June 9, 2025 • 37 mins
New Kraken head coach Lane Lambert meets with the Seattle media for the first time at Kraken Community Iceplex. Marc also catches up with Mike Benton as he gives his thoughts on the new hockey coach, and much more.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Now let's go alive.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
To the Kracking community ice Plex for the introduction of
Lane Lambert as the brand new head coach of the Kracking.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Hey, well, we have our general manager, Jason Botral and
our new head coach, Lane Lambert. What we'll do is
as we always do, We'll start with some opening remarks
from Jason and Lane, and then we'll throw out questions
from all you on the floor. There are some roving mics,
so when you get the chance, just flag us and
we'll bring the mic to you to can state your
(00:35):
name and your affiliation as Lane guests to know everybody.
That would be great and for those online, they know
who you are as well.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
I'm with that. Jason over to you.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
First off, thank you very much for everyone coming out today.
We are certainly very excited about this opportunity to announce
Lane Lambert as our head coach of the Seattle Kraken
on behalf of Samantha and our entire ownership group, Ron
Francis and our entire staff. We welcomed Lane and his
wife Annie to the Pacific Northwest. As we went through
this process, we certainly understood that it became very evident
(01:10):
that Lane was a great choice to be our new
head coach. At the end of the day, Lane is
a winner. He won a Stanley Cup in twenty eighteen
with the Washington Capitals, and since twenty fifteen he's been
a part of a twenty one playoff series. When the
Stanley Cup Playoffs are on, Lane's a part of it. Also,
through the process with Ron and myself, it became very
(01:32):
evident that Lane presented the attributes that we were looking
for the combination of having a presence and knowledge to
work with our veteran players, yet also be dedicated to
interact with our young players for our organization to take
the next step. We are extremely excited to announce today
(01:54):
Lane Lambert as the new head coach of the Seattle Kraken.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Congratulations, Thanks Jason.
Speaker 6 (02:06):
Ecstatic to be here, obviously, it's a thrilling day for
myself and my family, and welcome to everyone in here.
First and foremost, i'd like to thank Samantha Holloway Ownership
Group and Ron Francis, our president, Jason Bottrell, our general manager.
(02:27):
Thank you for instilling the confidence to appoint me to
this position. Being a coach in the National Hockey League
is a privilege at any at any at any level,
and being a head coach in the National Hockey League
as an honor. There's one of thirty two positions, and
I'm greatly honored to take this position.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So thank you very much. Going through the process.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
When I came in here, I knew within about the
first three minutes that I had conversations that I was
I wanted to be here. The organization is first class
all the way, UH, the facilities, everything on down. I
could see that right away, and I knew I wanted
to be here. And then we started talking about the
(03:14):
players and the team, and I was all in. I'm
looking forward to getting training camps started in September, uh
and building our cultural culture, sorry, and our identity right
from day one. So uh, it will come fast and
we'll be ready for that. And then it just finally,
I wouldn't be here without the support of my family. UH,
(03:37):
my wife Annie, who is in the back there, uh,
and our four kids, two daughters, Samantha and Taylor.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
And the's and then the son's col and Cad.
Speaker 6 (03:47):
You know, many sacrifices have been put forth by them
in order for me to be able to sit here
in this position right now. Uh, and speak to you.
So it's kind of a family affair for me. And
even though I'm the only one sitting up here, the
family sitting up here with me. So I can't wait
to get started. I can't wait to set up roots
in Seattle here and my wife and I get involved
in the community. The fans support, the fan base is phenomenal.
(04:10):
Standing behind the visitors bench and watching the passion and
the volume of the crowd, I can't wait to do
it as as a home coach, really looking forward to
So thank you very much.
Speaker 7 (04:28):
Thank you, Mike Benton kg I Radio Lane, Congratulations, Welcome
to Seattle. Jason, thank you for doing this also.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Lane.
Speaker 7 (04:35):
First off, if we can get into philosophy and identity
a little bit here, how much of that from your
previous stops and experiences do you see carrying over here
for this team.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
A lot, you know.
Speaker 6 (04:46):
I mean, that's what experience does for you, you know.
And and over the years, you know, Jason's talked about
the playoff rounds and things like that.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
There's a formula win and you know, the.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
The culture, the the identity, the standard that's set every day,
uh is the philosophy.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
And you live by the standard.
Speaker 6 (05:07):
Uh, you know, both on and off the ice, and
and you go through the process. As long as you're
doing the right things in the process, the results take
care of themselves.
Speaker 7 (05:16):
One, we had some movement on the staff from this
last week, and any idea of what's gonna what's looking
like here for the coaches and the coaches st after
for the bench coming up here?
Speaker 6 (05:26):
Well, Uh, first of all, Jess will be back. Uh,
you know, I've had some good conversations with her. She's
she's been integral in the development of some of our
young players.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So she'll be back. We are going through the process.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
Of evaluating and uh, you know, we're in a in
a position right now to to find the best people
to add to the staff and and put them in
a success in a position to have success.
Speaker 8 (05:55):
Lane Welcome Glenn Dreyfus with Davy Jones locker room. Two quests.
Please about balance. First two years ago the crack and
stress defense, the offense suffered. Last year the team stressed, offense,
the defense suffered. Will you be in the lab working
on the magic potion to balance those out? And how
(06:17):
do you expect to do that?
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Well, there's a balance, and you know, there's a fine
line between one or the other. But you know, the
structure and the details that a team plays with leads
to both. And you know, I'm proud of the defensive
abilities that my teams have had.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
But in saying that, defense is about getting the puck back.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
If you don't have the puck, you know you're in trouble.
So the faster you can get the puck back, the
more structure in to get the puck back, and then
it turns into a transition game. And transition is so
important in this league. So yes, we'll be strong defensively,
we'll be strong structurally, but we will also create offense
and will play fast. We'll be aggressive, will be at
the net in the offensive zone, will shoot pucks. So
(07:03):
these are things that you know if you look at
the balance and you look at all your stressing offense
or you're stressing defense, there's both in there.
Speaker 8 (07:11):
The other balance question is the prospects and the young
players who are the future of this franchise. Playing them
is not always conducive to winning on a particular night.
So how will you balance getting the young players, the prospects,
(07:33):
their reps so they can be the future with doing
your best to win every night.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
Well, you know, and that's one of the things that
really intrigued me when we sat down and talked about
the team. I think we've got a balanced team, and
I think that the youth, along with the veterans, they
create the balance, There's no question about it. And you know,
as far as using that balance or or creating that,
I think young players. I think young players used in
(08:03):
the right moments at the right times, can help you win,
no question about it.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
Marie from comows here and see, I'm nice to meet
you Lane a similar question about balance, but about how
this team has veterans but also those young players. We've
talked about. What is the excitement to, you know, be
able to bring those young guys along with that veteran
presence in your locker room.
Speaker 6 (08:23):
Well, I think it's a it's tremendously exciting. And again,
when when we sat down and talked and looked at
the personnel, that was one of the things that excited me.
And that's where the development side of it is, you know,
in terms of there's an emphasis there to develop on
the fly a little bit, so to speak. But you know,
(08:44):
we have good young players in this organization and that's exciting.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
And I would just I would just follow up on
that a little bit too. It's just look, we have
young players in the National Hockey League that are clearly
National Hockeyleague players and Maddy Benier's, Shane Wright, Ryke Reverence.
They've proven that they could be here. It's our job
of our staff in Coachella Valley led by Derek Laxtell,
and our player development staff led by Jeff Tamalini, to
now prepare these players to be ready for national hockey
(09:11):
games so that they're ready to be inserted in the lineup.
It's not Lane's job just to develop a junior player
to create and put them in the National Hocke League.
It's our job, the staff to give LANE players who
are ready to play National Hockeygue Games.
Speaker 10 (09:26):
DAYWAUKYU Live Sports Network, Lane, Congratulations. You mentioned about how
your family is the cornerstone to who you are. Who
else helps you in your hockey journey?
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Well, you know you've taken there's experiences. I could probably
go through about fifty people.
