Latest / Seattle Kraken Audio Network / KRAKEN THIS MORNING: Happy Holidays, John Forslund checks in (12/14)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 0:00Speaker 2: I think everyone's been great of kind of showing me
- 0:02Speaker 2: the way and showing me what I need to bring
- 0:04Speaker 2: to this team. Obviously, I'm gonna bring a fierce attitude
- 0:08Speaker 2: every night. I'm gonna play physical, I'm gonna win puck battles,
- 0:10Speaker 2: and I'm going to be reliable defensively and try to
- 0:13Speaker 2: bring as much energy to this team as possible and
- 0:16Speaker 2: home games get the fans going as much as I can.
- 0:18Speaker 3: Welcome to Kraken this morning, a presentation of the krak
- 0:22Speaker 3: and Audio network Ken Sports Radio ninety three point three
- 0:25Speaker 3: KJR FM. Here's Mike Benton. He's back after being called
- 0:30Speaker 3: up on Saturday. That was for Jacob Mallonson.
- 0:33Speaker 4: Back in training camp in September and the Seattle Crack
- 0:36Speaker 4: and hoping he can bring more of those attributes as
- 0:38Speaker 4: they take on the Buffalo Sabers in the first of
- 0:41Speaker 4: two consecutive home games in the last two home games
- 0:44Speaker 4: before the holiday break as well. Mike Betton, with you
- 0:47Speaker 4: for cracking this morning. On a Sunday, December fourteenth, five pm.
- 0:50Speaker 4: Puck drop coming your way from Climate Pledgerina Ever it
- 0:53Speaker 4: fits you, Alconiski on the call, I'll join you as
- 0:57Speaker 4: usual back by the course light landing in section twenty. Postgame,
- 1:00Speaker 4: catch us live at Tom's watch Bar right across the street,
- 1:04Speaker 4: al Kiniski and myself with you all the way up
- 1:07Speaker 4: to an hour after the final horn ninety three to
- 1:10Speaker 4: three KJRFM and for game coverage all across the Global
- 1:14Speaker 4: Credit Union Kraken Audio Network. So if Malanson and jere
- 1:18Speaker 4: McCann off to injury reserve, that shouldn't be a surprise
- 1:22Speaker 4: after he was ruled knocked out for action for three
- 1:24Speaker 4: weeks after sustaining a lower body injury against the Kings
- 1:29Speaker 4: back on Wednesdays. So the Crack and adding a little
- 1:32Speaker 4: bit more jam here to the lineup, and we'll talk
- 1:34Speaker 4: about the state of matters right now on the Crack
- 1:37Speaker 4: and with TV play by play man John Foresland of
- 1:41Speaker 4: course on the Krack and Hockey Network will also discuss
- 1:44Speaker 4: Mason Marchment, the progress of Shane Wright, insights into the
- 1:49Speaker 4: first matchup with Buffalo, and the Quinn Hughes deal. It
- 1:53Speaker 4: was big and it rocked the hockey world. But where
- 1:55Speaker 4: does John measure it with other big trades? Other blockbuster
- 1:59Speaker 4: trades would have gone down in NHL history. Looking forward
- 2:03Speaker 4: to hearing from John Forestland. We can certainly bet a
- 2:05Speaker 4: lot of straight talk coming, as they'll join us here
- 2:08Speaker 4: in just a matter of moments. A little flashback as
- 2:12Speaker 4: well to Friday with the Kraken taking on the Utah
- 2:15Speaker 4: Mammoth and with the game scoreless in period two. It
- 2:18Speaker 4: was Mason march Mint who had a big game in mind.
- 2:22Speaker 5: Turka kicked it ahead, but Freddy Gidrou intercepting. Now Mason
- 2:26Speaker 5: Marshman gets behind the defense Marschman a backhand stars Mason Marshmant,
- 2:32Speaker 5: turns on the sheets down the right side, turns the
- 2:35Speaker 5: corner on the defense, goes under the bar on Vmilka.
- 2:40Speaker 5: It's a one nothing Seattle Cracking lead, sixteen to twenty
- 2:43Speaker 5: five to go on the second Yeah, Mason Marshmurt getting
- 2:46Speaker 5: his step on the Mammoth defenseman.
- 2:48Speaker 6: They're using his long reach to get around them, and
- 2:51Speaker 6: then makes a great move on Mamilka. Four hand, backhand
- 2:54Speaker 6: up under the bar blocker side one nothing cracking.
- 2:57Speaker 5: Mason Marchmant on the right side, Montour line, far side
- 3:01Speaker 5: near wing circle.
- 3:02Speaker 6: Mars Matt scoos.
