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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Time to fire it up (10/1) · 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. First of 84,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and the Seattle Kraken, of course, throughout this entire season,
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: looking to push for even more. Welcome to Kraken This Morning.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: Opening day has finally arrived. Your wait is over. The
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Seattle Kraken tonight take on the Calgary Flames at 5 p.m. Pacific.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: We'll have all the action for you across Sports Radio
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: 93.3 KJR FM, the Global Credit Union Kraken Audio Network
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: with Everett Fitzhugh and Al Kaniski for the booth at
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Scotiabank Saddledome. Meanwhile, I'll join you right across the street
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: from Climate Pledge Arena from Tom's Watch Bar, your special
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: watch party headquarters for tomorrow night and throughout the entire
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: regular season for road games tomorrow. We'll be at Tom's
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: sporadically throughout the entire regular season on the road game side.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: So look forward to having him wherever you may be.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: And certainly if you're in the area, come on down
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: and join us at Tom's Watch Bar for food, friends,
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: massive screens, and a crack and opening day that will
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: certainly be riveting. if the preseason told us anything. We
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: will hear from defenseman Brandon Montour coming up in just
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: a bit. Plus, also a check-in with Kraken Hockey Network
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: TV host Ian Furness. Of course, you can hear him
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: one to three weekdays on 93.3 KJRFM. We will cover
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: how ready this team is for the regular season. Thoughts
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: to wrap up the preseason and the most important player
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: that you may want to keep your eye on as
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: far as where Ian is, where I am as well.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: That conversation coming up, plus our check-in one-on-one with defensemen.
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: Brandon Montour before the team got on the plane to Calgary.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: All that coming up in just a little bit. Before that,
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: some housekeeping here to share. The Kraken officially unveiled their
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: opening day roster. No surprises on there. The Kraken carrying
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: eight defensemen, notably Ville Adovainen made it. He has one
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: game under his belt for the NHL side. That happened
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: two seasons ago. But the 6'5 defenseman certainly showing a
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: ton from a physical standpoint. Pair that with the addition
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: of 6'9 forward Curtis Douglas. Not afraid to drop the gloves.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: The Kraken certainly has some extra muscle on their side
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: of things get out of hand. But the Kraken also
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: having to press on as of right now without Mackie Samaskevich,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: who is still on injured reserve day-to-day upper body injury.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: For the record, Jake O'Brien out week-to-week. He is officially
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: a non-roster player, but also on IR. Potentially, once he
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: is healthy, his destination could be AHL Coachella Valley. That
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: is still very much to be determined as of right now.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: This will be the first of four matchups between the
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Kraken and the Flames. They're going to get all this
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: done by November 4th. Can you believe it? And based
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: on how emotions ramped up in the preseason, this has
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: a potential. to develop some fireworks and also in short order.
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: Do they begin for tonight's game? That's a wait and
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: see thing. However, the Kraken know that they came out
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: of preseason play with a three and one record in
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: four games, largely with their group intact. And right now,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: the biggest concern, making sure they have their play dialed
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: in at five on five and also on the penalty kill.
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: The power play has zero issues getting their game dialed in.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: The Kraken finishing five of 13, 38% that led the
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: entire NHL for preseason play. Brandon Montour also a part
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: of that. He had a power play goal, and he's
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: looking again to be a big contributor on the blue
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: line where he has had double digits in goals for
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: four of the last five NHL seasons. Before the team
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: took off to Calgary, we caught up in the Kraken
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: dressing room after practice with Brandon Montour one-on-one. And as
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: we kind of get this room wrapped up here before
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: the trip heading into Calgary, it just seems as if
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: the wait is finally over. So what's your level of
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: excitement heading into the regular season?
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, super excited.
• 4:04
  Speaker 3: If you're not excited about, you know, obviously a long summer,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: not making playoffs and being, you know, prepared and being,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: you know, ready to execute at the highest level we can. And,
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: you know, I think also going to Calgary, I believe
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: it's their last home opener.