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Right now and I'd end up forgetting somebody, you know,
so it wouldn't be fair. But you know, the the
journey itself started way back when, and you know as
a player and as a pro you know, in nineteen
eighty three as a player. So there's many many people
that have been very influential in my development, you know,
from a playing side, then also to a coaching site.
(10:03):
Dave Tippet is a guy that I rely on.
Speaker 11 (10:06):
You know.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
I've had another coach that I coached with named Claude Noel,
who's a guy that is a mentor of mine. So
you know, you take I think you can take everything
or something from every coach that you've been with, whether
it be good or bad.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
You'd be like, yes, I'll do that, or no, I wouldn't.
I wouldn't do that.
Speaker 10 (10:20):
And then when you found out when it became official
that you were the next head coach for the Seattle
Crack and what went through your head.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
My wife and I high fived.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
And they may have heard it through the phone, but
just just ecstatic, like elated, elated to you know, come here,
come to the city. And again, like I said, when
we went through the team and the roster, the vision
for the team, philosophies, everything aligned for me.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
So it was a perfect fit. I was just pretty
super excited.
Speaker 12 (10:53):
Yeah, late and welcome to Seattle. Aaron Levine Fox thirteen
four years ago. Ron Francis talked about building this through
a five year plan. Here we are in year five
through no fault of your own here here in your
first season. But how much pressure do you feel to
have a winner right away and perform to that standard
that is expected of making a playoff run in this
(11:13):
fifth season of the Cracking franchise.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Well, I don't feel the pressure of that.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
I have an expectation on myself of you know, my role,
my job, my abilities, And again I alluded to it
a little bit earlier about you know, you start day one.
It's a process. It's a journey, and you know, if
you do the right things through that journey and do
(11:38):
the right things every day, look to get better every day,
and stick with the process, then the results take care
of themselves. You can't get too far ahead of yourself.
Speaker 13 (11:48):
Coach Lambert Allison Luken see how the Crack and Crack
and Hockey Network. Some of these players are familiar faces
to you. Can you share any conversations you've had with
the players you've coached before and how valuable that will
be as you continue to build this team for the
upcoming season.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Yeah, I think you know obviously, Jordan Eberle, Chandler Stevenson,
Andre Rakowsky, Philip Grubauer. You know, these guys have played
for me before. They know exactly what to expect. I'm
pretty straightforward. You know, I'm fair, but I'm demanding. Uh
And they know exactly what they're going to get. They're
(12:24):
they're aware of the detail that we will play with
and they're excited about it. And in talking to the
other guys I haven't coached, you know this that that
seems to be the theme here is everybody's excited.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
We can't wait for September.
Speaker 14 (12:39):
Alison Bellard, Davy Jones locker room. Jason Lane gave us
a little bit of his own perspective on his coaching
style and philosophies. But I'm just curious about yours. What
about the way Lane spoke about this team and articulates
his thoughts about the game in general made him stand
out to you in that respect? Throughout the hiring process.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
No, it was a situation where both Ron and myself
had to get to know Lane a little bit. It
wasn't as if we had previous relationships with them. When
you put a list together of all the possible tendets,
you're trying to look at different things. We talked about leadership,
We talked about someone focus on working with our young players,
but also having a presence to handle our veteran players.
(13:17):
And as we started going through things with Lane, we realized, well,
we're talking a lot of the same vision. And I
think he touched on it a little bit on his
previous answer that I think Lane's track record as a
really good defensive coach PK coach is certainly there, and
when we started getting into the details of it, we
certainly saw that. But then there was that thought process
of why are we so strong defensively?
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Why are we aggressive? It's to get the.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Puck and to attack, to get to the neutral zone,
to get into the offense zone. From that standpoint, then
you start looking at things and people throw out a
lot that there are winners, right that, oh, yes, we
know what takes to win, not all. That's not always
truly the case. You have to win to have that experience.
And the fact that he's won a Stanley Cup, the
(13:59):
fact that he one championships as a player, the fact
he's been in the playoffs, so many times we felt
that was another experience, another attribute that really would help
our group. So no, we both Ron and I myself
certainly enjoyed our interactions, the communications. Every time we just
had another interview with him, we just felt more comfortable
with him as as our future head coach.
Speaker 15 (14:21):
Darren Brown from Sound of Hockey at NHL dot com Lane, congratulations.
Curious from your previous stint as a head coach with
the Islanders, what are some of the things that we
look back on that experience you take away from whether
it's things you would like to continue doing or do
similarly or do differently, just what you learned from that.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
You know.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Again, you you go through an experience like that, and
you know, you get let go and you have a
lot of time to reflect, and you know, if you
don't have an ego, you can certainly say, gee, I'd
do this a little bit differently, or I do that
a little bit differently, you know, or I do this
or that the same. I mean, from my standpoint, our
(15:01):
defensive structure, uh, the the identity that we that we had,
the identity.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
That we played with.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
You know, I'm proud of that you know, there's certain
little things that that I you know, I will look at,
look at and.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Look into changing.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
But at the end of the day, you know, I'm
proud of what what what what happened in New York.
Speaker 12 (15:23):
Not call it.
Speaker 16 (15:24):
I'm not calling the Seattle Times lane. As Aaron said
a second ago, the results haven't been there over the
past couple of years. Do no fault of your own.
But to fans that are skeptical that this thing can
be turned around quickly, what would you say about the
pieces that you have and why you'd be able to
do that?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Well, I think that when I you know, when I
look at our.
Speaker 6 (15:44):
Team and I look at our balance, I think that
first of all, we've got great young talent. We've got
our veteran players, which we've already alluded to. But you know,
the detail of the structure, everybody being on the same page,
I think is going to be huge.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Uh. You know, we have a back to back record
that wasn't good last year.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
That's going to change because of the you know, because
of the structure in the detail, and so from that standpoint,
I'm looking forward to get started.
Speaker 15 (16:15):
Hi.
Speaker 17 (16:16):
Calvin j Emerson with Seattle Gay News I'd like to
say this is the first press conference our publication has
been invited to ever, so we thank the larger Cracker
and Kraken organization for having us here, and we want
to congratulate you Lane on your new coaching position. So
next season, the Kraken will be joined by another team,
the PHWHL Seattle, a brand new women's hockey team. When
(16:36):
they begin practice, they will do so right here at
the Kracking Community ice Plex, which means your team will
be the third NHL franchise alongside the Wild and the
Maple Leaves to share a practice facility with a PWHL equivalent.
As a coach who has seen the game change over
the decades, what do you think the Kraken in this
new Seattle team can learn from each other in the
(16:59):
year and seasons to come.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
Okay, yeah, well I was I was fortunate enough to
be in Toronto and share.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
That like you.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Like you had had mentioned, we had a lot of
communication with the coaching staff, with the with the players there.
I think you can learn from each other on a
daily basis, you know. And so whether it be different
tactics or things like that, uh, you know, it's it's
It's an opportunity for for both franchises, both organizations to
learn from each other, and I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
And I would also say that Megan's already reached out
and I had conversations with Ron and just different ways of
setting up a team to start off with. And I
think it's one of the success stories of the Kraken
right now. Is just our involvement with youth hockey in
the area, growing the game of hockey in the Pacific Northwest,
and to me, this is just another step in the
right direction.
Speaker 17 (17:49):
Thank you very much. One more question, there's currently, because
of recent changes, a vacancy in the goaltending coach role.
When you figure out who is going to fill that role,
will you be looking for in that person and how
will you hope them to continue developing the performances of
the Cord and Grubauer on the ice.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Oh, I think it's going to be an important piece
for our organization. Not only an NHL goalie coach doesn't
not only have an impact on your two goalies at
the National Hockey League that's obviously their main focus, but
it's also throughout the entire organization and obviously with some
of our draft picks in the past. You saw mister
Cooco come up this past year for a little bit
of a time. This is a big part of our
(18:29):
future and making sure the NHL goalies coach has great
communication throughout our entire organization, from working with our CV staff,
working with our player development staff. It's gonna be something
we certainly look at and I think it's a unique role.
I think it's part technical standpoint, working with the goalies
from that standpoint, part building relationships from a mental aspect,
(18:51):
and we hope to name someone in the near future.
