good at that,
- 13:59Speaker 2: So they're going to have the puck a lot. They
- 14:02Speaker 2: put a ton of pressure on the puck, they force
- 14:05Speaker 2: you to turn it over and then they skate exceptionally
- 14:09Speaker 2: well as a group, and so if they have their
- 14:11Speaker 2: boots on they being the Hurricanes, it's going to be
- 14:15Speaker 2: tough to chase them around the rink, especially the first
- 14:17Speaker 2: game out east. So to me, establishing the game on
- 14:21Speaker 2: the Kraken terms will be important. Goaltending will be vitally
- 14:25Speaker 2: important in the game. And somehow, if you can get
- 14:29Speaker 2: the lead on this team, you're halfway home. The Hurricanes
- 14:33Speaker 2: may be the best team in hockey with the lead.
- 14:37Speaker 2: I'm not sure what the numbers are, but I know
- 14:39Speaker 2: over the years when they score first, when they have
- 14:43Speaker 2: a lead, and if it happens at home, they're hard
- 14:46Speaker 2: to be But when you force them out of their
- 14:48Speaker 2: comfort zone, when you force them to be uncomfortable, whether
- 14:52Speaker 2: it be through physical play or you're putting pressure on
- 14:55Speaker 2: them and making it hard for them to come out
- 14:57Speaker 2: of the zone, pulled up a little bit. And that's
- 15:01Speaker 2: why they've, in my opinion, they've had a hard time
- 15:04Speaker 2: advancing all the way because they are capable of running
- 15:09Speaker 2: a playoff series against inferior opponents. That's been proven. But
- 15:13Speaker 2: when they face a test, a big test, a team
- 15:16Speaker 2: that's just as good skill wise, maybe has a little
- 15:19Speaker 2: bit more grit attached to their game, and then you
- 15:22Speaker 2: play that same team for two weeks, they can get
- 15:26Speaker 2: that team that has the upper hand. That way can
- 15:29Speaker 2: get the upper hand on the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes in
- 15:32Speaker 2: the regular season, though, what they do is and this
- 15:35Speaker 2: is set up perfectly for them tonight. They're rested, they've
- 15:38Speaker 2: won three in a row. They're getting Jacob slaven back tonight.
- 15:41Speaker 2: He's only played five games. Their best defenseman it will
- 15:44Speaker 2: be in the Olympic team, and arguably one of the
- 15:46Speaker 2: best defensemen in the entire league. They'll get them back tonight.
- 15:51Speaker 2: You know, it's in their wheelhouse. So the Kraken have
- 15:54Speaker 2: to get them out of that comfort zone somehow tonight.
- 15:57Speaker 2: It won't be easy. This will be the toughest game
- 16:00Speaker 2: of the road trip. I believe that. But based on
- 16:03Speaker 2: the way that Krackon have been playing as a team
- 16:06Speaker 2: and starting from the goal out, whether it's Decord or
- 16:10Speaker 2: Grubauer tonight, that to me is the biggest key win
- 16:13Speaker 2: the net try to score first try to make sure
- 16:19Speaker 2: that you're making it hard for them to get free ice,
- 16:21Speaker 2: especially through the middle of the rink. Then you might
- 16:24Speaker 2: be on the something. But you know it's not going
- 16:26Speaker 2: to be easy. There's no question about it. It's a
- 16:28Speaker 2: very good team, very good team, one of the best
- 16:30Speaker 2: in the East in a wide open Eastern Conference. But
- 16:33Speaker 2: it'll be a great test tonight.
- 16:35Speaker 1: Crack and are aiming for back to back wins in
- 16:38Speaker 1: the all time series here against Carolina for the first
- 16:40Speaker 1: time in franchise history. They won four to two last
- 16:43Speaker 1: time they went to Carolina. Bet that was back on
- 16:46Speaker 1: December third, to twenty twenty four. Johnny, You're the best.
- 16:49Speaker 1: Enjoy family time out there. I'll miss you on the
- 16:52Speaker 1: New York, New Jersey part of the triple. Look forward
- 16:55Speaker 1: to catching up with you back on the Boston side.
- 16:57Speaker 1: But to have a good call. Appreciate you my friend, Okay, Mike.
- 17:00Speaker 2: Thanks all. Look forward to it.