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KRAKEN THIS MORNING: The playoff state of mind with John Forslund (3/21) · Seattle Kraken Audio Network

0:01
Speaker 1: Welcome to Cracking this morning, a presentation of the Kraken
0:05
Speaker 1: Audio Network, Ken Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
0:10
Speaker 1: Here's Mike bentons.
0:12
Speaker 2: The stakes are raised into Columbus.
0:14
Speaker 3: Welcome to Cracking this morning on a Saturday, March twenty First.
0:18
Speaker 2: Mike Benton with you as we get you set for
0:19
Speaker 2: the Kraken.
0:20
Speaker 3: And the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second and final
0:23
Speaker 3: meeting with a Crack and aiming for a split in
0:25
Speaker 3: this series, Columbus previously winning in a shootout way back
0:30
Speaker 3: on November twenty First the Crack and meanwhile looking to
0:33
Speaker 3: turn around a rough start to their six game road trip,
0:36
Speaker 3: previously falling in Nashville. The team spending a practice day
0:40
Speaker 3: in Columbus on Friday, and we're gonna hear from Vince
0:42
Speaker 3: Don meeting with the media in just a bit.
0:44
Speaker 2: Plus, also catch up with John.
0:46
Speaker 3: Forsland, esteemed TV play by play voice, with an honest
0:50
Speaker 3: take on the outlook of the Kraken right now and
0:53
Speaker 3: what's need at heading into this final matchup with plenty
0:56
Speaker 3: of matters still up in the air in a tie
0:59
Speaker 3: and Chaotus Western Conference playoff race. John Forsln will be
1:03
Speaker 3: joining US here very very shortly.
1:06
Speaker 2: The Kraken coming.
1:06
Speaker 3: In right now four and eight since the Olympic break,
1:09
Speaker 3: are still one point back of the final wildcard spot that.
1:12
Speaker 2: Being held by the Kings.
1:14
Speaker 3: The Krack in thirty one to twenty eight to nine
1:16
Speaker 3: has seventy one points tight right now, with Nashville and
1:19
Speaker 3: looming just one point back the San Jose Sharks, who
1:23
Speaker 3: have also hit the skids with three consecutive losses, so
1:26
Speaker 3: plenty of track left right now for the Krack and
1:28
Speaker 3: who have fourteen games remaining, same as Los Angeles and Nashville,
1:33
Speaker 3: with San Jose holding one game in hand.
1:37
Speaker 2: The Kraken falling.
1:38
Speaker 3: Three to one to two Nashville two nights ago, fell
1:41
Speaker 3: behind on Ryan Ufko's second goal of his NHL career
1:44
Speaker 3: at six fourteen, eventually tying things up on Freddie goodroz
1:48
Speaker 3: fit the season Layton period one, but Ryan O'Reilly converted
1:51
Speaker 3: on a power play. With the Krack in battling penalty
1:54
Speaker 3: issues in the final forty minutes and Philip Forsberg converting
1:57
Speaker 3: an empty net goal for his thirtieth d on the season,
2:01
Speaker 3: the Crack can help to just one goal on twenty
2:03
Speaker 3: six shots Nashville, taking two of three in the head
2:07
Speaker 3: to head series. So before we get to John Forsland,
2:10
Speaker 3: a team traveling to Columbus on Friday, and Vince dam
2:13
Speaker 3: met with the media begetting on the challenge to score
2:15
Speaker 3: goals this late in the season.
2:17
Speaker 4: We can do a better job of finding ways to
2:19
Speaker 4: create second chances when maybe our shots aren't always the
2:23
Speaker 4: best looks, but sometimes just getting things to the net
2:26
Speaker 4: and people to the net, things come your way. So
2:30
Speaker 4: it's obviously frustrating to lose to a team that you're
2:34
Speaker 4: battling in the standings with, and especially the way things
2:38
Speaker 4: have been going from the break, it can be easy
2:44
Speaker 4: to get down on yourselves. But somehow we're still in
2:47
Speaker 4: the race for the playoffs, so that's exciting and motivating,
2:50
Speaker 4: and I think there's no need to panic right now.
