KRAKEN WEEKLY: Time to come back home, Catton, the Sharks and more (11/10)

Mike Benton, Everett Fitzhugh, and Al Kinisky with the latest episode of Kraken Weekly ahead of a 3-game homestand, starting Tuesday. Joining the show is San Jose Sharks radio voice Dan Rusanowsky. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Jordan Ebly, This is Vince Done. This is
Jaden Schwartz. This is Jared mccannon. This is Ryan Lindren.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
This is Maddy Bears.

Speaker 3 (00:10):
You're listening to.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Crack and Weekly with Mike Benton Chicago, San Jose, Saint
Louis and Dallas in the rearview mirror. Let's talk about
it and what's to come. Once again on Cracking Weekly,
our latest drop here on the Crack and Audio Network
via the iHeartRadio app. Mike Betton ever offits you al
Kiniski with you, we get a lot to touch on.
It's a Kraken now back home after what was a

(00:32):
thrilling and at points unforgettable back to back in Saint
Louis and Dallas, with the Kraken setting a brand new
benchmark in Saint Louis remaining a playoff team. On Monday,
November tenth. Once again, get this podcast on demand all
the time anywhere you are via the iHeartRadio app. Again,
sign up for free to get it at sports radio

(00:53):
kjar dot com. Glad you're with us, We're gonna hear
Besides Everett, now myself from Dan Rusanowski, longtime radio voice
of the San Jose Sharks Audio Network match up number
two on the horizon here for the Kraken and the
Sharks against a very surprising, very youthful, and very skilled
Sharks team led by Macklin Celebrini cementing himself already among

(01:18):
the game's great superstars, Dan Rusanowski touching on his impact
and much more, Plus a look at the San Jose
Sharks the Winnipeg Jets as well from this perspective, all
that coming up here in just a bit. Well, let's
be cap things right now. Where the Kraken ending a
homestand taking their first loss in regulation against San Jose

(01:39):
after they knocked off a pretty surprising Chicago team, following
that back to back games on the road where the
Kraken had to answer the bell, do it late, and
follow up very next day with the performance that kept
them in it in Dallas all the way to the end.
He'll bring it in everly since sto.

Speaker 4 (02:06):
Jordan Everley his fifth goal the season, the Croocking get
that Insurman's goal back back up by a pair three one,
three fifty five left in the third.

Speaker 2 (02:19):
Of Frank Dazar just loses the Pucket the center race
there and it's Jordan everbody that picks it up.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
He's gonna two.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
One zero with Toven and on his off wing, tells
that pass gets some of them.

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Just a fight, just a fight.

Speaker 2 (02:31):
A little bit, and beats him gloves side down low
three to one, cracking out, you're a chef to the line,
Lil tigrit good hold on to it.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Winterton on his backhand down the slot, right on and
turned aside by Ascar Rom Seattle keeps it back of
the line, lending grid shoots blocks winter.

Speaker 1 (02:49):
Ten sto.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
Ryan Winterton his first in the National Hockey League and
the Seattle.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
Cracking on the board one one.

Speaker 4 (03:06):
Three thirty left and period number one.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, it all starts with a breakaway by Winterton down
that left side, protects the puck, gets a great shot
on goal. But then he does what great wingers do.
He hangs out in the slot and weights not fuck,
finds its way back to him, gets it back onto
his sticks.

Speaker 5 (03:23):
He beats asker rob This game is tied at one.

Speaker 6 (03:25):
Look heard by the blue Seattle with some momentum tolding
it left side and it's stood.

Speaker 4 (03:33):
Welcome back.

Speaker 7 (03:34):
Riiker Evans.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
A left point shot pinballs in by Hulfer let crack
it on the board two to one, eleven thirty two
left in this second period where you.

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Set partner to cracking.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
We're getting some momentum offensively right there, moving the puck around,
and Evans got that pucket just inside the blue line,
right in front of the cracking bench, got us met up.
He had Myers down in front, screening looking for a deflection.
Put it hard on net. It went off of something,
but I don't believe it was my even the back
of the net. Blocker side and Hope for two to
ones holding in right line.

Speaker 4 (04:04):
It cross now done, shot, turn aside, cremound tolling. It scores,
Et phones home his first goal of the season, and
the kracking tie the game.

Speaker 1 (04:16):
At two four thirty five.

Speaker 7 (04:19):
Left in period number two.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Fantastic Pucket moving by the Cracking on their power play.
It starts with Stevenson over on the left boards feeding
it back to Done. Done gets a great shot on
goal one that Hopeer can't control. The rebound on that
rebound goes right to twenty on the wing.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
He puts it in the back of the net.

Speaker 4 (04:35):
Two years Montor left side activates down the wall. Montor
backhands shot toward the goal. Heavily swatted it live. Seattle
back to the line. Here Stevens says shots STOs tender
Stevenson point five left in the third. The Seattle kracking
tie the game three three late and period number three

(04:57):
fantastic offensives.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Don't keep by the crack there it was done. Who
got the puck over to Stevenson. Steven takes two strides
towards the top of the circle, beats Hofer blockers side.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
This game's tide.