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So you should be up for that. It should
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: be an exciting game.
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: I mean, the Saddle Dome is an iconic part of
• 4:26
  Speaker 1: hockey architecture. It's one of the oldest buildings now in
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: the NHL. But it had the Olympics. It's got a very,
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: very unique shape. And just some guys walk in there
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: with a different kind of feel versus your standard building
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: that was put up roughly, you know, 5, 10, 20
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: years ago roughly. What's your memory of playing in that building?
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: You know, it definitely needed to be a new stadium environment.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: In my opinion, years ago. But you know what? It's crusty.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Just thinking about it, they should have.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Did what we did with our stadium and kept the
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: saddle on top and somehow managed to be able to
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: incorporate that into the new one.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: And maybe, I have no idea, I'm assuming not.
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: Well, with Climate Pledge, you had the roof put up
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: on temples because it was basically a historic landmark, so
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: they had to do it.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Which is the Saddle Dome is the same way.
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: So you think they would have, I mean, maybe they
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: are doing some kind of plan with it, but I
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: don't know.
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  Speaker 2: It would be a wicked idea if they did.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Is there a difference in how you manage that kind
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: of building, just from like, you know, ice or depth
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: perception versus any other place?
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: No, not necessarily. I mean, it's probably a little darker.
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  Speaker 3: The fans seem like they're... Obviously a smaller building right
• 5:32
  Speaker 3: on top of you. My memory of the place, obviously
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: my first year, we played them in a, we swept
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: them actually in the playoffs, but I remember really tight,
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: tight series.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: And again, anytime there's a Canadian market.
• 5:45
  Speaker 3: Especially a market like Calgary, which is so big and
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: so passionate, fans all over the place.
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  Speaker 2: So it was an amazing experience and fun.
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: Obviously, I'm sure they'll be loud, loud building and pretty
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: busy tomorrow.
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  Speaker 1: It will be your third time facing them in what
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: feels like the last two and a half days. I
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: kind of exaggerated a little bit, but that's just kind
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: of how preseason was. Short trek in, get it going,
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: play games. You faced Calgary twice, but just from an
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: overall scope, what was your takeaway out of the preseason?
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: It was good.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: It was good to get a couple games in.
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: Obviously, we would like to clean some things up, but
• 6:18
  Speaker 3: obviously that comes with.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Three, four, five months off.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Again, preseason you want to try to make it and
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: emulate it like a season game, but nothing's the same
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: as that.
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: So, you know, good couple games for everyone.
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: Another solid week of traction and, you know, no excuses
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: to be at our best.
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: It might be pretty safe to say that when it
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: came to facing Calgary, it got the juices flowing from
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: just an emotional standpoint, but what did you take away
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: technically or even from like a five-on-five standpoint that you
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: guys want to get dialed in heading into the long
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: stretch now?
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: I think a little bit of everything, honestly. Clean up everything.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: Obviously, the system's, you know, tweaked a little bit, but
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: not in a sense. This is our second year with
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: Lane and his staff. So, like I said, shouldn't be
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: no excuses.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: Be aggressive. Be on top of things. But play with energy.
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: Play fast.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: Play, you know, really with the speed that we have.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: And aggressive.
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: We're an aggressive team, and when we are aggressive and
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: competing and using our speed and playing with the puck
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: and in your face, that's when we're at our best. So,
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: That's what we should be expecting to be doing tomorrow.
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: How much are you a fan of going down from
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: six to four preseason games?
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: I don't mind.
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, again, I'm one that I think, you know,
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: one game, one preseason game is probably pretty good to
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: get a kind of feel of it and kind of
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: just get adjusted again. But again, if they're limiting preseason games,
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: obviously probably more season games, which makes sense I guess
• 7:45
  Speaker 3: but you know it's also tough because the young guys
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: don't get it you know I understand the whole young
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: guys need a chance to play with everyone and it's
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: more so for them I guess in a sense but
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: I think four is solid.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: So I heard one theory that you should just scrap
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: the entire preseason and go 86 games regular season how
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: do you feel about that?