- 3:08Speaker 5: Mason Marshmittt's got two and the Seattle Kracking tie this
- 3:13Speaker 5: game at two twelve ten to go on the third well, a.
- 3:17Speaker 6: Very similar shot to a power play one timer Mason
- 3:20Speaker 6: Marshman's at the top of the circles. That put goes
- 3:23Speaker 6: over to Linger on the far side about three feet
- 3:25Speaker 6: inside the blue line. He feeds into Marchmen March Mint
- 3:28Speaker 6: with that one timer, beating Vamilka Low on that blocker's side.
- 3:32Speaker 6: This game's tied to two.
- 3:34Speaker 5: Gunther two pa Turk up right sign a Lexiak one
- 3:37Speaker 5: hands it up top held in by surrogate chev Smalltz
- 3:41Speaker 5: near side Gunther.
- 3:43Speaker 3: He scores.
- 3:48Speaker 4: Telling so despite mass first two goal out eight of
- 3:52Speaker 4: his cracking career, special teams again making a big difference
- 3:55Speaker 4: and the Cracking unfortunately coming up short as a result,
- 3:58Speaker 4: going zero for four on the power play and for
- 4:01Speaker 4: five on three time in a span of one minute
- 4:04Speaker 4: and forty two seconds, Utah going one of two on
- 4:07Speaker 4: the man advantage and their lone power play goal serving
- 4:11Speaker 4: the eventual game winner. Final score Utah five, Cracking three
- 4:16Speaker 4: and the home team so far has won all four
- 4:18Speaker 4: matchups in the Lifetime series. It's back home now for
- 4:22Speaker 4: the Kraken, taking on Buffalo and looking to get back
- 4:26Speaker 4: on the winning path. Right now five points back of
- 4:29Speaker 4: the cut line in the Western Conference with a record
- 4:32Speaker 4: of twelve eleven and six and facing Buffalo right now
- 4:36Speaker 4: in the basement at thirteen fourteen and four in the
- 4:39Speaker 4: Eastern Conference. All right, back home for two more and
- 4:43Speaker 4: that's it as far as the holiday break, And that's
- 4:45Speaker 4: getting closer here than what we certainly think it is.
- 4:48Speaker 4: But for now, happy holidays in Merry Christmas. Here to
- 4:52Speaker 4: John Forest lind our friend TV play by play voice
- 4:54Speaker 4: of course on the TV side for Crack and Hockey Network,
- 4:56Speaker 4: also Amazon Prime, TNT. Johnny again for doing this here.
- 5:01Speaker 4: And I want to put this to bed because did
- 5:03Speaker 4: you scare a couple of folks online saying that the
- 5:06Speaker 4: Utah broadcast was your last game? And this was basically
- 5:09Speaker 4: nothing but a joke with Edzel on the air.
- 5:11Speaker 1: Yeah, he was just giving me the business. So it's
- 5:13Speaker 1: great to be with you, Michael. Yeah. Uh. And so
- 5:17Speaker 1: I just said I've had enough and I announced my
- 5:19Speaker 1: retirement prematurely.
- 5:22Speaker 4: Well me, Hey, it's do you remember the whole comment
- 5:24Speaker 4: by Devin Coolly about two years ago that we're all
- 5:26Speaker 4: gonna die, but we're.
- 5:27Speaker 1: Just trying to still lives. He still goes by that
- 5:30Speaker 1: lives by whatever you want to say. Yeah, it's very true.
- 5:33Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's appropriate.
- 5:35Speaker 4: Live in the moment here, That's that's why we enjoy
- 5:37Speaker 4: this business. Hey, Johnny, I mean this team has been
- 5:40Speaker 4: fluctuating on special teams are still though, hanging in the mix.
- 5:44Speaker 4: They've been banged up with injuries, but they're still hanging
- 5:46Speaker 4: in the mix. So what's surprising was not surprising to
- 5:51Speaker 4: you where matters are approaching game thirty and the crack
- 5:54Speaker 4: in the game above five hundred.
- 5:57Speaker 1: Just that they have to somehow stay connected it as
- 6:00Speaker 1: a group. It's hard to do. You know, injuries are
- 6:05Speaker 1: all over the National Hockey League. Okay, yesterday is watching
- 6:09Speaker 1: you know, in New Jersey play yesterday afternoon, and you
- 6:12Speaker 1: know there's eight players off their roster that are injured
- 6:15Speaker 1: right now, and a few of those are very significant players. Okay,
- 6:19Speaker 1: So this is not something that is just hitting the crack,
- 6:22Speaker 1: and it's hitting every team because of the scheduling and
- 6:24Speaker 1: the compressed nature of the schedule and go on. That
- 6:27Speaker 1: could be a theory that could be attached to who knows,
- 6:30Speaker 1: just could be bad luck. Whatever the case is, you've
- 6:32Speaker 1: got to kind of weather the storm. Here before the
- 6:35Speaker 1: holiday break. It's the danger zone right now for the Kraken.