Here that's a round out the staff.
Speaker 17 (18:57):
Right, thank you for your time, ye.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Like for Elsie all times.
Speaker 18 (19:01):
Lane right over here you said earlier there's a formula
to win. What's the formula to win here specifically and
kind of what are the non negotiables in a lane
Lambert team to get to get to that point.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
When the non negotiables are you know, we have to
play the right way and that is the formula. Now
you ask what that is, it's you know, I could
go on for an hour talking about what that right
way is. So those are are the non negotiables everyone
has to be you know, everyone has to be on
the same page and when they are, you will have success.
Speaker 14 (19:37):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
You know, everybody's responsible for a job. Everybody has a role.
Everybody knows what.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
That role is and there aren't any gray areas. So
my job is to is to provide an environment for
our players to be prepared to have success and to
to make sure that they are they are ready to
go and understand exactly what their what their job is.
Speaker 19 (20:04):
Hey then and botch, thanks for doing this, Pop Condor
from the crack and lane. In terms of accountability, what
does that look like day to day? Obviously you're going
to communicate your coaching staff, other players. What how do
you how do you get that to be where you
want it to be.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
Well, you set a standard and you and you don't
you don't deflect from that standard. You don't deviate from
that standard. And uh again it's it's it's an it's
an everyday thing. Uh, you know, and you you do
the you do the same things every day repetition. And
if you know, if some something isn't isn't right, you
take care of it. You have to, you have to
(20:42):
nip it. And so you know that that is the
key to the accountability.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
You can't turn a blind eye and let let something slide.
Speaker 19 (20:52):
That you've played a while ago, right, And how has
the game changed from in your mind over those years
in terms of what you want to get done as
a coach, maybe then fifteen years ago or twenty years ago.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
Well, first of all, when I played, the players are
way better now, So you know, it's just it's it's
a completely different game. And you know, as we go
forward here, you know, when I started coaching this league
fourteen years ago, the game has evolved from there as well.
You know, there's there's a there's the kids, the younger
(21:25):
generation coming in today are more skilled, they're faster. Everything
just seems to elevate from that standpoint. But really, when
you when you really really look at it, the foundation
and the fundamentals of the game still remain the same.
I can watch film from nineteen sixty five Stanley Cup
playoffs and there is a foundation and a fundamental and
(21:46):
the fundamentals that are still there today.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
And you know that's the key.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
Is, you know, making sure that we understand what the foundation,
what our what our fundamentals are.
Speaker 20 (21:58):
A coach Mark Muschetti from Associated looking at last year
and a lot of the major stats cracker in the
lower half, lower third, lower quarter of the league, face offs, shots, PK,
power play. Based on your style, your philosophy, your ideas,
do any one of those maybe brank higher on your
priority list. As far as getting those things addressed.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
Well, I think, you know, I think they're When you
talk about it, you talk about a lot of different things,
and there's priorities in certain areas, but everything has to
be addressed, right and so you know, you can't build
Rome in a day. And that's the whole process about.
You know, from day one, you start with the process.
You start demanding, and you start instilling your systems, your structure,
(22:41):
your detail, and you know we go from there. But
definitely our special teams, our special teams have to be better.
You know, defensively, we'll be better in our defensive zone.
I know we will be so from that standpoint that
that would probably be the start with.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
The focus lane.
Speaker 21 (23:01):
Paul Sylvie from King TV, Welcome to Seattle. First of all,
and you know, being a Detroit native, I know things
have changed a lot since the Red Wings drafted you
back in the eighties, But what's your take on overall
team toughness? I mean, we've seen some it seems like
it's coming back a little bit more throughout the NHL.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
What's your overall take.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Well, you know what it's I mean, it's evolving, It's
evolved out. It's at the end of the day, team
toughness is about players that are willing to go to
certain areas, players that are willing to win fifty to
fifty puck battles, players that are willing to put themselves
in shot lanes. That's team toughness for me. And you know, again,
(23:41):
there's there's a little bit of a physical element. Of course,
there is there always going to be, but you know,
at the end of the day, the team toughness is
in all the little things for me.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Thanks, yeah, of course.
Speaker 14 (23:57):
Okay.
Speaker 22 (23:58):
High Leane Rick Morgan with comput Sound Business Journal here.
I'm just curious, you know, with a new and sort
of growing fan base, how that sort of impacted your
decision making and taking the job, or how it impacts
how you approach the job, I mean, or is it
just strictly you stick to the ice and everything else
will take care of itself.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
No, no, I will tell you that I went to
a Monday morning meeting about two hours ago. And when
I when I came in and when I first met
Samantha and Jason and Ron, I had this just this
sense feeling, sense of family. And it was proven this
(24:37):
morning with the with the staff meeting that we had.
I was excited about the opportunity of being able to
come into this environment. And as I said, you know,
when I I hadn't been here a lot because I've
been in the Eastern Conference. But when I when I
came in here and when I was on the visiting bench,
I kind of was like, whoa, this this place is rocking.
(24:58):
You know, it's almost it's almost vibrating. So you know,
I think Seattle itself is a tremendous sports town. Uh,
And I'm excited to be here and be part of it.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Any other questions, Okay, all right, you are listening to
the Lane Lambert introductory press conference as the new Seattle
Cracking head coach. This is m Jay in the midday,
We'll have more coming up on the other side. Ninety
three to three kJ R at them from the Cracking
(25:36):
Community ice Plex. Casey, I, Mike, what did you glean
from the introduction of Lane Lambert as the head coach.
Speaker 11 (25:48):
Hey, Mark, you're talking to you buddies, talking to you too. Yeah.
So I think the initial takeaway is that he's he
comes as advertised as far as what we've heard, what
Lane Lambert's all with that out previously, he's he's a
defensive minded coach. Now, I think I do want to
I think, you know, show a little bit of caution
here when it comes to how much we you know,
(26:10):
look at how it defensive they're going to be, and
how much that needle booves back a little bit from
last year. I mean, I think we all knew from
this past season it was it was a needle that
was tilted all the way toward offense, and you know,
defense was more than the repless, abandoned type of category here.
But what I would I would think that the way
(26:32):
that he wants this team to play coming into this
next season is that there's some kind of there's an
element of responsibility and structure, you know, if I can
put it that way, And that was lacking back in
the crack and zone for this last year. But he
did mention, you know, the important fundamentals of how this
team wants, how he wants to see this team play
(26:52):
offensively and I love the word that he used as
far as being aggressive, and there will be an aggressive
of pardon me, be an aggressive approach with how they
approach played towards the front of the net. That's I
think an area where this team was really lacking, really
over you know, three maybe even four seasons, and that's
the most important thing. And I think that we can
(27:14):
all learn from where some of the best teams have
gone toward the teams that have made a deep in
Stanley Cup playoffs. I mean, Florida is a poster team
of this example. Dallas has played this way for a while.
I mean, even Edmonton, Who's I mean? And you we
can talk about the differences of where the crack and
are lined up with their roster and Edmonton and they've
got a McDavid Drice title, and you know, the rest
(27:36):
of the league, you know, thirty one teams do not.
But they've adopted a system fundamentally that really really leans
on defense and then they'll let their offense take over.
And I think that's what we I think, from off
the bat look forward to here in the first season
of this Lane Lambert era.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
It sounds to me, Mike just everything that I've heard
from him that you know, first of all, I like
the fact that he's a former player that it necessarily
it's going to be an indicator of future success.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
However, he has a plan and he was a guy. Listen.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
He didn't get a fair chance on Long Island with
the Islanders. He had above five hundred record, they made
the playoffs his first season. They did lose in the
first round, but I think he would have been successful there.
They wanted to go with Patrick Waht, which okay, fair enough,
I understand that, but I think now he's he's not
that interim tag is gone.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
He's the guy.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
And with that being said, I want to just hear
in his voice like what what kind of impact are
you going to have? And making this a Laine Lambert
type team, And I could tell he certainly has a
definitive plan.