2:53
Speaker 4: Luckily we're still in the fight, and I think we
2:55
Speaker 4: just got to grab onto that and move forward and
2:57
Speaker 4: look forward to the game tomorrow.
3:00
Speaker 5: And see the emotion of the team right now.
3:03
Speaker 6: I think it's there at times.
3:05
Speaker 4: I think at this time of the year, it's got
3:07
Speaker 4: to be there at all times to give.
3:08
Speaker 6: Yourself a chance to win.
3:09
Speaker 4: And I think we've built a foundation at the start
3:14
Speaker 4: of the year, and I think for the most part
3:16
Speaker 4: we've found a way to stick to that throughout these games,
3:19
Speaker 4: but the last little bit has definitely been slipping a little.
3:22
Speaker 4: So it's just time to refocus here and hopefully you
3:25
Speaker 4: guys can enjoy their day today and get excited for
3:28
Speaker 4: the game tomorrow. It's another opportunity to get points and
3:33
Speaker 4: try to lock ourselves in and into the playoffs. And
3:36
Speaker 4: I think when you're when you're down like this and
3:41
Speaker 4: you see opportunity ahead, it's exciting. So there's no need
3:44
Speaker 4: to feel bad about ourselves and we.
3:47
Speaker 6: Should be looking at each other at Moti meter sives
3:50
Speaker 6: matching the opportunity. I mean, you want a Stanley Cup.
3:53
Speaker 7: You know how hard it is to you know, to
3:55
Speaker 7: do that and also to to get playoff positioning, you know,
3:59
Speaker 7: even where you're not a wildcard seed.
4:00
Speaker 6: And this seems to be a unique.
4:02
Speaker 7: Year where everything's kind of lining up. You got all
4:05
Speaker 7: these teams with a shot at you know, even the
4:07
Speaker 7: division title. If somebody goes on a roll, like like,
4:09
Speaker 7: how often do you guys talk about that interest the
4:12
Speaker 7: rarity of you know, the opportunity that's there.
4:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, I can't remember a time in my career when
4:18
Speaker 4: you've gone on a skid like this at such a
4:22
Speaker 4: crucial time in the season to be collecting points and
4:25
Speaker 4: you're still in the fight for the playoffs.
4:27
Speaker 6: So I think just getting yourselves in the door and.
4:33
Speaker 4: Every day you're focusing on that's your goal, to get
4:36
Speaker 4: into the playoffs, and then from there anything can happen.
4:40
Speaker 4: I'm lucky enough that my second year things went our
4:42
Speaker 4: way and we were definitely weren't the hottest team going
4:45
Speaker 4: into Christmas break and found a way to turn it around.
4:48
Speaker 4: So it just takes a couple of games to get
4:50
Speaker 4: things going and to lock yourselves into a into a
4:53
Speaker 4: playoff spot, and from there.
4:55
Speaker 6: Anything can happen.
4:56
Speaker 4: So I think just especially the way the playoff format is,
5:00
Speaker 4: you look at the division lineups and stuff, things can
5:04
Speaker 4: go anyway, and sometimes you know, you get lucky when
5:10
Speaker 4: other teams are struggling, when you're struggling, and now is
5:14
Speaker 4: the time to take advantage of that and to make
5:16
Speaker 4: sure that we're collecting points and putting ourselves in a
5:18
Speaker 4: good position moving forward.
5:20
Speaker 5: Yesterday before the game, Lane spoke about some of the
5:22
Speaker 5: kind of you said, some of the aspects of the
5:24
Speaker 5: game that requires zero talent need to be a little
5:27
Speaker 5: bit better some of the things like you know that
5:29
Speaker 5: like changes shift like that kind of thing.
5:31
Speaker 6: How do you guys? I guess a group actually.
5:33
Speaker 5: Kind of clean those things up, like what is what
5:35
Speaker 5: can you do?
5:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think as far as the Nashville game goes,
5:40
Speaker 4: is maybe a little different than the Tampa game.
5:43
Speaker 6: I think we overwhelmed ourselves playing against the Lightning and.
5:48
Speaker 4: We were really sloppy with our positions away from the
5:52
Speaker 4: puck and didn't make the best plays with the pucks.
5:54
Speaker 6: So you take a look at.
5:57
Speaker 4: That game and not that they don't make high and
6:00
Speaker 4: plays and don't capitalize on their opportunities, but we gave
6:02
Speaker 4: them a lot and I think last night's game was
6:07
Speaker 4: a little different, but obviously still a lot of work
6:10
Speaker 4: to do and a lot of things that are in
6:14
Speaker 4: our control.
6:15
Speaker 6: So that's motivating moving forward.
6:17
Speaker 4: It's it's not like the opportunity isn't there and the
6:21
Speaker 4: chance to win isn't there. I mean, we're able to
6:24
Speaker 4: compete with the best of the best, and we've shown
6:27
Speaker 4: that over and over. It's just about executing that and
6:31
Speaker 4: doing it one step at a time and making sure
6:33
Speaker 4: that we're starting periods off the right way and setting
6:37
Speaker 4: ourselves up for success and in our game and making
6:40
Speaker 4: sure that we play the the style that we need
6:43
Speaker 4: to play as a team to win games, because that's
6:45
Speaker 4: how we find a way to win games, is when
6:47
Speaker 4: everyone's involved and everyone's contributing.
6:50
Speaker 6: What's your read of the kind of the feel of
6:51
Speaker 6: the power play right now? Yeah?
6:54
Speaker 8: Not good.
6:55
Speaker 6: I think.
6:57
Speaker 4: It's been hot, and then the PK struggled, and then
7:01
Speaker 4: the PK I thought it's been pretty effective lately and
7:04
Speaker 4: now we're struggling. So kind of reminds me of the
7:08
Speaker 4: little skid we had a while back before the break.
7:11
Speaker 4: And when you're struggling, you start to pinpoint a lot
7:16
Speaker 4: of things and try to find excuses in your game
7:19
Speaker 4: and maybe why you're losing games.
7:20
Speaker 6: But for us.
7:22
Speaker 4: It's about taking advantage of the plays that are there
7:26
Speaker 4: on the power play, and I think for the most part,
7:30
Speaker 4: we're possessing the puck a lot. We got to find
7:32
Speaker 4: a way to be a little bit more desperate in
7:33
Speaker 4: the ozone and then that kind of translates into our
7:35
Speaker 4: five on five game is just throwing pucks to the
7:37
Speaker 4: net and hoping that we can create chances and create
7:40
Speaker 4: Momenta for the time.
7:41
Speaker 3: Well, it's been a while since we had him once again,
7:43
Speaker 3: but it's about time. Without further ado, our friend John
7:47
Speaker 3: Forsland joining us here of course TV play by play
7:49
Speaker 3: voice Crack at Hockey Network, also seeing Amazon Prime, NHL
7:53
Speaker 3: on TNT. Johnny, I'll tell you what I think. Towards
7:57
Speaker 3: the end of the second period last night, when we
7:58
Speaker 3: had a little bit of a just discrepancy with the
8:01
Speaker 3: game clock, I take a look up here on the
8:04
Speaker 3: TV monitors over a thirty two bar and grill. I mean,
8:07
Speaker 3: my goodness, if we can have as much fun as
8:09
Speaker 3: you and Ed, Zoe and JT have as much as
8:11
Speaker 3: we can in life where we're out to a pretty
8:13
Speaker 3: good run, how about you.
8:16
Speaker 8: Yeah, well, great.
8:17
Speaker 1: To be back with you.
8:18
Speaker 8: And we have our share. We try to pick the
8:21
Speaker 8: appropriate time to do it. You know, that's our key.
8:25
Speaker 8: But yeah, we got it. We gotta have fun, We
8:27
Speaker 8: got to entertained, got to do the best you can.