- 6:40Speaker 1: You know, the game in Utah is a perfect example
- 6:43Speaker 1: of playing well for the lion's share of the game
- 6:46Speaker 1: and getting out of there with zero And unfortunately, those
- 6:50Speaker 1: are the games that are going to end up biting
- 6:52Speaker 1: you at the end of the season because the moral
- 6:55Speaker 1: victories are long gone. You got to bank points. You
- 6:58Speaker 1: got to continue to be in the neighborhoo of one
- 7:00Speaker 1: point per game and hopefully get you two and do that.
- 7:04Speaker 1: And what's that going to take. And that's going to
- 7:06Speaker 1: take a team that can't come a part of the teams,
- 7:09Speaker 1: a team that cannot concentrate on whatever situations right now
- 7:13Speaker 1: are problematic. Yes, the special teams are an iore. Those
- 7:18Speaker 1: are coachable situations. Those are situations that have to be fixed.
- 7:22Speaker 1: Those are sometimes unexplainable. The players though, unfortunately, have to
- 7:27Speaker 1: mentally get through a period where there's a lot of
- 7:29Speaker 1: focus on that. And how do you focus on special
- 7:32Speaker 1: teams at the expense of your even strength, your five
- 7:35Speaker 1: on five game, your overall team games. To me, that's
- 7:38Speaker 1: your strength and I've told you this over and over again,
- 7:41Speaker 1: that's the strength of the Seattle Krakens the team game,
- 7:44Speaker 1: and they have to focus on that. That's going to
- 7:47Speaker 1: help the goalies. That's going to help them Eventually, it's
- 7:50Speaker 1: going to make you a better penalty killing team. I
- 7:52Speaker 1: can't speak to the power play because again, their talent
- 7:55Speaker 1: has to be taken into consideration about one hundred percent
- 7:58Speaker 1: sure they have the same fire up power as other
- 8:00Speaker 1: teams when it comes to the power play. Don't worry
- 8:03Speaker 1: about it, continue to practice, to continue to work on it.
- 8:06Speaker 1: Don't worry about the power play. Fix your penalty killing.
- 8:09Speaker 1: Penally killing is systematic, it's hard work, and it's goaltending.
- 8:13Speaker 1: I mean, those are the three items that have to
- 8:15Speaker 1: be in place. Every team can get better at it.
- 8:17Speaker 1: You know, a few seasons ago to Crack and we're
- 8:19Speaker 1: floundering with their penalty killing, and thanks to Dave Lowry,
- 8:23Speaker 1: they made some adjustments and all of a sudden they
- 8:25Speaker 1: started the climb Climb, climb, and they were the upper
- 8:27Speaker 1: third of the league by the end of the season.
- 8:29Speaker 1: So to me, that's fixable. A power play is something
- 8:34Speaker 1: that fans and us look at all the time because
- 8:37Speaker 1: it's so obvious. That's not an easy fix. But your kill,
- 8:41Speaker 1: to me, is an easier thing to address and get through,
- 8:44Speaker 1: and that it's going to help them get through this period.
- 8:47Speaker 4: Control your controllables basically. In other words, yere I go
- 8:50Speaker 4: back again and stay with the Utah game. Johnny, what'd
- 8:53Speaker 4: you take away watching Mason marchmant on Friday night?
- 8:58Speaker 1: Well, I mean you're going to be have a game
- 9:00Speaker 1: like that and you can put a string of games
- 9:03Speaker 1: together like that and play on a consistent basis where
- 9:07Speaker 1: you're getting shots directed at the net. I believe he
- 9:10Speaker 1: had twelve attempts. I think he had done at the
- 9:13Speaker 1: top of their list that way done at fourteen attempts
- 9:15Speaker 1: and less in Friday night's game. You know, these are
- 9:19Speaker 1: situations for Marchmen that have not been evident. You know,
- 9:22Speaker 1: he has not come as advertised, He has not gone
- 9:25Speaker 1: to the net enough. The krap and need a player
- 9:28Speaker 1: like that. That's why Jason Botro went out and got
- 9:31Speaker 1: this guy. I mean it was to address a need
- 9:34Speaker 1: going to the net. Papocaco's another player that you know,
- 9:38Speaker 1: whether it's injuries, whatever the situation is. He's had some
- 9:41Speaker 1: bum luck, there's no question about it. But he needs
- 9:43Speaker 1: to be stronger on the boards and in my opinion,
- 9:46Speaker 1: he needs to go to the net in my opinion,
- 9:48Speaker 1: on a more regular basis. So these are players that
- 9:51Speaker 1: have the frame and the skill set and hopefully the
- 9:54Speaker 1: mindset to play that way, and if they don't, it
- 9:57Speaker 1: just just raises another issue with the Krakens team game,
- 10:00Speaker 1: which is they're two SOPs in terms of getting to
- 10:03Speaker 1: the interior of the ice. So Marchman can be a
- 10:05Speaker 1: leader that way. There are rumors attached to this player
- 10:09Speaker 1: now as far as a trading piece and so on.