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: Honestly if you want to get right into it sure
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: but again some people like it some people don't I've
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: heard some coaches obviously prefer just getting right into the
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: game so.
• 8:13
  Speaker 2: And start with their roster. I don't know. I mean,
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: you've got to.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: Look at, like, what is basketball schedule? I mean, I
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: know they have the pre-game, those tournaments, right? The tournament
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: near Christmas time.
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: In-season cup, load management also.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: How many pre-season games do they have?
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, so, I mean, you could also, I mean, play
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: it out as it is and see how it goes,
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: see who likes it.
• 8:36
  Speaker 2: Maybe, you know, less games next year or whatever. We'll see.
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: Part of the theory with you playing with Riker Evans
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: for U2 was the ability to move the puck and
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: get it in transit quick. What's your feel playing with
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: them for the first several days of preseason and now
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: heading into the regular season?
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's been great.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: Obviously, I've played with him a little bit throughout the
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: couple years here that I've been here.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Younger player that's.
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: Still learning his ways, but obviously the talent, like you said,
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: the skating. getting in guys' face, playing defense quick, aggressive.
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: I think we complement each other well with that. But, yeah,
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: when we get the puck, we can make plays and
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: get up there and help offensively. But I think for
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: both of us when we're out there together, we talk
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: a lot, we help each other. Close friend on the team,
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: obviously we joke around a lot from what you've seen, obviously,
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: in the locker room and stuff. But, yeah, I mean,
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: we communicate, play defense hard, compete, and then help the forwards.
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: When we can.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: Two things the average fan observes about the power play
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: as Brandon Montour joins us right now is puck movement
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: and then, of course, the production of it. Production was
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: certainly there from what we saw in the preseason, but
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: what was your feel on things?
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, again, it's so new for my unit.
• 9:49
  Speaker 3: You know, a younger unit, you've got Berkley flank, Matty flank, Mackie,
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: Shane in the middle, Cap will usually net front, but
• 9:58
  Speaker 3: everyone likes to play with the puck.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: And make plays, are.
• 10:01
  Speaker 3: Aggressive when needed, but we need to be fast, breakouts especially,
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: and then that just kind of, you've got to mentally
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: kind of play it as if it's 5-on-5. You know,
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: it's obviously you've got another man up and take advantage
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: of that, but play it like 5-on-5, play hard, get
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: the puck.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Back, and then be aggressive with shooting.
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: I mean, I'm shooting up top when I get a
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: lane um and make sure you know the guys are
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: going to the net and screening and making plays there
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: and you know i like i like our like how
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: we started um and we're just going to keep getting
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: better as we keep.
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: Going for a player as young as berkeley how is
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: he fitting in on special teams.
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: Yeah i mean that's that's you know a strong part
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: of his thing uh or about his game is he
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: makes plays he's fast he's skilled um so to be
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: able to see him on the flank making plays just
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: kind of just reiterating the confidence of being being that
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: guy out there and making a difference every single time
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: he touches the puck. UC Glimpse is obviously his first year,
• 10:55
  Speaker 3: but I'm expecting Berkeley to have a big year this year.
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: He's looking great so far, so anytime I can find
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: him on the flanks and he's open and he's able
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: to make plays, I'll be finding.
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: Him for sure.
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: Back to the emotion part of this here, from what
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: we saw in the Calgary series, it kind of also
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: stems from the fact that Jordan Eberle, your captain, said
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: that guys are coming in in this room with a
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: massive chip on their shoulder. What was your feel with
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: how things ended and how that is kind of carrying
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: over just from like a mental drive standpoint this year?