Speaker 11 (28:50):
And I think what's also important to point out is
that usually for the first you know, one hundred, one
hundred and thirty games of an NHL coach's career, it's
it's unstare to judge what that coach's tenure is going
to be for his entire career. I mean Lane Lambert
to be there only got a season and a half
at a kick of this with the New York Islanders,
(29:11):
and they've just been in a state of flux and
volatility and they just fired Blue Lambarello and you know,
did a I wouldn't say a reset, but a reboot
here or a retool under Matthew darsh and they're going
to keep Patrick flat. As you said, it's oftentimes that
we've heard how much coaches aren't defined by what they
do maybe in their first stint, because they're working in
(29:32):
a whole new world as compared to the American Hockey League,
the KHL, Major Juniors, what have you, college hockey as well.
It's that second tenure that is so important and that
really separates a lot of coaches from those who make
this year into a long career versus those who don't
have as much of a long stay here in this league.
And I think for Lane Lambert, the one thing that
(29:55):
I look back on this is that you learn how
to handle you know a team on a day to
day level for eighty two games, you know emotionally where
they're at physically as well. But also there's an important
element I think for me here Mark and we were
talking about the back to back record here in this
press conference, and he said it will be different. The
Kraken went zero to twelve. That flat out has to change,
(30:17):
I know, and I think if you can. I think,
if you can work on this and you know, work
your way to a team that can play five hundred hockey,
you get six wins out of twelve, that's twelve more
points that you're putting up on the board, and that
puts you in the mix here for the playoffs. There's
gonna be a more a series of more bad to
back games here for this year. So that's gonna be
(30:38):
the big key I think for me is can you
implement your structure right away and have this team play
to their identity from off the bat? And I think
that's something from what we've heard and what we've learned
here about Lane Lambert, he's got full conviction to put
that structure in place. John Forslin said it best. I've
thought about a couple of weeks ago, and we had
our instant reaction here to this. The key to back
(31:00):
games is learning how to play a certain way, play
with structures. So when you're on the second game of
back to back, it's like you can play this game
in your sleep and for the crack and for whatever reason,
it was a difficult thing and it was an issue
from this last year. But that's where structure really takes over.
In those situations where you're playing in back to back games,
(31:22):
the legs go, the mind goes, but then it's almost
like you're on autopilot but you're not. But yet there's
muscle memory on where to be on the ice, how
to react to certain situations where it really makes a big,
big difference.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Mike btton joining us here on MJ in the MIDA
Sports Radio ninety three to three KJRFM. This isn't a
question that I really I didn't hear from any of
the media members. I would have asked, is that how
active will the front office be in free agency? Because
we all know that this team is lacking a Nathan McKinnon,
(31:58):
a Connor McDavid on Dry Sidle at David Posternock.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
How active will they be?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And I'm sure from a coaching standpoint, I can imagine
that he wants to be very active, and I know
you know that's a question. I'm sure he'll have a
lot of input, but obviously you know that's gonna be
a Jason Botterol and Ron Francis more of a question.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
But I'm sure you know.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Listen, man, you you look at look at the teams
that are left right now playing right now. Mike, You've
got Matthew Kachuck, Brad Marshan, who's on the third line
of the Panthers, and then of course you've got obviously
Mcjesus and Dry Citle, Evander Kaine cor I mean, you
just you need stars to be playing hockey in June.
Speaker 11 (32:45):
Well, I think it's a great question here to to
raise once again, and I think it's a good way
to see, you know, being the fact that Lane Lamper's
gonna be oni and show coming up here later on.
We've got Lane Lampers separately here for the Crack and
Audio Network coming up down the road. But I would
go back to what Jay some Bottlerel mentioned on Ian
show about two to two and a half weeks ago,
and this is where my brain begins to turn, where
(33:06):
you begin to define aggressiveness and free agency. And there
are two ways to go about this. And the one
thing that we learned from the free agency pool that's
going to be out there and Jason Botterrell mentioned this,
there's not many players out there who really move the
needle for what the cracket need on that top line,
(33:26):
and so it's going to be very hyper competitive. Will
they dip in free agency, I don't know as of
right now. I would expect maybe more movement maybe in
the trade market here where you could be, you know,
using as much capital as you can the stock of
draft picks, prospects to you know, land somebody like I
would just you know, point to Buffalo and JJ Patterca,
(33:48):
an up and coming young player who's got some thirty
goals and they're in a bit of a tough spot
right now. I would even point to maybe a guy
who could maybe headed toward be head of toward free
agency and someone who is on by radar here and
others as well. But there's a chance that you can
maybe do a sign and trade deal in Nikolai Eelers.
He moves the needle as well here for this team,
(34:09):
I think we have to be careful of in free agency.
And you talk about this year's class versus next year's class,
where I mean just go and google you know names
we're going to be available next summer. Up and down,
and it begins here with Connor McDavid. Now will he
be available? I highly doubt that he is. The list
is absolutely robust to add. But I think if you
(34:31):
look at the difference in the names that you pointed out,
Mark and what we look at separating you know, the
likes of Matthew could Chuck and Brad Marshatt and Brad
Marshan versus you know, others like Anthony McKinnon, Connor McDavid,
the latter have been acquired by trade. And that's where
the cracking kid really I think, strike where the iron
is hot, where those names are available. If you want
(34:52):
somebody like McDavid or a McKinnon or an Austin Matthews,
that only comes from one way and one way, and
it is to draft the right way. So this is
where you need to see some results. You know, for
Maddy Veneer's coming up here for this next season. Can
Shane Wright take this next accept and be the player
that many of us thought he is going to be,
(35:13):
you know, in his prime, Ken Berkeley Catt and stick
here after nine games and begin to show that he
belongs in this league. And you have said that he's
perhaps the best prospect now on this team, and he
has done he has checked off every box virtually now
for his WUHL career. So I think where the crack
it had to look at this from the free agency
(35:33):
picture is spend money, yes, and they're willing to do that,
but spend it the right way. And you know, if
there's another team out there that wants Minch Martyr, well
you have to be ready to kind of phoney up
and pay a lot a lot of money here for
that because it's going to take away a big chunk
of what you have and what should be given out here.
To Compo Kako who is doing for an extension, he's
(35:55):
got to get paid. And also Ryker Evans on that
back end, and that back end might be the best
thing going for this team right now on their blue line.
He's also got to get paid too. So once you
check those boxes off and get them under contract, then
you can begin to identify where you want to spend
money and do it. But there are not a lot
of big names out there here for the summer as
(36:17):
far as free agency, and that's where the crack and
really have to kind of understand can you calculate the
money that you have and spend it wisely, or do
you use trade capital and go elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Mike Bent, we appreciate you joining us and looking forward
to the Lane Lambert era, and hopefully I like to
see the development of my guy, Yannie Newman and what
he will bring to the table as he will turn
the rifle age of twenty one coming up at the
end of July so he can legally actually drink alcohol.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
That's how young this guy is.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
So hey, Mike, always a pleasure, looking forward to it,
and we'll let the Lane Lambert era begin anytime.
Speaker 11 (36:56):
Mark, thanks man.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
All right, Mike Benton here on MJ in the Midday
Sports Radio ninety three three KJR. You always want to
see how your favorite team ranks amongst the best in
the league. We have that Pro Football Focus Top thirty
(37:17):
two corners and safeties. Did any of the Hawks crack
the list? Next on MJ and the Miday Sports Radio
ninety three to three KJRT them one of the worst
things in pro sports happen again. I'll get to that next.
And is there anything that we've learned in the NBA
Finals that could possibly give us some sort of morsel
(37:41):
that expansion could happen, and the Sonics could come back
to Seattle. We'll get to both of those next radio
on MJ in the Miday Sports Radio ninety three to
three KJRM
Now let's go alive.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
To the Kracking community ice Plex for the introduction of
Lane Lambert as the brand new head coach of the Kracking.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Hey, well, we have our general manager, Jason Botral and
our new head coach, Lane Lambert. What we'll do is
as we always do, We'll start with some opening remarks
from Jason and Lane, and then we'll throw out questions
from all you on the floor. There are some roving mics,
so when you get the chance, just flag us and
we'll bring the mic to you to can state your
(00:35):
name and your affiliation as Lane guests to know everybody.