- 10:11Speaker 1: That's obvious because he's in a contract year. But if
- 10:14Speaker 1: he wants to get paid in Seattle, or if he
- 10:16Speaker 1: wants to move to another team, that's up to him.
- 10:18Speaker 1: He's going to become more marketable than he's been. And
- 10:21Speaker 1: I hope, I hope whatever happened in Utah. And it's
- 10:25Speaker 1: ironic that you know the one player who and I
- 10:28Speaker 1: knew Brian Marchman very well. He was a friend of mine.
- 10:32Speaker 1: You know, his dad wasn't there without all the other dads.
- 10:35Speaker 1: And look who had the best game for the cracking, right,
- 10:37Speaker 1: So somebody was watching upstairs, Mush Senior was watching upstairs
- 10:41Speaker 1: at that and probably saying, Mace, you can do this.
- 10:45Speaker 1: Just get back to your skill set as a hockey player.
- 10:48Speaker 1: Don't worry about other things that are surrounding you. Play
- 10:51Speaker 1: a meat and potatoes style. You're going to help the
- 10:53Speaker 1: seattle cracking.
- 10:55Speaker 4: Johnny, want to ask you about Shane Wright. He's had
- 10:57Speaker 4: a Freddie goodrow like since here. Maybe this year is
- 11:01Speaker 4: so far playing all across the board in the lineup
- 11:04Speaker 4: at center, at right wing, and there could be a
- 11:06Speaker 4: change of roles, you know, with that kind of shift.
- 11:09Speaker 4: He's still just twenty one years of ages. I think
- 11:11Speaker 4: that we got to remind some people. But where do
- 11:14Speaker 4: you think current expectation and future projection meet when it
- 11:19Speaker 4: comes to the kind of player that he'll grow into.
- 11:23Speaker 1: Well, this is a that's a great question. You know,
- 11:26Speaker 1: I got a hand it to you. That's one of
- 11:27Speaker 1: your best quotes. You always ask good questions. That's one
- 11:30Speaker 1: of your best ever.
- 11:31Speaker 4: Yeah, already, Johnny, don't don't worry about that.
- 11:34Speaker 1: Don't worry about hey, listen, buddy, for those that care,
- 11:37Speaker 1: and many don't. Okay, So anyway, I'm talking about the
- 11:41Speaker 1: question that shame right. Shane Right needs Shane Wright needs
- 11:47Speaker 1: to be a point producer. He needs to be He's
- 11:50Speaker 1: going to have to be that player for this team
- 11:54Speaker 1: to move forward. Otherwise, you know you're getting in line
- 11:57Speaker 1: again with Burke, Catton and Jacobrien to be fair to
- 12:02Speaker 1: those players. You know, as fans, you know, don't expect
- 12:06Speaker 1: that to come in a hurry, because that's just forcing
- 12:08Speaker 1: an issue Shane Wright. You know, when you draft the
- 12:12Speaker 1: player as they did fourth overall, you expect that player
- 12:15Speaker 1: to be hopefully elite as the years go on. You
- 12:19Speaker 1: look at draft years, and some years there are a
- 12:22Speaker 1: ton of elite players, in other years not so much so.
- 12:26Speaker 1: When you look at the twenty two draft, I think
- 12:29Speaker 1: the jury's out on a lot of this. The player
- 12:32Speaker 1: who has really taken off among them, and he's injured
- 12:35Speaker 1: now is Logan Cooley. We didn't see him Friday night
- 12:37Speaker 1: in Utah. That was a really good draft pick by
- 12:40Speaker 1: the man at the time, you know, but you go Slipkowski,
- 12:45Speaker 1: Nemots Cooley and then you get to write I'm telling you,
- 12:50Speaker 1: you know, when they picked Shane Right, it was obvious,
- 12:52Speaker 1: I mean exceptional player status, a player that was supposed
- 12:56Speaker 1: to be first overall, all of a sudden he slips
- 12:59Speaker 1: to four. And if you don't take Shane Right as
- 13:02Speaker 1: Francis did. I think there's a lot more scrutiny attached
- 13:05Speaker 1: to the draft choice. When the krap And drafted Shane Right,
- 13:09Speaker 1: they were having a parade and all of us were
- 13:12Speaker 1: excited about this. Now he's had a tough journey, he's
- 13:15Speaker 1: had a journey that's a little bit different than other players.