8:30
Speaker 8: The game gives you what it gives you, and then
8:32
Speaker 8: you have to go from there, Mike, if you know.
8:33
Speaker 3: And the season, and the season right now gives us
8:36
Speaker 3: only fourteen games left in the Crack and wake up
8:39
Speaker 3: here today is still very much in this mix with
8:41
Speaker 3: a bit of a breather here. From last night's schedule,
8:44
Speaker 3: the only team that was close to them as far
8:46
Speaker 3: as any implications underway playing wise, was Utah. So here
8:51
Speaker 3: we are fourteen games left the Crack and come off
8:54
Speaker 3: a three to one loss to Nashville to open up
8:58
Speaker 3: a six game row trip, which could be, in my opinion,
9:01
Speaker 3: make or break. Here we are and the Crack and
9:05
Speaker 3: are four and eighth since the Olympic break. So Johnny,
9:08
Speaker 3: you have the floor. Give us what your take is
9:10
Speaker 3: right now on the state of the Kraken.
9:13
Speaker 8: Well, I'm puzzled by it, and I will say that
9:17
Speaker 8: the entire Pacific Division is playing as if they're going
9:20
Speaker 8: to get relegated to another league at the end of
9:22
Speaker 8: the season. But you know, it's amazing that the Crack
9:26
Speaker 8: can continue to hang around and either be in or
9:29
Speaker 8: just out of a playoff spot. All the games at
9:33
Speaker 8: this time of the year are connected, so whatever happens
9:36
Speaker 8: in your previous game leads you into the next game.
9:39
Speaker 8: In my opinion, there'll be those that tell you that
9:42
Speaker 8: the new day starts and it's a new day with
9:43
Speaker 8: a new slate. And the reasoning for this, Mike is,
9:46
Speaker 8: I really believe when you play as they did Tuesday
9:49
Speaker 8: night at home against Tampa and that happens, you know
9:53
Speaker 8: what's the next game going to look like from the
9:55
Speaker 8: very beginning of the game. And the most disappointing thing
9:58
Speaker 8: for me in the Nashville performance was the very start
10:01
Speaker 8: of the game, the first ten minutes of the game,
10:02
Speaker 8: where they never had the buck, where they relied on
10:05
Speaker 8: Joey Decore to come up with some saves early. It
10:09
Speaker 8: just looked like a team that wasn't ready. I don't
10:12
Speaker 8: understand that. I don't understand how you're not ready when
10:15
Speaker 8: you're in a playoff spot and you control your faith. Now,
10:19
Speaker 8: although just to point out, when you're out, you're out,
10:21
Speaker 8: and you don't control your fate. You're still looking at
10:24
Speaker 8: the scoreboard and you got to help yourself because you
10:28
Speaker 8: also have to have help from others. They dug out
10:30
Speaker 8: in the first period, they get a nice goal from
10:32
Speaker 8: Freddie Gudreau. That's all well and good. Then the game
10:34
Speaker 8: moves along and what ends up happening is you lose
10:38
Speaker 8: the game on a special team situation. But why are
10:41
Speaker 8: you in the box, why are you taking penalties. These
10:44
Speaker 8: penalties are not penalties of aggression, the penalties of lack
10:47
Speaker 8: of positioning or being laid on your coverage, you know,
10:50
Speaker 8: obstruction penalties, and when your defensemen take them, that's a
10:55
Speaker 8: trouble sign, you know. And so they start the trip
10:59
Speaker 8: the way they did not very well. I mean, I'm
11:01
Speaker 8: looking for them to pick up points in virtually every game,
11:05
Speaker 8: and now that's one's gone away of the six they
11:07
Speaker 8: play on the road here, they almost have to do that,
11:09
Speaker 8: and they have to get into a mindset of having
11:11
Speaker 8: a set lineup with consistency. Those things are not in
11:15
Speaker 8: play right now, so we'll see where it goes.
11:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we've always said again here that the
11:20
Speaker 3: ingredients for a Lane Lambert's success as far as this
11:23
Speaker 3: team here for this year, is going to be structure.