That would be great and for those online, they know
who you are as well.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
I'm with that. Jason over to you.
Speaker 5 (00:45):
First off, thank you very much for everyone coming out today.
We are certainly very excited about this opportunity to announce
Lane Lambert as our head coach of the Seattle Kraken
on behalf of Samantha and our entire ownership group, Ron
Francis and our entire staff. We welcomed Lane and his
wife Annie to the Pacific Northwest. As we went through
this process, we certainly understood that it became very evident
(01:10):
that Lane was a great choice to be our new
head coach. At the end of the day, Lane is
a winner. He won a Stanley Cup in twenty eighteen
with the Washington Capitals, and since twenty fifteen he's been
a part of a twenty one playoff series. When the
Stanley Cup Playoffs are on, Lane's a part of it. Also,
through the process with Ron and myself, it became very
(01:32):
evident that Lane presented the attributes that we were looking
for the combination of having a presence and knowledge to
work with our veteran players, yet also be dedicated to
interact with our young players for our organization to take
the next step. We are extremely excited to announce today
(01:54):
Lane Lambert as the new head coach of the Seattle Kraken.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Congratulations, Thanks Jason.
Speaker 6 (02:06):
Ecstatic to be here, obviously, it's a thrilling day for
myself and my family, and welcome to everyone in here.
First and foremost, i'd like to thank Samantha Holloway Ownership
Group and Ron Francis, our president, Jason Bottrell, our general manager.
(02:27):
Thank you for instilling the confidence to appoint me to
this position. Being a coach in the National Hockey League
is a privilege at any at any at any level,
and being a head coach in the National Hockey League
as an honor. There's one of thirty two positions, and
I'm greatly honored to take this position.
Speaker 4 (02:47):
So thank you very much. Going through the process.
Speaker 6 (02:51):
When I came in here, I knew within about the
first three minutes that I had conversations that I was
I wanted to be here. The organization is first class
all the way, UH, the facilities, everything on down. I
could see that right away, and I knew I wanted
to be here. And then we started talking about the
(03:14):
players and the team, and I was all in. I'm
looking forward to getting training camps started in September, uh
and building our cultural culture, sorry, and our identity right
from day one. So uh, it will come fast and
we'll be ready for that. And then it just finally,
I wouldn't be here without the support of my family. UH,
(03:37):
my wife Annie, who is in the back there, uh,
and our four kids, two daughters, Samantha and Taylor.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
And the's and then the son's col and Cad.
Speaker 6 (03:47):
You know, many sacrifices have been put forth by them
in order for me to be able to sit here
in this position right now. Uh, and speak to you.
So it's kind of a family affair for me. And
even though I'm the only one sitting up here, the
family sitting up here with me. So I can't wait
to get started. I can't wait to set up roots
in Seattle here and my wife and I get involved
in the community. The fans support, the fan base is phenomenal.
(04:10):
Standing behind the visitors bench and watching the passion and
the volume of the crowd, I can't wait to do
it as as a home coach, really looking forward to
So thank you very much.
Speaker 7 (04:28):
Thank you, Mike Benton kg I Radio Lane, Congratulations, Welcome
to Seattle. Jason, thank you for doing this also.
Speaker 4 (04:35):
Lane.
Speaker 7 (04:35):
First off, if we can get into philosophy and identity
a little bit here, how much of that from your
previous stops and experiences do you see carrying over here
for this team.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
A lot, you know.
Speaker 6 (04:46):
I mean, that's what experience does for you, you know.
And and over the years, you know, Jason's talked about
the playoff rounds and things like that.
Speaker 4 (04:55):
There's a formula win and you know, the.
Speaker 6 (04:58):
The culture, the the identity, the standard that's set every day,
uh is the philosophy.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
And you live by the standard.
Speaker 6 (05:07):
Uh, you know, both on and off the ice, and
and you go through the process. As long as you're
doing the right things in the process, the results take
care of themselves.
Speaker 7 (05:16):
One, we had some movement on the staff from this
last week, and any idea of what's gonna what's looking
like here for the coaches and the coaches st after
for the bench coming up here?
Speaker 6 (05:26):
Well, Uh, first of all, Jess will be back. Uh,
you know, I've had some good conversations with her. She's
she's been integral in the development of some of our
young players.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So she'll be back. We are going through the process.
Speaker 6 (05:40):
Of evaluating and uh, you know, we're in a in
a position right now to to find the best people
to add to the staff and and put them in
a success in a position to have success.
Speaker 8 (05:55):
Lane Welcome Glenn Dreyfus with Davy Jones locker room. Two quests.
Please about balance. First two years ago the crack and
stress defense, the offense suffered. Last year the team stressed, offense,
the defense suffered. Will you be in the lab working
on the magic potion to balance those out? And how
(06:17):
do you expect to do that?
Speaker 6 (06:18):
Well, there's a balance, and you know, there's a fine
line between one or the other. But you know, the
structure and the details that a team plays with leads
to both. And you know, I'm proud of the defensive
abilities that my teams have had.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
But in saying that, defense is about getting the puck back.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
If you don't have the puck, you know you're in trouble.
So the faster you can get the puck back, the
more structure in to get the puck back, and then
it turns into a transition game. And transition is so
important in this league. So yes, we'll be strong defensively,
we'll be strong structurally, but we will also create offense
and will play fast. We'll be aggressive, will be at
the net in the offensive zone, will shoot pucks. So
(07:03):
these are things that you know if you look at
the balance and you look at all your stressing offense
or you're stressing defense, there's both in there.
Speaker 8 (07:11):
The other balance question is the prospects and the young
players who are the future of this franchise. Playing them
is not always conducive to winning on a particular night.
So how will you balance getting the young players, the prospects,
(07:33):
their reps so they can be the future with doing
your best to win every night.
Speaker 6 (07:41):
Well, you know, and that's one of the things that
really intrigued me when we sat down and talked about
the team. I think we've got a balanced team, and
I think that the youth, along with the veterans, they
create the balance, There's no question about it. And you know,
as far as using that balance or or creating that,
I think young players. I think young players used in
(08:03):
the right moments at the right times, can help you win,
no question about it.
Speaker 9 (08:09):
Marie from comows here and see, I'm nice to meet
you Lane a similar question about balance, but about how
this team has veterans but also those young players. We've
talked about. What is the excitement to, you know, be
able to bring those young guys along with that veteran
presence in your locker room.
Speaker 6 (08:23):
Well, I think it's a it's tremendously exciting. And again,
when when we sat down and talked and looked at
the personnel, that was one of the things that excited me.
And that's where the development side of it is, you know,
in terms of there's an emphasis there to develop on
the fly a little bit, so to speak. But you know,
(08:44):
we have good young players in this organization and that's exciting.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
And I would just I would just follow up on
that a little bit too. It's just look, we have
young players in the National Hockey League that are clearly
National Hockeyleague players and Maddy Benier's, Shane Wright, Ryke Reverence.
They've proven that they could be here. It's our job
of our staff in Coachella Valley led by Derek Laxtell,
and our player development staff led by Jeff Tamalini, to
now prepare these players to be ready for national hockey
(09:11):
games so that they're ready to be inserted in the lineup.
It's not Lane's job just to develop a junior player
to create and put them in the National Hocke League.
It's our job, the staff to give LANE players who
are ready to play National Hockeygue Games.
Speaker 10 (09:26):
DAYWAUKYU Live Sports Network, Lane, Congratulations. You mentioned about how
your family is the cornerstone to who you are. Who
else helps you in your hockey journey?
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Well, you know you've taken there's experiences. I could probably
go through about fifty people.
Speaker 6 (09:42):
Right now and I'd end up forgetting somebody, you know,
so it wouldn't be fair. But you know, the the
journey itself started way back when, and you know as
a player and as a pro you know, in nineteen
eighty three as a player. So there's many many people
that have been very influential in my development, you know,
from a playing side, then also to a coaching site.
(10:03):
Dave Tippet is a guy that I rely on.
Speaker 11 (10:06):
You know.