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if what happened in
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: that first game, but yeah, I mean, like the fight,
• 11:30
  Speaker 3: you know, the fight of our group sticking up for
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: each other.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: We obviously need way more of that chip on our shoulder.
• 11:38
  Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, I mean, I think if you don't
• 11:39
  Speaker 3: have a chip on your shoulder, not making playoffs and,
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: you know, thinking that your group should be better, you definitely,
• 11:45
  Speaker 3: you know, need to be checking checking twice you know
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: um so yes we definitely need to be thinking about
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: obviously what we can do better the reasons why we
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: were you know not in last year and and obviously
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: fix that and um i think the group has belief
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: and that we could change that and um we just
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: got to be consistent and playing the right way playing
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: hard playing for each other and you know obviously you
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: don't need to be fighting every single night but just
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: that fight back you know that mentality of Protecting each other,
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: but protecting each other in not just that way, but
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: playing hard for each other and just trying to get
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: those wins.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: A couple of questions here to wrap this one up.
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: First off, on that note, Curtis Douglas, what's his value
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: when you get him on the bench and on the ice?
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I know him the last couple of weeks.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: He's a great dude.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Plays his role to the best of his ability, obviously
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: really strong. strong player with the puck um you know
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: can skate up and down the wall make hard plays
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: you gotta know when he's out there because he's gonna
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: be physical and you know four checks and um again
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: another player that you know we brought into to kind
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: of have that that mentality of you know sticking up
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: and and he's obviously a big part of that um
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: it's nice to see him on our side for.
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: Sure finally i know that you're of course a family
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: man but when you can get on the road with
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: these guys what's the best value of being.
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: On the road Again, trying to gather the guys together
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: and see how many guys want to go.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: For dinner and hang out.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: When we're at home, I've got a family myself, so
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: I tend to obviously tend to them as much as
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: I can. It sucks leaving them. Once the season starts,
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: we're gone a lot. It gives the group, gives players
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: that you obviously aren't usually talking to as much. some
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: time to hang out and see what they're about, and
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: hopefully I can gather a couple more guys this year
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: for dinners and stuff.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: And off we go, because I know that you've got
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: a fine choice in cuisine. Brandon, welcome back here to
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: hockey season. Thank you.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: All right, that's Brandon Montour. Always great for a conversation,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: and we'll have many of those throughout the entire season,
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: transitioning us into another great conversation. The mayor of Maple
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Valley gracing us with his presence before game one of
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: the regular season. It is the one and only Ian Furness. Ian,
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: how are you? Are you ready?
• 13:57
  Speaker 4: Ready as we'll ever be, Mikey. Let's get this thing going.
• 14:00
  Speaker 4: I think we're all excited about real hockey. Short preseason
• 14:03
  Speaker 4: is kind of fun because that means we get after
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: it and the games matter right off the get-go. So
• 14:08
  Speaker 4: here on October 1st, let's have at it.
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: What'd you make out of preseason just from the fact
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: that we went from six games down to four?
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: I'll be honest with you, nothing. I mean, you know,
• 14:18
  Speaker 4: I thought it's just hard, Mike. You know, the first
• 14:22
  Speaker 4: two games are basically rookies and guys in the American
• 14:24
  Speaker 4: League now. The next two games, the first two periods against,
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: who was that, Calgary, you know, their AHL team basically, sloppy,
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: got physical, cracking got better. And then after that, you know,
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: you go up and finish things off north of the
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: border in a game that I think if I'm being honest,
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: I'm not sure if anybody was interested in on the ice. So, um,
• 14:46
  Speaker 4: you know, like I, you know, every sport outside of
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: baseball says.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: The same thing.
• 14:50
  Speaker 4: Like, why are we doing, you know, preseason not necessary.
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: I think it's only necessary in the sense that you're
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: trying to get, uh, you're trying to get a little
• 14:58
  Speaker 4: sharper and trying to try to figure some things out.