11:25
Speaker 3: It's going to be goaltending. It's also going to be
11:28
Speaker 3: disciplined as well. And I tabulated this up here. Seven
11:32
Speaker 3: of the last eight losses in this Dressden'cy Olympic break
11:35
Speaker 3: have come for the result of scoring just two goals
11:38
Speaker 3: or less. So this is now crunch time. There are
11:41
Speaker 3: course missing bodies. Jaden Schwartz out, Ellie Tolvenen now out
11:44
Speaker 3: he can. I mean, those guys can score. But there
11:47
Speaker 3: are of course not needle movers here like Jordan Eberley
11:50
Speaker 3: or even Bobby McMahon recently. But I think to you, Johnny,
11:53
Speaker 3: how much does this drive the conversation big picture about
11:57
Speaker 3: where the direction of this team could go for the summer,
12:01
Speaker 3: being that whether you're going to try to find more
12:02
Speaker 3: offense you're coming from, say an important transaction or somebody
12:07
Speaker 3: else that can take that next via the farm system.
12:11
Speaker 8: Well, until those things become reality, you have to play
12:15
Speaker 8: with what you have. And they're scoring problems for me
12:19
Speaker 8: stem from their lack of structure, their lack of connectivity.
12:24
Speaker 8: You know, with the puck, you know you have to
12:27
Speaker 8: be able to win a two to one game at
12:28
Speaker 8: this time of the year. Yes, you have to be
12:31
Speaker 8: and so you know that's not a lot of scoring.
12:34
Speaker 8: You get your timely goal, you get goalkeeping, but you're
12:37
Speaker 8: tight and you know there have been a couple of
12:41
Speaker 8: injuries here that have kind of disjointed the lines. But
12:44
Speaker 8: also you know, lane stretching the fine players that work
12:48
Speaker 8: and when you're in late March and you're trying to
12:50
Speaker 8: find players that work together, that's never good. The team
12:53
Speaker 8: they play tonight in Columbus is a team that's had
12:57
Speaker 8: their line up set for a long time and they're
13:00
Speaker 8: seventeen to two and four under their new coach, and
13:03
Speaker 8: they're riding a point streak right now, and they're incredible
13:05
Speaker 8: at home. The reason is the game makes sense. And
13:10
Speaker 8: until that happens, sure, you get to the offseason, and
13:12
Speaker 8: there's no question. You know, we heard grumblings last summer
13:15
Speaker 8: about aggressively going into trading and changing the face of
13:20
Speaker 8: the team and looking for those so called high end
13:22
Speaker 8: players are going to change the landscape. Yeah, that would
13:26
Speaker 8: be great. That would be a wish list when we
13:29
Speaker 8: get to June, and we'll talk about it then. But
13:31
Speaker 8: that's not going to happen now. You know, you have
13:34
Speaker 8: your trading deadline. You added a player, the player looks
13:37
Speaker 8: like he's intactful. That's good. Hopefully McMahon will continue, you know,
13:41
Speaker 8: on that road. But in order for them to make
13:45
Speaker 8: the playoffs, in order for them to score enough to
13:47
Speaker 8: win a game, let's fix the buck management. Let's fix
13:51
Speaker 8: the focus and the attention to playing physical now, real
13:55
Speaker 8: hard physical hockey. I was treated to a game the
13:58
Speaker 8: other night in Denver. Now of course it's between the
14:01
Speaker 8: two top teams in the league in Dallas and Colorado.
14:04
Speaker 8: But the ferocious nature of that game was incredible. I
14:08
Speaker 8: couldn't believe it for what I was seeing because we're
14:11
Speaker 8: not even at the playoffs yet, but you know, that's
14:13
Speaker 8: the level. You know, is this team capable? Are the
14:16
Speaker 8: leaders of this team capable to get them to that
14:20
Speaker 8: buy in? You know, game one of this road trip
14:23
Speaker 8: to The answer, in my opinion is non. So let's
14:25
Speaker 8: see where it goes tonight.
