I’m assuming the end of that headline is …”ire Geoff Baker”
kevinrays
ucking win a damn game already
DG_BeardGains
Can summarize the post? I’m not paying to read it
seattlesportsguy
ucking score some goddamn goals
Commercial-Set9851
Home openers come with their own baked-in drama, just by virtue of being the long-awaited great unveiling. For a team with lofty expectations, as the Seattle Kraken have this year, bump it up a few notches.
But what took place Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena might have been a cut above, by virtue of the multiple layers of grudges, bad blood and scores to settle. It didn’t take long to see that this game between the Kraken and Colorado Avalanche — Stanley Cup playoffs adversaries just six months ago — had something akin to playoff intensity at times. At least early, before this night unraveled for the home team.
How long? The game was a mere 80 seconds old when Colorado’s Logan O’Connor went after Jordan Eberle, presumably the first installment of payoff for Eberle’s hit on Andrew Cogliano in Game 6 of their series that fractured Cogliano’s spine. And everyone wondered if and when the Kraken would retaliate for the hit by Cale Makar in the playoffs that resulted in a concussion for Jared McCann (they never did, though McCann appeared to try to engage with Makar at various times, especially early. The only apparent repercussion for Makar was loud booing every time he touched the puck).
But despite all that angst bubbling under and over the surface, the prime talking point for the Kraken was that they really, really needed a win to turn around a lackluster start. And to get that, they really, really needed some goals after accumulating just two total in their first three games, all losses.
They got one of those elusive goals with 4:51 left in the first period, when the Kraken’s first Washington-born player, Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto, drove one home shortly after Tye Kartye had frustratingly hit the crossbar with a shot. The sellout crowd went suitably bonkers.
But it was not to be a precursor to a barrage of scoring, nor did it forecast a magical opening night for the Kraken. On the contrary, the 4-1 loss just intensifies a troubling start for the Kraken, still winless four games into their third and most promising season. The high spirits in the stands early in the game turned to frustration as the game continued without another goal by Seattle, and even more so as the Avs poured it on.
When Seattle stunned the Avalanche in seven games last year for the first playoff series win in the brief franchise history (another obvious cause of the fraught atmosphere on Tuesday), and then extended Dallas to seven highly competitive games before losing in the next round, coach Dave Hakstol declared, “This group changed the landscape of hockey in Seattle.”
But the terrain is getting rocky quickly. With the rugged schedule not getting any easier in the near future, the Kraken are in danger of getting buried early without a quick turnaround.
The first order of business is to figure out why their offense has been so paltry. The Kraken had five power plays in the game and didn’t convert on any of them. At the end of the second period, the Kraken had outshot Colorado 31-15, but trailed 2-1. The Avs scored two short-handed goals, one of them an empty-netter.
“I mean, the chances are there,” said Eberle. “We’ve just got to execute a little bit. Obviously, we’ve been fighting it. We’ve got three goals in four games. It’s tough to win hockey games when you’re doing that. Things aren’t coming easy for us.”
With tough Carolina up next, the Kraken need to solve their offensive woes quickly.
“Obviously, the puck went in quite a bit last year,” Eberle said. “We have to find a way to collectively … we have to find a way to bear down and get the ball rolling, because once it does, I know it’s going to go. I’d say it’s only four games, but you want to try to find a sense of urgency, a sense of passion, and get going.”
The Kraken felt they had urgency on Tuesday, and they’d like to believe they had passion. But if they don’t get going, the going is going to get rough in a hurry. Hakstol wasn’t talking about big-picture vistas after the game; only about building on the good things he saw that didn’t turn into better things, like goals.
“We’ve just got to stay really confident inside of the room,” Hakstol said. “We’ve got to push when we have the opportunities to work at some of the areas. You really just have to find a way to get over the hump. There’s no magic formula. I’ll tell you what the formula is: Guys sticking together, a bunch of guys working extremely hard. And you’ve got to push for a win. It’s amazing how momentum swings the other way in this game. But for the time being, we’ve got to push for that win.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed quotes to Jared McCann. It was Jordan Eberle who said them.
wwwaffles77
eakin’ relax. All in due time 😉
First-Radish727
Ok. Riddle me this. What is the problem people have with Geoff Baker? I think he’s a good reporter. But clearly people seem not to like him much.