• 15:01
  Speaker 4: But really, to be honest with you, uh, it's hard
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: to get much out of preseason, anything, whether it be hockey, NBA, NFL,
• 15:08
  Speaker 4: et cetera, especially for veteran players.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I have three things to react to
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: the preseason, Ian. Number one, you came out nearly as
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: healthy as you could come out. Mackie Samaskevich, same him. And,
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: you know, could he be back, say, by Sunday? We'll see.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: It's a day-to-day situation here. Secondly, it's the fact that
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: the Kraken still feel that they're behind compared to last year,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: but because they're basically kind of cramming here for the
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: exam like every other team is here at this point.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: But number three, it was the toughness factor. And we
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: had this conversation last week about how Viliata Vina responded.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: I thought his stock soared to make this roster. And eventually,
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: maybe it was because of the injury. He did. He
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: made it, and he found a way to get here
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: for game one of the season. We saw how Curtis
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: Douglas reacted, how Berkeley Catton reacted, others as well. So
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: if I think that there is a takeaway from this,
• 16:05
  Speaker 1: and this is just how gnarly the preseason was across
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: the board for a lot of NHL teams, and you
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: can kind of flash back here to what Minnesota went
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: through as well. But we saw a different side of
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the Kraken that maybe we haven't seen and could really
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: go a long way with, I think, how this team
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: carries itself on the culture end. We'll see how that
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: translates here to the standings. But from what we know,
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: there should be little to no concerns about team chemistry
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: just from the fact that if one guy gets run
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: or tuned up, others will or will they not respond?
• 16:43
  Speaker 4: Well, yeah, I mean, that mentality, I think, was evident
• 16:46
  Speaker 4: in the preseason games. There's no doubt Curtis Douglas makes
• 16:49
  Speaker 4: a difference. He makes everybody bigger. And just by his
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: presence out there, that comes into play. You know, Otto Weinen,
• 16:58
  Speaker 4: he was fantastic. He was great.
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: Makes the roster.
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: You know, and for Ville, he's a guy that, like
• 17:05
  Speaker 4: Winterton last year, made the team because of preseason. So
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: I guess when I say enough comes out of it, yeah,
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: I mean, you can get some fringe, you know, the
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: fringe guys make the team and don't make the team.
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: You know, but yeah, I think overall, if we're looking
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: at it, you know, I think that the team toughness
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: is something that Lane preached and asked for all year
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: last year, really never got it to his liking. But
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: now with the second year coming up, I think we're
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: starting to see that.
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: Jordan Eberle mentioned to us the other day, just paraphrasing this,
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: how a lot of guys came in, sour taste in
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: their mouth, maybe a chip on their shoulder, if you
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: want to use that play on words here to describe
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: what they're going to be facing. Because not many media,
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: if anybody nationally, is picking this team to make some noise.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: And perhaps it is a Seattle against everybody type of
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: mentality here. But I lead this into what he has
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: to do. And what other parts of the collective have
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: to really contribute? Because right now there is no proven 80, 90,
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: 100 point guy here in this lineup. And we had
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: this exercise the other day on Kraken Weekly, myself, Everett, Al,
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: and we floated this here for a poll question. Who
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: do you think the most important player is going to
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: be on this roster? It didn't surprise me to see
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: that Matty Beneers garnered plenty of the vote, but again,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: it is a collective process. At the top of that,
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: to you, the most important player for this season is
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: going to be who?
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: Well, Matty's probably an obvious answer. I think I'll take
• 18:38
  Speaker 4: it a little different direction. Maybe the guy that could be,
• 18:41
  Speaker 4: I mean, Bobby McMahon is a guy that potentially could
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: put 40 in the back of the net. I'll throw
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: a different name at you. Can Jared McCann regain his
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: old form? Yeah.