- 13:19Speaker 1: But now at his age, yes he's twenty one, it'd
- 13:21Speaker 1: be twenty two in the beginning of January, but it's
- 13:25Speaker 1: his time. There are other players of his age right
- 13:28Speaker 1: now and younger who are thriving in the National Hockey League.
- 13:32Speaker 1: So to me, I think what needs to happen, and
- 13:34Speaker 1: I'd really like to see some of these line combinations reconfigure.
- 13:38Speaker 1: I almost think the crack and coaching staff, in my opinion,
- 13:41Speaker 1: need to give him an opportunity to get into a
- 13:45Speaker 1: scoring area five on five. So it's almost like they
- 13:49Speaker 1: might have to think about getting Cocko going by putting
- 13:51Speaker 1: him back with Vaniers. They might have to think about
- 13:54Speaker 1: dropping every off the Vanier's line and giving him to
- 13:57Speaker 1: Shane Right and seeing what could happen there on the
- 14:00Speaker 1: blank on the other side, but to create places and
- 14:03Speaker 1: within games where you can see and get more of
- 14:06Speaker 1: a read on Shane Wright in terms of his scoring
- 14:08Speaker 1: potential and also if he can handle a defensive matchup.
- 14:12Speaker 1: By keeping him down in the order, you're kind of
- 14:15Speaker 1: protecting the player, But I don't know that they're bringing
- 14:17Speaker 1: out the best and the player either. Okay, And I
- 14:20Speaker 1: really think a team that's been challenged to score, I
- 14:23Speaker 1: think it's a fair assessment. I think I'm being fair
- 14:25Speaker 1: with this suggestion. I think you would like to take
- 14:28Speaker 1: Shane right into another place. We were begging for it
- 14:32Speaker 1: last season. It never happened, you know, get him into
- 14:35Speaker 1: more of a situation where he can succeed. There's plenty
- 14:38Speaker 1: of veteran players that can insulate him on the line.
- 14:41Speaker 1: I don't know that he needs that much insulation offensively.
- 14:44Speaker 1: Maybe a little bit defensively, but I don't think he's
- 14:46Speaker 1: that egregious defensively whatsoever. But I'd like to see him
- 14:49Speaker 1: be involved in games where he's getting high event chances
- 14:53Speaker 1: more and more than he is. You know. So this
- 14:56Speaker 1: is going to be the key for him, and then
- 14:58Speaker 1: you're going to be able to get him into a
- 14:59Speaker 1: special team situation. With his release, his ability to shoot,
- 15:04Speaker 1: he can pop off the wall and score goals. You know,
- 15:07Speaker 1: he might be a power play option, you know, moving
- 15:09Speaker 1: forward with more confidence. So he, like the team is
- 15:12Speaker 1: in a little bit of a danger zone, kind of
- 15:14Speaker 1: a teetering point where he needs more confidence. They're going
- 15:18Speaker 1: to have to get to it, you know, because for
- 15:19Speaker 1: the crack n to be you know, really good, not
- 15:22Speaker 1: only this year, but moving forward with a group of
- 15:24Speaker 1: centers they have, Shane Wright's going to have to be
- 15:26Speaker 1: a primetime guy and Maddy Beniers will be a solid
- 15:29Speaker 1: two way checker in back of him. You know, things
- 15:31Speaker 1: work out the way they're supposed to, and then Caton's
- 15:34Speaker 1: on the way, and then O'Brien's on the way. Maybe
- 15:37Speaker 1: jcobrien's the best of the lot, but he'll be at
- 15:39Speaker 1: the World Junior Tournament. It's too early for that, right
- 15:42Speaker 1: but maybe he is. It seems like they have strength
- 15:45Speaker 1: down the middle organizationally the way they've drafted, But Shane
- 15:49Speaker 1: Wright right now is in the now. You know, he's
- 15:51Speaker 1: performing at this level and needs to perform better.
- 15:54Speaker 4: The Sabers make their only visit of the season, and
- 15:57Speaker 4: they've got a messy backstage to what's going on right
- 16:00Speaker 4: now under the spotlight, but they've got top end talent
- 16:03Speaker 4: that can hurt you. They've won two in a row,
- 16:06Speaker 4: and they've scored eleven goals now in the last three games.
