We The Fans: Kraken Find Silver Linings in Driving to the Net, but Come Up Short Again to Avalanche 5-3 in Regulation Time
The Kraken have now lost nine of their last ten and look to be on a collision course with the last place spot in the National Hockey League; after falling to the Colorado Avalanche in last nights contest. The Kraken Penalty Kill was 75% in the contest killing three of the four penalties , as improvements are obvious from the team seasonal average of 67.4% (Worst in the NHL). However, the team also still seems to be lacking the skill and scoring prowess to get over the hump: as two guys being injured shouldn’t be the reason the team is last in scoring. A painful one for six on their own power play just further adds to the frustration as currently there is barely any teeth to this apathetic Kraken Team that can barely managed to gain or maintain the offensive zone. Other teams clearly do not mind sending Seattle to the power play as they have only have only scored more than one goal on the power play one time this season, the teams recent 3-2 late miracle comeback win against the Los Angeles Kings where the team found success driving the net late.
The Kraken have the luxury of seeing who has an ability to step up and produce, but it’s clear the current combination of players is not good enough to compete in this league long term. Dallas is battling Injuries similar to the Kraken; the difference being young guys have stepped up to respond to adversity and have demonstrated an ability to play solid defense at the National Hockey League Level. The same can not be said about the Kraken offense, as the highest scorer on this team currently ranks 147th in the NHL. Tons of former Kraken decorate the 146 skaters amongst that very list. With franchises like Colorado, Minnesota, Dallas, Florida, Toronto, Utah, San Jose , and Vegas built to compete now and in the future. It seems unlikely that the window closes on the rest of the league and the Kraken magically vault into a position where they are competing for a Stanley Cup. If you are a serious franchise in this league, you should be competing to win championships, not just provide entertainment.
One silver lining of Tuesday’s contest with the top team in the league is the Kraken found out they have the strength and size to drive to the net, although they may be lacking speed and skill that other more competitive top teams have. Crashing the Net used to be a viable strategy before all the skill and skating coaches took over ice hockey and convinced people every goal had to belong on a highlight reel. What the current lineup lacks in speed they have demonstrated an ability to work hard and score some ugly goals to give themselves a chance to be in games with solid teams late. Leading just 8 times over 29 games entering the third period, twenty minutes is a likely unsustainable amount of time to maintain a singular goal lead against the leagues best team, who trailed for the first time heading into a third period against the Kraken last night. This current formula, however promising doesn’t seem likely to last and with the team falling below .500 for the first time this season, playing hard and being statistically as bad as you can be for a team in this league ranking last place in many offensive and special teams categories. It is tough to imagine whenever they finally get healthy, that this Kraken Hockey Club won’t be sellers at the trade deadline.
Colorado came back from down 2-1 and also from down 3-2 to beat the Kraken on home ice. A fight between Manson and Marchment, and Burns and Montour; that will likely place Defenseman Brandon Montour on the very deep Kraken IR list. Then, captain, Jordan Eberle missing the go-ahead goal on the penalty shot in the third period was the momentum swing Colorado needed to find the 4th goal late from McKinnon and punishing the Kraken for their own late penalty by defenseman Vince Dunn. With the loss the Kraken at 1-8-1 over their last ten games which is the most disappointing fact being that this is the worst 10 game stretch in franchise history, so fans have never seen the team play worse. Its really unfortunate fans in a sports market and city as great as Seattle have to settle for another year of mediocre and apathetic hockey with a team of players who seems like they would rather not be present, even though they get millions to play a game and are not short of loyalty from fans of the team. It seems rather silly to simply imply supporting your local NHL team entitles you to winning, but at the bare minimum it should feel like players and coaches care about winning.
For me personally, I hate hearing a coach or player say “I thought we played well” after a loss , like you are almost last in everything and you lost, what do you mean? Injury aside going through the motions defensively like this is not good enough. Team has gotta learn and move forward, but ask yourself this Kraken fans with a rather dry prospect pool this year, is gambling for a draft pick better than giving a first round pick and a player for one of the leagues current point producers? It is not my job to solve the teams problems, only to report them and give accurate stats and fact based opinions on the teams performance. Its hard to imagine the teams woes will be ended by anything the coaching staff puts on a clipboard, as the team needs to continue to capitalize off the success of driving hard to the net, and using their size and strength to shield the puck and assert their dominance to get the puck into dangerous areas.
Just tossing ideas, but maybe Kirill Marchenko and Dante Fabro from Columbus for Adam Larsson, Mason Marchement, and an NHL Draft First Round Pick? I do not know if I can speak for everyone, but for myself and others like me; We The Fans just want to see the team win. It is becoming another streak of losses for the squad and Calgary is dated and struggling similar to this current Kraken lineup. We need to limit back to back loses, but something has got to give if you lose on Thursday against Calgary. If we are going to start winning games then it must be before the olympic break, unfortunately I do not see a light at the end of the bad hockey tunnel anytime soon for Seattle Hockey Fans. The organization will likely have to be sold to new management before any real progress is made in Seattle. From a blogger who is trying to be more optimistic about the future of his favorite team, Let’s Go Kraken!
Very Respectfully,
Caleb Nance