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 18:52
  Speaker 4: Can he get back to being, you know, 30 plus
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: goal scorer? Because if that's the case, you're a heck
• 18:59
  Speaker 4: of a lot better hockey team. You know, I don't
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: know what his health thing was last year. There is
• 19:04
  Speaker 4: there is a lot of talk about how he was
• 19:05
  Speaker 4: never healthy all season from start to finish. We saw
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: that since the games he missed and so forth. I
• 19:12
  Speaker 4: think Jeremy can's a guy that could that could maybe.
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: potentially be a little bit of a game season changer
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: if he's healthy and can regain some of his form. And,
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: you know, I think you combine that with McMahon. I
• 19:26
  Speaker 4: think you're going to have, I mean, listen, Matty, you know,
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: Matty beat near the top of the list. Monty on
• 19:31
  Speaker 4: the back end, probably, you know, pick your goalie. Berkeley
• 19:35
  Speaker 4: Caton comes to mind. I was just having a conversation,
• 19:38
  Speaker 4: you know, we were at Seahawks practice on Wednesday. I
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: just had that conversation with a couple of people. And
• 19:44
  Speaker 4: I think, You know, what's Berkeley going to give you?
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: I mean, he's going to get minutes. He's going to get,
• 19:50
  Speaker 4: you know, at their minimum, third-line minutes, maybe more, depending
• 19:54
  Speaker 4: on what happens. Could Berkeley Cat be, you know, a
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: 60-point guy for this team? That's a huge step. I
• 20:02
  Speaker 4: understand that. It's a massive step. But they drafted him
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: in a position and put him in a position where
• 20:07
  Speaker 4: they need him. they flat out need him to be
• 20:10
  Speaker 4: a guy. So, you know, I think there's a lot
• 20:13
  Speaker 4: of candidates. You can probably go up and down the roster,
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: and you can throw a couple of Kako in there.
• 20:17
  Speaker 4: There's a lot of guys you can throw in there,
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: but I think we're all on the same page.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: With Mackie Samuskevich out for now, Kapo Kako moving up
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: to the first line, so to speak. Lane Lambert kind
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: of had this clarification process tongue-in-cheek here with us. But
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: that's Jared McCann on the left wing, Matty Beneers in
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: the middle, Kapo Kako on the right wing. Ian, to you,
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: I think there's a difference in how I'll maybe phrase
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: how one line plays versus the other. You have Mackie Speed.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: He and Matty can, you know, get up and scoot.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Jared McCann is, you know, let's just say he's never
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: ever been accused of having slow wheels. But putting Kapo
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: Kako there, if I can maybe frame it this way.
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: presents a different dynamic with maybe how they have to play,
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: and I think a lot of it more has to
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: do around the boards and beneath the dots. What's your
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: take on that?
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you're right on, Mike. Yeah, that's the
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: way to look at it. I like, you know, the
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: preseason game at TPA. I thought that, unfortunately, I had
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: the Copacabra line with Shane, and Berkeley got better every shift,
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: you know, and you can kind of see them starting
• 21:26
  Speaker 4: to gel, and I like the dynamic. I like what
• 21:28
  Speaker 4: you said about You know, it's like you've got two
• 21:31
  Speaker 4: guys that aren't the biggest guys in the world. It's
• 21:33
  Speaker 4: Shane and Berkeley. And then you've got a guy in
• 21:35
  Speaker 4: Capo and Cocco that you've got body. That was a
• 21:37
  Speaker 4: good compliment. But since that's not going to be the
• 21:40
  Speaker 4: case for a while, there's an opportunity. And 84 has
• 21:43
  Speaker 4: got to start looking like the number two overall pick.
• 21:47
  Speaker 4: Maybe not that high end, but he's got to pick
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: his game and take his game to that next level.
• 21:51
  Speaker 4: And maybe playing with two guys like he is now
• 21:53
  Speaker 4: will get him that confidence and get him to that point.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: You know, it just feels this way that Lane is
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: definitely not married to Lyon. Part of it's injury related, obviously,
• 22:03
  Speaker 4: but part of it is just, hey, you know, like,
• 22:06
  Speaker 4: who can step up and let's find something. Let's find
• 22:09
  Speaker 4: some consistency. You know, he talks about that all the time, consistency.