- 16:09Speaker 4: What's the first big key, Johnny, You've got in mind
- 16:11Speaker 4: here for tonight.
- 16:13Speaker 1: Well, it's a team that's had a couple of days
- 16:15Speaker 1: to either have a rookie dinner or you know, get
- 16:17Speaker 1: ready and be ready to play. And it's a team
- 16:20Speaker 1: that be ready to play has been the situation that's
- 16:23Speaker 1: plagued them all year. It's hard to get a read
- 16:26Speaker 1: on a Buffalo team that has an abundance of first
- 16:29Speaker 1: round draft choices. It seems like a team that's gone
- 16:32Speaker 1: for you know, prime selections, especially at the defense. And
- 16:37Speaker 1: you know, it's a mixed bag. It's a team that's
- 16:40Speaker 1: rotated three goalies most of the season. It appears, based
- 16:44Speaker 1: on an injury in the last game that you know,
- 16:46Speaker 1: Alex Lyon might get the opportunity to play against the Kraken,
- 16:49Speaker 1: and if he does, it appears that the Sabers played
- 16:52Speaker 1: better in front of Alex Lyon. A couple of times
- 16:55Speaker 1: that I've seen him this year in person, that's been
- 16:57Speaker 1: the case. You know, they're a team that has a
- 17:04Speaker 1: very sneaky offensive talented side that can come up and
- 17:08Speaker 1: bite you, similar to Utah. They're a team that Josh
- 17:13Speaker 1: Don has had a remarkable season. He's a piece that
- 17:15Speaker 1: came over in the Perturca trade. He's been good for Buffalo.
- 17:18Speaker 1: Age Thompson is a world class talent with an unbelievable
- 17:21Speaker 1: world class release and shot. So he's a player to
- 17:25Speaker 1: watch in this situation. And I mean, I think organizationally
- 17:28Speaker 1: they're a mess. There's a lot of rumors attached to
- 17:31Speaker 1: the GM seat and whether Kevin Adams is either staying
- 17:34Speaker 1: or going that the next step is going to be
- 17:36Speaker 1: Lindy Russ, you know. So you're getting a team that's
- 17:40Speaker 1: you know, there's still a lot of runway in the season,
- 17:44Speaker 1: so they can still save themselves because Eastern Conference is
- 17:47Speaker 1: so jumbled up. But there's a lot going on around
- 17:50Speaker 1: this team. If you allow them to feel good at
- 17:52Speaker 1: any point in the game, they'll beat you. And I
- 17:54Speaker 1: believe that's what they did to Vancouver the other night.
- 17:57Speaker 1: You know, don't do it, you know, don't do it
- 18:00Speaker 1: a strong first period, get the foothold on the game
- 18:02Speaker 1: and dictate the terms of the game. Now, that's the thing.
- 18:05Speaker 1: If you want to compare the Crack and at the
- 18:07Speaker 1: beginning of the season till now, when's the last time
- 18:10Speaker 1: they really dictated the terms of a game. You know,
- 18:14Speaker 1: that's been slipping away. They've been reacting to the other
- 18:17Speaker 1: side like they did for so much of last season.
- 18:20Speaker 1: It's scary. They've got to get back to it. And
- 18:23Speaker 1: a team like Buffalo, that's perfect. It's the end of
- 18:25Speaker 1: a road trip. They've been on the West coast for
- 18:27Speaker 1: a long time. If the road really jump on them,
- 18:31Speaker 1: if they had a really nice rookie dinner, if that's
- 18:33Speaker 1: what they did, jump on them. You know, like this
- 18:35Speaker 1: is a situation the Crack and desperately need to take
- 18:38Speaker 1: advantage of.
- 18:39Speaker 4: A couple of players had some show up games in
- 18:42Speaker 4: that win at Vancouver. Rasmus Dahline put them up one nothing,
- 18:45Speaker 4: multi point game, Tavee Thompson turning point goal that he
- 18:48Speaker 4: had for his fifteen before Zach Benson eventually put it away,
- 18:51Speaker 4: as far as a game winning goal on the power play.
- 18:54Speaker 4: Hey Johnny, very quick. The Quinn Hughes trade reminds me
- 18:57Speaker 4: a lot of the Tamus Saloni trade of the Docks
- 18:59Speaker 4: back in nineteen ninety six. Minnesota's got more talent, I
- 19:03Speaker 4: think in comparison to what Anaheim had back then. But
- 19:06Speaker 4: this was Bill garn saying, you know what, forget it,
- 19:08Speaker 4: there's a big fish out there. Let's do whatever it
- 19:11Speaker 4: takes out go three players and a first round draft
- 19:14Speaker 4: pick as a result, and it's looking like that it
- 19:16Speaker 4: will change Minnesota's world. So where do you put that
- 19:19Speaker 4: trade up with other blockbusters you've seen throughout the years.