Speaker 6 (10:06):
I've had another coach that I coached with named Claude Noel,
who's a guy that is a mentor of mine. So
you know, you take I think you can take everything
or something from every coach that you've been with, whether
it be good or bad.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
You'd be like, yes, I'll do that, or no, I wouldn't.
I wouldn't do that.
Speaker 10 (10:20):
And then when you found out when it became official
that you were the next head coach for the Seattle
Crack and what went through your head.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
My wife and I high fived.
Speaker 6 (10:31):
And they may have heard it through the phone, but
just just ecstatic, like elated, elated to you know, come here,
come to the city. And again, like I said, when
we went through the team and the roster, the vision
for the team, philosophies, everything aligned for me.
Speaker 4 (10:49):
So it was a perfect fit. I was just pretty
super excited.
Speaker 12 (10:53):
Yeah, late and welcome to Seattle. Aaron Levine Fox thirteen
four years ago. Ron Francis talked about building this through
a five year plan. Here we are in year five
through no fault of your own here here in your
first season. But how much pressure do you feel to
have a winner right away and perform to that standard
that is expected of making a playoff run in this
(11:13):
fifth season of the Cracking franchise.
Speaker 4 (11:15):
Well, I don't feel the pressure of that.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
I have an expectation on myself of you know, my role,
my job, my abilities, And again I alluded to it
a little bit earlier about you know, you start day one.
It's a process. It's a journey, and you know, if
you do the right things through that journey and do
(11:38):
the right things every day, look to get better every day,
and stick with the process, then the results take care
of themselves. You can't get too far ahead of yourself.
Speaker 13 (11:48):
Coach Lambert Allison Luken see how the Crack and Crack
and Hockey Network. Some of these players are familiar faces
to you. Can you share any conversations you've had with
the players you've coached before and how valuable that will
be as you continue to build this team for the
upcoming season.
Speaker 6 (12:02):
Yeah, I think you know obviously, Jordan Eberle, Chandler Stevenson,
Andre Rakowsky, Philip Grubauer. You know, these guys have played
for me before. They know exactly what to expect. I'm
pretty straightforward. You know, I'm fair, but I'm demanding. Uh
And they know exactly what they're going to get. They're
(12:24):
they're aware of the detail that we will play with
and they're excited about it. And in talking to the
other guys I haven't coached, you know this that that
seems to be the theme here is everybody's excited.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
We can't wait for September.
Speaker 14 (12:39):
Alison Bellard, Davy Jones locker room. Jason Lane gave us
a little bit of his own perspective on his coaching
style and philosophies. But I'm just curious about yours. What
about the way Lane spoke about this team and articulates
his thoughts about the game in general made him stand
out to you in that respect? Throughout the hiring process.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
No, it was a situation where both Ron and myself
had to get to know Lane a little bit. It
wasn't as if we had previous relationships with them. When
you put a list together of all the possible tendets,
you're trying to look at different things. We talked about leadership,
We talked about someone focus on working with our young players,
but also having a presence to handle our veteran players.
(13:17):
And as we started going through things with Lane, we realized, well,
we're talking a lot of the same vision. And I
think he touched on it a little bit on his
previous answer that I think Lane's track record as a
really good defensive coach PK coach is certainly there, and
when we started getting into the details of it, we
certainly saw that. But then there was that thought process
of why are we so strong defensively?
Speaker 4 (13:37):
Why are we aggressive? It's to get the.
Speaker 5 (13:39):
Puck and to attack, to get to the neutral zone,
to get into the offense zone. From that standpoint, then
you start looking at things and people throw out a
lot that there are winners, right that, oh, yes, we
know what takes to win, not all. That's not always
truly the case. You have to win to have that experience.
And the fact that he's won a Stanley Cup, the
(13:59):
fact that he one championships as a player, the fact
he's been in the playoffs, so many times we felt
that was another experience, another attribute that really would help
our group. So no, we both Ron and I myself
certainly enjoyed our interactions, the communications. Every time we just
had another interview with him, we just felt more comfortable
with him as as our future head coach.
Speaker 15 (14:21):
Darren Brown from Sound of Hockey at NHL dot com Lane, congratulations.
Curious from your previous stint as a head coach with
the Islanders, what are some of the things that we
look back on that experience you take away from whether
it's things you would like to continue doing or do
similarly or do differently, just what you learned from that.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
That's a great question.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
You know.
Speaker 6 (14:40):
Again, you you go through an experience like that, and
you know, you get let go and you have a
lot of time to reflect, and you know, if you
don't have an ego, you can certainly say, gee, I'd
do this a little bit differently, or I do that
a little bit differently, you know, or I do this
or that the same. I mean, from my standpoint, our
(15:01):
defensive structure, uh, the the identity that we that we had,
the identity.
Speaker 4 (15:05):
That we played with.
Speaker 6 (15:07):
You know, I'm proud of that you know, there's certain
little things that that I you know, I will look at,
look at and.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
Look into changing.
Speaker 6 (15:14):
But at the end of the day, you know, I'm
proud of what what what what happened in New York.
Speaker 12 (15:23):
Not call it.
Speaker 16 (15:24):
I'm not calling the Seattle Times lane. As Aaron said
a second ago, the results haven't been there over the
past couple of years. Do no fault of your own.
But to fans that are skeptical that this thing can
be turned around quickly, what would you say about the
pieces that you have and why you'd be able to
do that?
Speaker 4 (15:40):
Well, I think that when I you know, when I
look at our.
Speaker 6 (15:44):
Team and I look at our balance, I think that
first of all, we've got great young talent. We've got
our veteran players, which we've already alluded to. But you know,
the detail of the structure, everybody being on the same page,
I think is going to be huge.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
Uh. You know, we have a back to back record
that wasn't good last year.
Speaker 6 (16:04):
That's going to change because of the you know, because
of the structure in the detail, and so from that standpoint,
I'm looking forward to get started.
Speaker 15 (16:15):
Hi.
Speaker 17 (16:16):
Calvin j Emerson with Seattle Gay News I'd like to
say this is the first press conference our publication has
been invited to ever, so we thank the larger Cracker
and Kraken organization for having us here, and we want
to congratulate you Lane on your new coaching position. So
next season, the Kraken will be joined by another team,
the PHWHL Seattle, a brand new women's hockey team. When
(16:36):
they begin practice, they will do so right here at
the Kracking Community ice Plex, which means your team will
be the third NHL franchise alongside the Wild and the
Maple Leaves to share a practice facility with a PWHL equivalent.
As a coach who has seen the game change over
the decades, what do you think the Kraken in this
new Seattle team can learn from each other in the
(16:59):
year and seasons to come.
Speaker 6 (17:03):
Okay, yeah, well I was I was fortunate enough to
be in Toronto and share.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
That like you.
Speaker 6 (17:09):
Like you had had mentioned, we had a lot of
communication with the coaching staff, with the with the players there.
I think you can learn from each other on a
daily basis, you know. And so whether it be different
tactics or things like that, uh, you know, it's it's
It's an opportunity for for both franchises, both organizations to
learn from each other, and I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 5 (17:30):
And I would also say that Megan's already reached out
and I had conversations with Ron and just different ways of
setting up a team to start off with. And I
think it's one of the success stories of the Kraken
right now. Is just our involvement with youth hockey in
the area, growing the game of hockey in the Pacific Northwest,
and to me, this is just another step in the
right direction.
Speaker 17 (17:49):
Thank you very much. One more question, there's currently, because
of recent changes, a vacancy in the goaltending coach role.
When you figure out who is going to fill that role,
will you be looking for in that person and how
will you hope them to continue developing the performances of
the Cord and Grubauer on the ice.
Speaker 5 (18:08):
Oh, I think it's going to be an important piece
for our organization. Not only an NHL goalie coach doesn't
not only have an impact on your two goalies at
the National Hockey League that's obviously their main focus, but
it's also throughout the entire organization and obviously with some
of our draft picks in the past. You saw mister
Cooco come up this past year for a little bit
of a time. This is a big part of our
(18:29):
future and making sure the NHL goalies coach has great
communication throughout our entire organization, from working with our CV staff,
working with our player development staff. It's gonna be something
we certainly look at and I think it's a unique role.