• 22:12
  Speaker 4: Maybe he'll find that.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Let's maybe look for one thing for tonight's game against
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Calgary and a team that nobody is picking to really
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: make any noise either. In fact, they're more toward the
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: rebuilding kind, like with where the Canucks are here at
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: this point. But they have some young players who aren't
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: afraid to get to the net, and it doesn't matter.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: It feels like regular season or preseason, there's always a
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: chance for fireworks to happen between these two teams. which
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: then leads us here to the Kraken power play, which
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: was great in the preseason and the penalty kill, which
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: maybe got better, but then cost them in the final
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: dress rehearsal in Vancouver. October can be known, of course,
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: as sloppy hockey. So I really want to see where
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: this team is dialed in a five on five. But
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: to you, is this game going to be one of
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: five on five? You think you and your special teams?
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: Well, I think special teams always. I mean, if you
• 23:10
  Speaker 4: look back to last season, it was special teams that
• 23:12
  Speaker 4: doomed this season, especially the penalty kill. Average penalty kill,
• 23:17
  Speaker 4: they might have been a playoff team. Power play, if
• 23:21
  Speaker 4: the power play had maintained its success rate from the
• 23:25
  Speaker 4: earlier parts of the season to the end of the year,
• 23:27
  Speaker 4: they could have been a playoff team. So I kind
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: of always look at it like it's probably, you know,
• 23:34
  Speaker 4: with all things being equal, it's probably special teams. I
• 23:37
  Speaker 4: think we saw that even on opening night on Tuesday
• 23:41
  Speaker 4: in the NHL. Look at special teams, what they did
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: in the Vancouver Edmonton team. Especially early on, when you're
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: still trying to find your five-on-five chemistry and line combos,
• 23:51
  Speaker 4: I think that will come into play. If we're being honest,
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: if this team doesn't have a better penalty kill, nothing
• 23:59
  Speaker 4: else that we talk about is going to matter. If
• 24:02
  Speaker 4: they're in that bottom area of penalty killing again, it
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: just won't matter. because there's too many pucks you're picking
• 24:08
  Speaker 4: up out of the back of your net. Especially with
• 24:11
  Speaker 4: how Lane wants to play. He's going to want to
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: play aggressive. He's going to want to have guys in
• 24:15
  Speaker 4: dude's face. He's going to want to get after it
• 24:17
  Speaker 4: a little bit. And you're going to take some penalties.
• 24:21
  Speaker 4: You know, when he always says it, there's certain penalties
• 24:24
  Speaker 4: Lane doesn't mind. He doesn't mind.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: The rough stuff.
• 24:28
  Speaker 4: Yeah, the rough stuff, especially if it's sticking up for
• 24:31
  Speaker 4: a teammate or what have you. The problem with that
• 24:35
  Speaker 4: is we can't The other team can make you pay
• 24:38
  Speaker 4: for that with the power play goal. I think all
• 24:42
  Speaker 4: things being equal, I come back to it all the time,
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: the penalty kill has to be better.
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: That's such a great point here, I think, just based
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: on the fact of how maybe an average penalty kill
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: changes the entire landscape of last season. I mentioned on
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Kraken Weekly, I counted, and this is going to team
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: that missed the playoffs by 11 points. There were eight
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: games of Kraken lost by one goal. a few in regulation,
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: but others in OT or a shootout. If you subtract
• 25:08
  Speaker 1: one power play goal given up in each of those games,
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: there is a potential to get eight points back. Voila,
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: three points maybe out of the mix, say by game 82. Yeah,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: you're missing it. But still before that, you're very, very,
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: very much in the thick of it. And who knows
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: where it goes from there. So Ian, certainly I see it.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: We all see it. You see it. The penalty kill
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: has got to get better, and it can certainly be
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: a game changer. All right, my friend. Hey, have a
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: great show here on the TV side. And tell me again,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: because you've been so good to me with pumping the
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: radio side's tires. I'll pump your TV tires as well.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: What have you missed back being behind the desk with Allison, Brett,
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: and crew?