- 19:23Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you got to go way back, and
- 19:25Speaker 1: I think Solani is a good analogy. Doug Gilmour coming
- 19:29Speaker 1: from Calgary to Toronto in the early nineties, Cliff Fletcher
- 19:33Speaker 1: deal that was huge, multiple players. I long for those days. Again.
- 19:38Speaker 1: You know, it's hard to make trades I get it,
- 19:42Speaker 1: but general managers in today's game have to figure out
- 19:46Speaker 1: a way to put their resume on the table and
- 19:51Speaker 1: not be afraid to pull a trigger. And you know
- 19:55Speaker 1: it's easy for someone like me to say that. But
- 19:59Speaker 1: I know Bill ga very well. I mean, he grew
- 20:01Speaker 1: up about five miles away from where I grew up.
- 20:04Speaker 1: I knew his father, Billy. He is younger than than
- 20:07Speaker 1: I am, but I know that. You know, he has
- 20:11Speaker 1: a brash way about him, and he's not afraid to
- 20:15Speaker 1: dip into the waters like this, and he surrendered a
- 20:18Speaker 1: boatload of talent and potential with what he did. But
- 20:22Speaker 1: the world class nature of this player. To acquire a
- 20:26Speaker 1: player now in your neighborhood which has Jail mccarr and
- 20:31Speaker 1: Josh Morrissey and mirohyskinin and you know you got all
- 20:36Speaker 1: these d in the same division. Now you finally put
- 20:39Speaker 1: Minnesota into a position where with their goaltending team structure
- 20:43Speaker 1: and Caprice and Boldie, you know you're in the conversation
- 20:47Speaker 1: now with the elite, and that is a game changer.
- 20:52Speaker 1: I encourage more general managers. I think they almost have
- 20:55Speaker 1: to do this. It's almost been like a bailout mic
- 20:59Speaker 1: over the years because the salary cap. It's almost been
- 21:01Speaker 1: like they convinced themselves they can't make deals. You know,
- 21:06Speaker 1: Rutherford and Patrick Alvin might get in our getting scrutiny
- 21:11Speaker 1: and criticism and have already, so it's not like this
- 21:14Speaker 1: is new to them. But they had to do something
- 21:16Speaker 1: with a player that had already basically told them he
- 21:20Speaker 1: wanted out, and they couldn't wait till the last year
- 21:23Speaker 1: of his contract. History shows that when you get to
- 21:25Speaker 1: the last year of deals. You're not dealing from a
- 21:28Speaker 1: position of strength anymore, you know, as Rutherford said on Friday,
- 21:32Speaker 1: this was the time that we had the most leverage
- 21:35Speaker 1: with Quinn Hughes. So they did what they did. And
- 21:38Speaker 1: for Billy Garon, he took a shot at it. He
- 21:40Speaker 1: owes his ownership group that it's a shake up. It's
- 21:44Speaker 1: a huge shakeup, and it's a huge change there. And
- 21:46Speaker 1: I think any team, any team that's in the ABYSS.
- 21:50Speaker 1: You know, hard to use that word in these parts,
- 21:52Speaker 1: but anyway in the ABYSS, you know your your general
- 21:56Speaker 1: manager needs at some point to step up and do
- 21:58Speaker 1: it because it's ends up a message to the room.
- 22:02Speaker 1: It supports your coaches, everybody gets a boost. And you know,
- 22:06Speaker 1: are the cracking going to do anything like this? I
- 22:08Speaker 1: don't know, should they? Maybe? I mean maybe some type
- 22:12Speaker 1: of situation needs to arise. Ron Francis last December made
- 22:16Speaker 1: the deal for Coco. You know, like it had to happen.
- 22:20Speaker 1: Did it pan out? Well? It did last year to
- 22:22Speaker 1: be fair, the kids had too many injuries this year
- 22:25Speaker 1: and he's had a hard time gaining traction. Hopefully he's
- 22:27Speaker 1: going to have a strong second half, but at least
- 22:29Speaker 1: the potential to add a young player with a high ceiling,
- 22:33Speaker 1: you know, was there and there was a trade that
- 22:35Speaker 1: kind of shook things up at the time. Seems like
- 22:38Speaker 1: crack and are in the same boat right now, and
- 22:41Speaker 1: you know, maybe maybe it's time for something to happen,
- 22:44Speaker 1: you know, with this roster. We'll see. But that so
- 22:47Speaker 1: that you know, Pittsburgh did the same thing on the
- 22:49Speaker 1: same day by sending Tristan Jari to Edmonton and kind
- 22:53Speaker 1: of shaking things up there. So you know, before the
- 22:55Speaker 1: trade freeze, before the holidays, let's get to happy holidays.