14:27
Speaker 2: So far, what's your take on Bobby McMahon, Well.
14:31
Speaker 8: It's been great. I mean that's pretty obvious. And the
14:33
Speaker 8: trick for Bobby will be to find a level of
14:36
Speaker 8: consistency that will garner him a great contract with a team.
14:39
Speaker 8: And maybe it's the Kraken you know, at twenty nine,
14:42
Speaker 8: this is his crossroads. Now there's a big contract for him.
14:45
Speaker 8: But I will say this, you know, when you join
14:48
Speaker 8: a team and there's a lot of adrenaline and you
14:49
Speaker 8: play the way he does, you're going to have an impact,
14:52
Speaker 8: there's no question. And he can score, and he can shoot.
14:55
Speaker 8: He's not afraid to shoot, and he does have a
14:57
Speaker 8: shooter's mentality, and we can see him get around the ice,
15:00
Speaker 8: plays with a high level of pais. But what happened
15:02
Speaker 8: to him in Toronto was the lack of consistency with
15:06
Speaker 8: that physical game. You know, it's not an easy way
15:09
Speaker 8: to play. It didn't work out with Mason Marchmant. This
15:11
Speaker 8: player skates far better than Marchmant, has the potential to score,
15:14
Speaker 8: you know, twenty five goals, maybe more. But the reason
15:19
Speaker 8: that there wasn't a fit for him in Toronto or
15:21
Speaker 8: success this season with Toronto is the fact that he
15:25
Speaker 8: was inconsistent, so he would be moved around the lineup.
15:27
Speaker 8: And I've seen the lease a great deal with the
15:29
Speaker 8: Amazon package this year, and every time we went it
15:33
Speaker 8: was about Bobby McMahon. It was about Bobby playing with
15:35
Speaker 8: Austin Matthews and maybe that's the fit and that would
15:38
Speaker 8: lift Matthew's game in his two and it worked for
15:41
Speaker 8: a little bit. Or it would be about McMahon going
15:44
Speaker 8: down in the order to provide a scoring depth and
15:47
Speaker 8: maybe that worked and maybe it didn't. Or there were
15:49
Speaker 8: a couple of games where he was a question mark
15:51
Speaker 8: in terms of being healthy, scratched or not. You see,
15:54
Speaker 8: So that's kind of why he was available that in
15:57
Speaker 8: the contract, but you know he's taking advance this situation.
16:01
Speaker 8: He fits what the crack In need. He would be
16:03
Speaker 8: a great player to sign and move forward with at
16:06
Speaker 8: the right rate. So the signs are encouraging and he
16:09
Speaker 8: could be a big piece of the reasons for them
16:13
Speaker 8: to make the playoffs if he continues this way.
16:15
Speaker 3: Johnny, we have dipped art tow in the water a
16:17
Speaker 3: bit here on the Blue Jackets. Who are up next?
16:20
Speaker 3: Zach Wrensky three assists the other nine. My goodness, he
16:23
Speaker 3: is a real deal back on that Blue line. Crack
16:26
Speaker 3: At losing two to one last time to Columbus in
16:29
Speaker 3: a shootout, that was a Jet Greeves game. Different coach now,
16:34
Speaker 3: reg Bonus, As you pointed out, their record has them
16:37
Speaker 3: on fire.
16:38
Speaker 2: Do you see them making the playoffs in the East?
16:41
Speaker 8: I do? I do I see them making the playoffs.
16:44
Speaker 8: They have chemistry, they have a great coach, and he's
16:47
Speaker 8: an incredible man. You know, I ruined his broadcasting career.
16:52
Speaker 8: He did a couple of games for me in the
16:53
Speaker 8: late nineties with ESPN. He never worked again in television
16:56
Speaker 8: and went back into coaching. It was a couple of
16:58
Speaker 8: years ago in the playoffs in Dallas, and he pointed
17:01
Speaker 8: out to the press gathering in the morning, the morning
17:03
Speaker 8: skate of a playoff game that this guy over here
17:05
Speaker 8: single handedly ruined my broadcasting for so. Yeah, but Bones
17:11
Speaker 8: is a great guy. You know, he's seventy years old.