• 25:47
  Speaker 4: We have a great crew. That's it, man. Allison and
• 25:50
  Speaker 4: Brett are awesome to work with. Our producer, Scott Malone,
• 25:54
  Speaker 4: is flat out the best in the business. And, you know,
• 25:58
  Speaker 4: he's actually going to be doing our first three games,
• 26:03
  Speaker 4: four games maybe. But for the most part, he's actually
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: going to be on the road doing some in-game producing
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: this season. I'm thrilled for him getting that chance to
• 26:11
  Speaker 4: bump up into the truck for some road games this season.
• 26:15
  Speaker 4: He's just phenomenal at what he does. And Allison did
• 26:19
  Speaker 4: the best. And I love working with Brett. He's a
• 26:21
  Speaker 4: ton of fun, great insight. So, yeah, we have a
• 26:23
  Speaker 4: good time. Can't wait to get out there.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I can't wait. It's all systems go for the
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: TV side, the Kraken Hockey Network, the radio side here
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: for the Global Credit Union, Kraken Audio Network. Ian, thanks
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: so much, my man. Appreciate you. Thanks, Mikey. All righty,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: and thank you very much. That's Ian Furness, of course,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: TV host for the Kraken Hockey Network. You can hear
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: him also weekdays 1 to 3 on 93.3 KJR FM
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: as everyone's now in full sync, TV and radio, for
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: game one of 84. Checking in here for the Flames side,
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: this will be their final season at Scotiabank Saddledome, as
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: we hinted in our conversation with Brandon Montour. Next season,
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: they're going to go across the street and out of
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: the brand-new Scotia place. But in the meantime... their goal
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: to take a young roster that many are saying could
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: miss the playoffs by a mile and get them into
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: a playoff contention window by the time their brand-shining new
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: building is all ready to open its collective doors. Calgary
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: last season was the lowest-scoring team in the NHL. In
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: the 31st-ranked power play, only Philadelphia's was worse. as the
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: Flames were relying on a ton of 20-somethings, including Matt Coronado,
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Matt Vaigreden, Connor Zeri, Martin Pospisil.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: Of course, you folks around here know about him. Adam Klapka,
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: all to contribute here for what could be a season
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: where they're looking to just simply take the next step.
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: Right now on a path that is in between. a
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: full-blown start of a rebuild and a playoff contention window.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: The Kraken swept the Flames in preseason play. Last matchup,
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: it got pretty messy back in period two in what
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: was a 4-3 Kraken shootout win where they came back
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: down 3-1. In that game, both teams combined for 74
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: penalty minutes. All but four were taken in the second period.
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: Four fighting majors were given out, plus Ville Adivainen was
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: fined over $ 2, 000 for his role as an aggressor in
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: altercation at 722 of period two with Brennan Offman. By
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: the way, out of Binance here, Offman will also be there.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: He was the last player remaining after final roster cuts
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: on the flame side, and if both players wind up
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: suiting up, well, potentially it could be get your popcorn
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: time for this first game of 84 coming up. We'll
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: have all the action for you once again, 6 p.m.
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: Pacific time from Scotiabank Saddle Dome. We're on air at
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: 5.30 once again across 93.3 KJRFM and the Global Credit
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: Union Kraken Audio Network. Big thank you again to Brandon
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: Montour and to Ian Furness. Enjoy the game. Enjoy the call.
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: Enjoy the show. It's great to be back. And for
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Kraken this morning, I'm Mike Benton. Have a happy Thursday.
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: Your home for the Kraken. Sports Radio 93.3 KJR FM.