- 22:58Speaker 1: You know, maybe there's a chance to see some more
- 23:00Speaker 1: deals around the league. I think it's good for the
- 23:02Speaker 1: league in.
- 23:02Speaker 4: General entertainment business, right, you know, that's.
- 23:05Speaker 1: Right, right, And this is what gets people talking about
- 23:08Speaker 1: the sport. When you have the same bloody roster from
- 23:11Speaker 1: training camps and to the trading deadline, it's groundhog day, right.
- 23:16Speaker 1: So I think it's a good thing. I think trades
- 23:18Speaker 1: are fun. That's the way it needs to be. And
- 23:21Speaker 1: I'm not surprised that it was Bill Barren who was
- 23:24Speaker 1: able to do it because he's not afraid and you know,
- 23:27Speaker 1: the great gms in history around the NHL and in
- 23:31Speaker 1: any sport, I've been the ones who are not afraid
- 23:33Speaker 1: to make a mistake because you will. You will make
- 23:36Speaker 1: a mistake. And you know you just got to say, hey,
- 23:38Speaker 1: I tried. You know hindsight. Everybody can look back at
- 23:41Speaker 1: every transaction with hindsight, but you got to you got
- 23:44Speaker 1: to get to it, and the Wild did and now
- 23:47Speaker 1: you know the at the top of the league. And
- 23:49Speaker 1: Hughes will play today, he'll play Sunday against Boston and
- 23:54Speaker 1: you know, we'll see where it goes. But they they've
- 23:56Speaker 1: they've transformed the nature of their team by adding that player.
- 24:00Speaker 4: To say, your insights for us are like a gift
- 24:02Speaker 4: in the stocking stuff for here, Johnny, appreciate you have
- 24:05Speaker 4: a good call.
- 24:07Speaker 1: Okay, Mike, take care.
- 24:08Speaker 4: You got a Johnny all killer, no filler. That's why
- 24:11Speaker 4: we appreciate you. Certainly. The time is always well spent
- 24:14Speaker 4: with you to have a great call, my friend. Ay,
- 24:16Speaker 4: the cracking taking on the Buffalo Sabers in the game
- 24:18Speaker 4: that you won't want to miss. Also across a pretty
- 24:20Speaker 4: busy sports day in the Seattle landscape, of course, the
- 24:23Speaker 4: Seattle Seahawks will be in action against Indianapolis for a
- 24:26Speaker 4: one pm kickoff, So hey, doubleheader might not be a
- 24:30Speaker 4: bad idea here if you're down for the NFL side
- 24:32Speaker 4: in the afternoon and the NHL side as well in
- 24:36Speaker 4: the evening. The Krack and facing the Sabers team first
- 24:38Speaker 4: of two matchups on the campaign and historically this MATCHUB
- 24:42Speaker 4: says it's a good time for the Kraken to get
- 24:45Speaker 4: back onto winning matters. They have won seven of eight
- 24:48Speaker 4: meetings overall against Buffalo, including three of four on home ice.
- 24:52Speaker 4: They will square off once again in Buffalo on March
- 24:56Speaker 4: twenty eighth. Chandler Stevenson right now leads the Cracking as
- 24:59Speaker 4: far as who's hot with points in four consecutive games,
- 25:03Speaker 4: and for the Savers we mentioned Tase Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin.
- 25:06Speaker 4: Without question there are the big ones to stop as well,
- 25:09Speaker 4: Thompson riding a three game goal scoring streak and Dahleen
- 25:13Speaker 4: on the back end with points in four consecutive games
- 25:16Speaker 4: and a total overall. Looking forward to having you join
- 25:20Speaker 4: us again this evening five pm put Drop four thirty
- 25:23Speaker 4: airtime all across the global Credit Union Craken Audio Network,
- 25:27Speaker 4: Postgamer going live across the street at Tom's watchbar. We
- 25:31Speaker 4: certainly hope that you can join us. Big thank you
- 25:34Speaker 4: again to John Forest lind And for cracking this morning.
- 25:36Speaker 4: I'm Mike Benton. Enjoy the game man, have a happy Sunday.
- 25:39Speaker 3: You're home for the Kraken Sports Radio ninety three point
- 25:42Speaker 3: three kJ r FM