17:14
Speaker 8: He had retired, and you know, his wife had gone
17:18
Speaker 8: through some health issues and she was the one that
17:20
Speaker 8: encouraged him to make a run for it. You go
17:22
Speaker 8: ahead and do this. They've moved around a lot, they
17:25
Speaker 8: have an unbelievable family. It's been hockey, hockey, hockey his
17:28
Speaker 8: whole life. But he's a relatable guy, and so he
17:31
Speaker 8: got in there and Dean Evison tried with an iron fist.
17:35
Speaker 8: And Bonus is not an easy guy whatsoever. It's just
17:38
Speaker 8: he's a listener. That's why he was such a great
17:41
Speaker 8: assistant over the years. He listens to players. JT. Brown
17:45
Speaker 8: played under Bones in Tampa. He speaks highly of the
17:49
Speaker 8: relatability that this guy has, so he gets today's player.
17:53
Speaker 8: He's made a big impact. They play fast, they are balanced,
17:57
Speaker 8: and like I said, they've had a set line up.
17:59
Speaker 8: Their line and combinations have not moved for a long time.
18:03
Speaker 8: That's always a good sign. Their deep pairings have been there,
18:05
Speaker 8: or Renzki, in my opinion, wins the Norris Trophy. The
18:08
Speaker 8: goaltending has been solidified as check Greeves is a great story.
18:13
Speaker 8: But their top line, Carill Marchenko is an electrifying player
18:17
Speaker 8: who can shoot, who can skate. He's a big Russian.
18:21
Speaker 8: He's one of the more dynamic players in the league
18:23
Speaker 8: that nobody knows about. Adam Fantilly center's the line and
18:26
Speaker 8: our old friend Mason Marchman has got will fit on
18:29
Speaker 8: that top line and he's been good to his credit.
18:31
Speaker 8: So this is going to be a very interesting game.
18:34
Speaker 8: They have toughness with one of the toughest guys in
18:36
Speaker 8: the league and Matthew Olivier who can play the game too.
18:39
Speaker 8: So the Kraken better be ready to dig in against
18:42
Speaker 8: this opponent.
18:42
Speaker 3: I mean it seems likely Shay's apply here for the
18:44
Speaker 3: Krack and at this time of year, go to the net.
18:47
Speaker 3: Score first, don't chase after the first goal. Hope you
18:50
Speaker 3: score it played discipline four lions can they contribute? But
18:54
Speaker 3: what matters most to you, Johnny here for a five
18:56
Speaker 3: pm start time on a Saturday.
18:59
Speaker 8: Their fashion level. Where's the passion level? You know? That's
19:03
Speaker 8: the key and where's it going to be at the
19:05
Speaker 8: start of the game. So you can go right down
19:07
Speaker 8: the list. You can start with the veteran players and
19:09
Speaker 8: do what they need to do, starting with the captain
19:11
Speaker 8: and on down the line. But then when you get
19:13
Speaker 8: to if if Malanson's in the lineup, if Jacob plays
19:16
Speaker 8: in this game, you know he's going to have to
19:18
Speaker 8: now probably face the music. He's been He's been good
19:22
Speaker 8: in terms of being physical and kind of stirring the pot.
19:25
Speaker 8: But I think you will stir the pot here if
19:27
Speaker 8: you have to to let them know you're here to
19:29
Speaker 8: win the game, and that means you probably have to
19:32
Speaker 8: dance with Olivier, So that'll be interesting to see if
19:35
Speaker 8: that happens. But you know they're going to have to
19:38
Speaker 8: handle their speed. They're going to have to be as
19:41
Speaker 8: well positioned as possible against this team. This team can
19:44
Speaker 8: rush you out of the building if you allow it
19:46
Speaker 8: through the middle of the ice. And again it's a
19:49
Speaker 8: it's a team that will be strong down the middle.