I think it's part technical standpoint, working with the goalies
from that standpoint, part building relationships from a mental aspect,
(18:51):
and we hope to name someone in the near future.
Here that's a round out the staff.
Speaker 17 (18:57):
Right, thank you for your time, ye.
Speaker 1 (19:00):
Like for Elsie all times.
Speaker 18 (19:01):
Lane right over here you said earlier there's a formula
to win. What's the formula to win here specifically and
kind of what are the non negotiables in a lane
Lambert team to get to get to that point.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
When the non negotiables are you know, we have to
play the right way and that is the formula. Now
you ask what that is, it's you know, I could
go on for an hour talking about what that right
way is. So those are are the non negotiables everyone
has to be you know, everyone has to be on
the same page and when they are, you will have success.
Speaker 14 (19:37):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
You know, everybody's responsible for a job. Everybody has a role.
Everybody knows what.
Speaker 6 (19:44):
That role is and there aren't any gray areas. So
my job is to is to provide an environment for
our players to be prepared to have success and to
to make sure that they are they are ready to
go and understand exactly what their what their job is.
Speaker 19 (20:04):
Hey then and botch, thanks for doing this, Pop Condor
from the crack and lane. In terms of accountability, what
does that look like day to day? Obviously you're going
to communicate your coaching staff, other players. What how do
you how do you get that to be where you
want it to be.
Speaker 6 (20:20):
Well, you set a standard and you and you don't
you don't deflect from that standard. You don't deviate from
that standard. And uh again it's it's it's an it's
an everyday thing. Uh, you know, and you you do
the you do the same things every day repetition. And
if you know, if some something isn't isn't right, you
take care of it. You have to, you have to
(20:42):
nip it. And so you know that that is the
key to the accountability.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
You can't turn a blind eye and let let something slide.
Speaker 19 (20:52):
That you've played a while ago, right, And how has
the game changed from in your mind over those years
in terms of what you want to get done as
a coach, maybe then fifteen years ago or twenty years ago.
Speaker 6 (21:04):
Well, first of all, when I played, the players are
way better now, So you know, it's just it's it's
a completely different game. And you know, as we go
forward here, you know, when I started coaching this league
fourteen years ago, the game has evolved from there as well.
You know, there's there's a there's the kids, the younger
(21:25):
generation coming in today are more skilled, they're faster. Everything
just seems to elevate from that standpoint. But really, when
you when you really really look at it, the foundation
and the fundamentals of the game still remain the same.
I can watch film from nineteen sixty five Stanley Cup
playoffs and there is a foundation and a fundamental and
(21:46):
the fundamentals that are still there today.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
And you know that's the key.
Speaker 6 (21:51):
Is, you know, making sure that we understand what the foundation,
what our what our fundamentals are.
Speaker 20 (21:58):
A coach Mark Muschetti from Associated looking at last year
and a lot of the major stats cracker in the
lower half, lower third, lower quarter of the league, face offs, shots, PK,
power play. Based on your style, your philosophy, your ideas,
do any one of those maybe brank higher on your
priority list. As far as getting those things addressed.
Speaker 6 (22:16):
Well, I think, you know, I think they're When you
talk about it, you talk about a lot of different things,
and there's priorities in certain areas, but everything has to
be addressed, right and so you know, you can't build
Rome in a day. And that's the whole process about.
You know, from day one, you start with the process.
You start demanding, and you start instilling your systems, your structure,
(22:41):
your detail, and you know we go from there. But
definitely our special teams, our special teams have to be better.
You know, defensively, we'll be better in our defensive zone.
I know we will be so from that standpoint that
that would probably be the start with.
Speaker 4 (22:57):
The focus lane.
Speaker 21 (23:01):
Paul Sylvie from King TV, Welcome to Seattle. First of all,
and you know, being a Detroit native, I know things
have changed a lot since the Red Wings drafted you
back in the eighties, But what's your take on overall
team toughness? I mean, we've seen some it seems like
it's coming back a little bit more throughout the NHL.
Speaker 4 (23:19):
What's your overall take.
Speaker 6 (23:20):
Well, you know what it's I mean, it's evolving, It's
evolved out. It's at the end of the day, team
toughness is about players that are willing to go to
certain areas, players that are willing to win fifty to
fifty puck battles, players that are willing to put themselves
in shot lanes. That's team toughness for me. And you know, again,
(23:41):
there's there's a little bit of a physical element. Of course,
there is there always going to be, but you know,
at the end of the day, the team toughness is
in all the little things for me.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Thanks, yeah, of course.
Speaker 14 (23:57):
Okay.
Speaker 22 (23:58):
High Leane Rick Morgan with comput Sound Business Journal here.
I'm just curious, you know, with a new and sort
of growing fan base, how that sort of impacted your
decision making and taking the job, or how it impacts
how you approach the job, I mean, or is it
just strictly you stick to the ice and everything else
will take care of itself.
Speaker 6 (24:14):
No, no, I will tell you that I went to
a Monday morning meeting about two hours ago. And when
I when I came in and when I first met
Samantha and Jason and Ron, I had this just this
sense feeling, sense of family. And it was proven this
(24:37):
morning with the with the staff meeting that we had.
I was excited about the opportunity of being able to
come into this environment. And as I said, you know,
when I I hadn't been here a lot because I've
been in the Eastern Conference. But when I when I
came in here and when I was on the visiting bench,
I kind of was like, whoa, this this place is rocking.
(24:58):
You know, it's almost it's almost vibrating. So you know,
I think Seattle itself is a tremendous sports town. Uh,
And I'm excited to be here and be part of it.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Any other questions, Okay, all right, you are listening to
the Lane Lambert introductory press conference as the new Seattle
Cracking head coach. This is m Jay in the midday,
We'll have more coming up on the other side. Ninety
three to three kJ R at them from the Cracking
(25:36):
Community ice Plex. Casey, I, Mike, what did you glean
from the introduction of Lane Lambert as the head coach.
Speaker 11 (25:48):
Hey, Mark, you're talking to you buddies, talking to you too. Yeah.
So I think the initial takeaway is that he's he
comes as advertised as far as what we've heard, what
Lane Lambert's all with that out previously, he's he's a
defensive minded coach. Now, I think I do want to
I think, you know, show a little bit of caution
here when it comes to how much we you know,
(26:10):
look at how it defensive they're going to be, and
how much that needle booves back a little bit from
last year. I mean, I think we all knew from
this past season it was it was a needle that
was tilted all the way toward offense, and you know,
defense was more than the repless, abandoned type of category here.
But what I would I would think that the way
(26:32):
that he wants this team to play coming into this
next season is that there's some kind of there's an
element of responsibility and structure, you know, if I can
put it that way, And that was lacking back in
the crack and zone for this last year. But he
did mention, you know, the important fundamentals of how this
team wants, how he wants to see this team play
(26:52):
offensively and I love the word that he used as
far as being aggressive, and there will be an aggressive
of pardon me, be an aggressive approach with how they
approach played towards the front of the net. That's I
think an area where this team was really lacking, really
over you know, three maybe even four seasons, and that's
the most important thing. And I think that we can
(27:14):
all learn from where some of the best teams have
gone toward the teams that have made a deep in
Stanley Cup playoffs. I mean, Florida is a poster team
of this example. Dallas has played this way for a while.
I mean, even Edmonton, Who's I mean? And you we
can talk about the differences of where the crack and
are lined up with their roster and Edmonton and they've
got a McDavid Drice title, and you know, the rest
(27:36):
of the league, you know, thirty one teams do not.
But they've adopted a system fundamentally that really really leans
on defense and then they'll let their offense take over.
And I think that's what we I think, from off
the bat look forward to here in the first season
of this Lane Lambert era.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
It sounds to me, Mike just everything that I've heard
from him that you know, first of all, I like
the fact that he's a former player that it necessarily
it's going to be an indicator of future success.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
However, he has a plan and he was a guy. Listen.
Speaker 2 (28:09):
He didn't get a fair chance on Long Island with
the Islanders. He had above five hundred record, they made
the playoffs his first season. They did lose in the
first round, but I think he would have been successful there.