10 Comments
Don’t we all?
f
I’m assuming the end of that headline is …”ire Geoff Baker”
ucking win a damn game already
Can summarize the post? I’m not paying to read it
ucking score some goddamn goals
Home openers come with their own baked-in drama, just by virtue of being the long-awaited great unveiling. For a team with lofty expectations, as the Seattle Kraken have this year, bump it up a few notches.
But what took place Tuesday at Climate Pledge Arena might have been a cut above, by virtue of the multiple layers of grudges, bad blood and scores to settle. It didn’t take long to see that this game between the Kraken and Colorado Avalanche — Stanley Cup playoffs adversaries just six months ago — had something akin to playoff intensity at times. At least early, before this night unraveled for the home team.
How long? The game was a mere 80 seconds old when Colorado’s Logan O’Connor went after Jordan Eberle, presumably the first installment of payoff for Eberle’s hit on Andrew Cogliano in Game 6 of their series that fractured Cogliano’s spine. And everyone wondered if and when the Kraken would retaliate for the hit by Cale Makar in the playoffs that resulted in a concussion for Jared McCann (they never did, though McCann appeared to try to engage with Makar at various times, especially early. The only apparent repercussion for Makar was loud booing every time he touched the puck).
But despite all that angst bubbling under and over the surface, the prime talking point for the Kraken was that they really, really needed a win to turn around a lackluster start. And to get that, they really, really needed some goals after accumulating just two total in their first three games, all losses.
They got one of those elusive goals with 4:51 left in the first period, when the Kraken’s first Washington-born player, Spokane’s Kailer Yamamoto, drove one home shortly after Tye Kartye had frustratingly hit the crossbar with a shot. The sellout crowd went suitably bonkers.
But it was not to be a precursor to a barrage of scoring, nor did it forecast a magical opening night for the Kraken. On the contrary, the 4-1 loss just intensifies a troubling start for the Kraken, still winless four games into their third and most promising season. The high spirits in the stands early in the game turned to frustration as the game continued without another goal by Seattle, and even more so as the Avs poured it on.
When Seattle stunned the Avalanche in seven games last year for the first playoff series win in the brief franchise history (another obvious cause of the fraught atmosphere on Tuesday), and then extended Dallas to seven highly competitive games before losing in the next round, coach Dave Hakstol declared, “This group changed the landscape of hockey in Seattle.”
But the terrain is getting rocky quickly. With the rugged schedule not getting any easier in the near future, the Kraken are in danger of getting buried early without a quick turnaround.
The first order of business is to figure out why their offense has been so paltry. The Kraken had five power plays in the game and didn’t convert on any of them. At the end of the second period, the Kraken had outshot Colorado 31-15, but trailed 2-1. The Avs scored two short-handed goals, one of them an empty-netter.
“I mean, the chances are there,” said Eberle. “We’ve just got to execute a little bit. Obviously, we’ve been fighting it. We’ve got three goals in four games. It’s tough to win hockey games when you’re doing that. Things aren’t coming easy for us.”
With tough Carolina up next, the Kraken need to solve their offensive woes quickly.
“Obviously, the puck went in quite a bit last year,” Eberle said. “We have to find a way to collectively … we have to find a way to bear down and get the ball rolling, because once it does, I know it’s going to go. I’d say it’s only four games, but you want to try to find a sense of urgency, a sense of passion, and get going.”
The Kraken felt they had urgency on Tuesday, and they’d like to believe they had passion. But if they don’t get going, the going is going to get rough in a hurry. Hakstol wasn’t talking about big-picture vistas after the game; only about building on the good things he saw that didn’t turn into better things, like goals.
“We’ve just got to stay really confident inside of the room,” Hakstol said. “We’ve got to push when we have the opportunities to work at some of the areas. You really just have to find a way to get over the hump. There’s no magic formula. I’ll tell you what the formula is: Guys sticking together, a bunch of guys working extremely hard. And you’ve got to push for a win. It’s amazing how momentum swings the other way in this game. But for the time being, we’ve got to push for that win.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed quotes to Jared McCann. It was Jordan Eberle who said them.
eakin’ relax. All in due time 😉
Ok. Riddle me this. What is the problem people have with Geoff Baker? I think he’s a good reporter. But clearly people seem not to like him much.
Uck cale makar