19:53
Speaker 8: So Krack and the time has come. We're running out
19:56
Speaker 8: of racetrack here, there's fourteen games left. It is what
20:01
Speaker 8: it is. I hate that phrase, but that's basically where
20:04
Speaker 8: this team is at right now. They can certainly make it,
20:07
Speaker 8: they can certainly miss. So you know what, Luckily the
20:11
Speaker 8: division is complying and until further notice, it looks like
20:14
Speaker 8: everybody loses on a nightly basis. So there's opportunity. They
20:18
Speaker 8: have to be energized by the opportunity and play with
20:21
Speaker 8: passion from the start of the game tomorrow or tonight,
20:24
Speaker 8: I should say, to get it done.
20:25
Speaker 3: Yeah, looking forward to it as you do these days,
20:27
Speaker 3: as you did back in the day's springfield. Let's have
20:30
Speaker 3: some fun, Thanks Johnny.
20:33
Speaker 8: We had a lot of fun then, Yes, right, Mike,
20:35
Speaker 8: thank you and we'll see you soon.
20:37
Speaker 3: All right, knocking down and Columbus appreciate you big. Thank
20:40
Speaker 3: you again to John Forth Lenday, Johnny, have a great
20:42
Speaker 3: call here coming up here for today in Columbus. All right,
20:45
Speaker 3: second and final matchup coming up here for these two
20:47
Speaker 3: teams the cracket again falling to one in a shootout
20:51
Speaker 3: in the first matchup way back on November eleventh, the
20:54
Speaker 3: Blue Jackets at that point eight seven and one. They
20:58
Speaker 3: are now thirty six twenty one and eleven. After hiring
21:02
Speaker 3: head coach Rick Bonus, are now seventeen to two and
21:05
Speaker 3: four since he was hired on January twelfth. Columbus last
21:09
Speaker 3: beat the Rangers six to three on Thursday. They have
21:12
Speaker 3: won three in a row and are placed by Zach
21:14
Speaker 3: Barenski's dynamo season on the blue line with seventy one points.
21:18
Speaker 3: With seventy two points in just sixty one games, he
21:22
Speaker 3: is second right now in scoring amongst NHL defensemen. Only
21:26
Speaker 3: Evan Bouchard has more with seventy eight points. Lorensky also
21:29
Speaker 3: adding to his trophy case this season winning gold with
21:33
Speaker 3: Team USA at the winner Olympics. For a possible offensive
21:37
Speaker 3: spark on the crake in side, you can certainly begin
21:39
Speaker 3: with who else Captain Jordan Eberley. He leads him with
21:42
Speaker 3: the wopping thirty three points in thirty six games. His
21:46
Speaker 3: thirteen goals are most on the cracket against Columbus head
21:49
Speaker 3: to head all time. Jared McCann is second with ten
21:52
Speaker 3: with a cracket aiming for their third win in five
21:55
Speaker 3: all time visits to Nationwide Arena. We got all the
21:59
Speaker 3: action for you coming up in the afternoon once again
22:01
Speaker 3: two pm Pacific time.
22:02
Speaker 2: Faceoff.
22:03
Speaker 3: We're on Air one thirty for your pregame show, served
22:06
Speaker 3: up by frostbrewed cors light shows, Chill Everetten now in
22:09
Speaker 3: the booth. I will join you at thirty two Bar
22:12
Speaker 3: and Grill, not just here for today, but for the
22:15
Speaker 3: rest of the entire road trips.
22:16
Speaker 2: So once again, if your local, come.
22:18
Speaker 3: On out and hang out with us at Kraken Community
22:21
Speaker 3: ice Plex once again Face Off Set two. Airtime is
22:25
Speaker 3: at one thirty Pacific. Big thank them again to John
22:27
Speaker 3: Forsland for joining us and for kracking this morning.
22:30
Speaker 2: I'm Mike Benton. Enjoy the game. You're home for the
22:33
Speaker 1: Kraken Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.