They wanted to go with Patrick Waht, which okay, fair enough,
I understand that, but I think now he's he's not
that interim tag is gone.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
He's the guy.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
And with that being said, I want to just hear
in his voice like what what kind of impact are
you going to have? And making this a Laine Lambert
type team, And I could tell he certainly has a
definitive plan.
Speaker 11 (28:50):
And I think what's also important to point out is
that usually for the first you know, one hundred, one
hundred and thirty games of an NHL coach's career, it's
it's unstare to judge what that coach's tenure is going
to be for his entire career. I mean Lane Lambert
to be there only got a season and a half
at a kick of this with the New York Islanders,
(29:11):
and they've just been in a state of flux and
volatility and they just fired Blue Lambarello and you know,
did a I wouldn't say a reset, but a reboot
here or a retool under Matthew darsh and they're going
to keep Patrick flat. As you said, it's oftentimes that
we've heard how much coaches aren't defined by what they
do maybe in their first stint, because they're working in
(29:32):
a whole new world as compared to the American Hockey League,
the KHL, Major Juniors, what have you, college hockey as well.
It's that second tenure that is so important and that
really separates a lot of coaches from those who make
this year into a long career versus those who don't
have as much of a long stay here in this league.
And I think for Lane Lambert, the one thing that
(29:55):
I look back on this is that you learn how
to handle you know a team on a day to
day level for eighty two games, you know emotionally where
they're at physically as well. But also there's an important
element I think for me here Mark and we were
talking about the back to back record here in this
press conference, and he said it will be different. The
Kraken went zero to twelve. That flat out has to change,
(30:17):
I know, and I think if you can. I think,
if you can work on this and you know, work
your way to a team that can play five hundred hockey,
you get six wins out of twelve, that's twelve more
points that you're putting up on the board, and that
puts you in the mix here for the playoffs. There's
gonna be a more a series of more bad to
back games here for this year. So that's gonna be
(30:38):
the big key I think for me is can you
implement your structure right away and have this team play
to their identity from off the bat? And I think
that's something from what we've heard and what we've learned
here about Lane Lambert, he's got full conviction to put
that structure in place. John Forslin said it best. I've
thought about a couple of weeks ago, and we had
our instant reaction here to this. The key to back
(31:00):
games is learning how to play a certain way, play
with structures. So when you're on the second game of
back to back, it's like you can play this game
in your sleep and for the crack and for whatever reason,
it was a difficult thing and it was an issue
from this last year. But that's where structure really takes over.
In those situations where you're playing in back to back games,
(31:22):
the legs go, the mind goes, but then it's almost
like you're on autopilot but you're not. But yet there's
muscle memory on where to be on the ice, how
to react to certain situations where it really makes a big,
big difference.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
Mike btton joining us here on MJ in the MIDA
Sports Radio ninety three to three KJRFM. This isn't a
question that I really I didn't hear from any of
the media members. I would have asked, is that how
active will the front office be in free agency? Because
we all know that this team is lacking a Nathan McKinnon,
(31:58):
a Connor McDavid on Dry Sidle at David Posternock.
Speaker 1 (32:02):
How active will they be?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
And I'm sure from a coaching standpoint, I can imagine
that he wants to be very active, and I know
you know that's a question. I'm sure he'll have a
lot of input, but obviously you know that's gonna be
a Jason Botterol and Ron Francis more of a question.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
But I'm sure you know.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Listen, man, you you look at look at the teams
that are left right now playing right now. Mike, You've
got Matthew Kachuck, Brad Marshan, who's on the third line
of the Panthers, and then of course you've got obviously
Mcjesus and Dry Citle, Evander Kaine cor I mean, you
just you need stars to be playing hockey in June.
Speaker 11 (32:45):
Well, I think it's a great question here to to
raise once again, and I think it's a good way
to see, you know, being the fact that Lane Lamper's
gonna be oni and show coming up here later on.
We've got Lane Lampers separately here for the Crack and
Audio Network coming up down the road. But I would
go back to what Jay some Bottlerel mentioned on Ian
show about two to two and a half weeks ago,
and this is where my brain begins to turn, where
(33:06):
you begin to define aggressiveness and free agency. And there
are two ways to go about this. And the one
thing that we learned from the free agency pool that's
going to be out there and Jason Botterrell mentioned this,
there's not many players out there who really move the
needle for what the cracket need on that top line,
(33:26):
and so it's going to be very hyper competitive. Will
they dip in free agency, I don't know as of
right now. I would expect maybe more movement maybe in
the trade market here where you could be, you know,
using as much capital as you can the stock of
draft picks, prospects to you know, land somebody like I
would just you know, point to Buffalo and JJ Patterca,
(33:48):
an up and coming young player who's got some thirty
goals and they're in a bit of a tough spot
right now. I would even point to maybe a guy
who could maybe headed toward be head of toward free
agency and someone who is on by radar here and
others as well. But there's a chance that you can
maybe do a sign and trade deal in Nikolai Eelers.
He moves the needle as well here for this team,
(34:09):
I think we have to be careful of in free agency.
And you talk about this year's class versus next year's class,
where I mean just go and google you know names
we're going to be available next summer. Up and down,
and it begins here with Connor McDavid. Now will he
be available? I highly doubt that he is. The list
is absolutely robust to add. But I think if you
(34:31):
look at the difference in the names that you pointed out,
Mark and what we look at separating you know, the
likes of Matthew could Chuck and Brad Marshatt and Brad
Marshan versus you know, others like Anthony McKinnon, Connor McDavid,
the latter have been acquired by trade. And that's where
the cracking kid really I think, strike where the iron
is hot, where those names are available. If you want
(34:52):
somebody like McDavid or a McKinnon or an Austin Matthews,
that only comes from one way and one way, and
it is to draft the right way. So this is
where you need to see some results. You know, for
Maddy Veneer's coming up here for this next season. Can
Shane Wright take this next accept and be the player
that many of us thought he is going to be,
(35:13):
you know, in his prime, Ken Berkeley Catt and stick
here after nine games and begin to show that he
belongs in this league. And you have said that he's
perhaps the best prospect now on this team, and he
has done he has checked off every box virtually now
for his WUHL career. So I think where the crack
it had to look at this from the free agency
(35:33):
picture is spend money, yes, and they're willing to do that,
but spend it the right way. And you know, if
there's another team out there that wants Minch Martyr, well
you have to be ready to kind of phoney up
and pay a lot a lot of money here for
that because it's going to take away a big chunk
of what you have and what should be given out here.
To Compo Kako who is doing for an extension, he's
(35:55):
got to get paid. And also Ryker Evans on that
back end, and that back end might be the best
thing going for this team right now on their blue line.
He's also got to get paid too. So once you
check those boxes off and get them under contract, then
you can begin to identify where you want to spend
money and do it. But there are not a lot
of big names out there here for the summer as
(36:17):
far as free agency, and that's where the crack and
really have to kind of understand can you calculate the
money that you have and spend it wisely, or do
you use trade capital and go elsewhere.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Mike Bent, we appreciate you joining us and looking forward
to the Lane Lambert era, and hopefully I like to
see the development of my guy, Yannie Newman and what
he will bring to the table as he will turn
the rifle age of twenty one coming up at the
end of July so he can legally actually drink alcohol.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
That's how young this guy is.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
So hey, Mike, always a pleasure, looking forward to it,
and we'll let the Lane Lambert era begin anytime.
Speaker 11 (36:56):
Mark, thanks man.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
All right, Mike Benton here on MJ in the Midday
Sports Radio ninety three three KJR. You always want to
see how your favorite team ranks amongst the best in
the league. We have that Pro Football Focus Top thirty
(37:17):
two corners and safeties. Did any of the Hawks crack
the list? Next on MJ and the Miday Sports Radio
ninety three to three KJRT them one of the worst
things in pro sports happen again. I'll get to that next.
And is there anything that we've learned in the NBA
Finals that could possibly give us some sort of morsel
(37:41):
that expansion could happen, and the Sonics could come back
to Seattle. We'll get to both of those next radio
on MJ in the Miday Sports Radio ninety three to
three KJRM
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.