Speaker 7 (05:09):
We're gonna go to hold it in far circle.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Shane Right on the hand off Shane Wright.

Speaker 4 (05:14):
Walks it, shuts Scos. Shane Wright finds a lane down
the left side, tucks it in by Joel Hoefer. Seattle
takes this one four to three and.

Speaker 2 (05:28):
Over time well he toven it and Shane Right up
at the top of the blue line chriss cross Tobyden
dropped it to him. Shane Right's got a full head
of steam going on that left side. He cuts to
the front of the end. He beats Hofer load four
three cracking.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
Bring on the griff.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
The foal Gigs wants the final kags four to three cracking.

Speaker 7 (05:47):
Win based off left side. Seattle wins it. Schwartz to
the line.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
Done here signed Adam Larsen shots ten scors. Adam Larson
from the right side, ripped it toward the goal, hit
something or someone in front. Jayden Schwartz will lead the
handshake line. It's a one nothing. See I don't crack

(06:11):
and lead well.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
It starts with a face off winning the offensive end
of the ice. Maddy Benier is getting that puck back.

Speaker 7 (06:16):
It goes over to.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Adam Larsen to his head up hard wrist shut on
the ice that Jaden Schwartz gets a piece of beats
Casey the Smith top shelf glove side one nothing cracking.

Speaker 4 (06:25):
Shane Wright back to the line. Wyatt Johnston steals it away.
Johnston to Rantnan, Ranton in down the slot back to
Johnston side. But Matt Murray, Oh, Matt Murray in the splits.
He had Rantnan coming down the far side of the
slot and he was able to get over and knock
that puck down.

Speaker 2 (06:46):
Ye I sold out moving left to right and just
took away.

Speaker 3 (06:48):
The right side.

Speaker 4 (06:49):
Here's Mark Smtt far wing blue line. Doun kept it
in Mark Smitt left side. Now Benier's Montor Fires turned
aside by Casey. This man drowne down the ice and
then bouncing a puck to the near corner. Iicing gets
waved off ten seconds to play. In the third montur
phuck the far side, Vince dun knocks it down. Shane right,

(07:10):
do the nut shot that one. Just wine cocko cocko
in the corner, China Center, just on the raach Love.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Fence, Ton and there is your final horn.

Speaker 1 (07:22):
Two wins, two losses, the Krack and knocking off Chicago
and Saint Louis and taking losses against the San Jose
Sharks and the Dallas Stars. Amidst all that, Ryan Winterton
picking up his first career NHL goal with the Crack
and maybe getting a bigger glimpse of the kind of
game that they can play to be successful, at least
hanging around in games right now like the one they

(07:44):
had on Sunday against Dallas. All right, that's hout of
the week, shakes out after what was a game so
close on Sunday, the Krack and though falling to one
of the Dallas Stars. And they come back home where
home has been very very good to them. And among
the games for you to consider this Tuesday. Coming up
Tomorrow night Military Appreciation Night presented by Starbucks. Every special

(08:06):
ticket offer purchase comes with a limited addition cracking bucket,
hat and donation to the Fisher House. Additionally, on Saturday,
it will be Hockey Fights Cancer Night presented by Virginia
Mason Franciscan Health. To get tickets again, go to Seattle
Kraken dot com slash tickets all right without further ado

(08:27):
evera fits you, Alciniski joining us now for the roundtable
segment of this for Cracking Weekly Fellas. I hope we
got our good sleep from last night coming off the plane,
and today was at least a day of productivity, if
you want to call it productivity, the one off day
we have in between here to get stuff done. I

(08:48):
think I got the oil change done. I got the
soup picked up with the dry cleaners. I have a
speaking engagement for a ZEUSA Pacific coming up, and we'll
see if there is time here for a haircut. How's
your Monday going?

Speaker 7 (09:00):
Not bad? I got it.

Speaker 6 (09:01):
I got a couple of chores that I gotta finish
getting done. I was a little bit late on and
I sincerely apologize for that to my wife and do
everyone out there, But no, so far, so good.

Speaker 8 (09:13):
I came home to a kitchen full of coolers and
freezer bags because I have a fridge that is no
longer in order, but got to get twenty one years
out of it, so I can't.

Speaker 6 (09:22):
Oh no, wow, oh no, that fridge owes you nothing.

Speaker 8 (09:27):
That's right, that's right. I thanked it, I you know,
gave it a pound on the back, and we're going
to put it out the pasture.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
Hey, sales crew, fridge fridge endorsement. Al Konski's right for one.
Let's go. Let's go. All right, Well, where where where
were we? The Kraken have lost four out of the
last six games. But I mean, Fellas, I really think
context matters in this situation. I mean, coming out of
this back to back and we knew this was going

(09:56):
to be a massive talking point for the direction of
this sea. You face, Saint Louis, you were this close
to take in defeat and then rescue it from the
jaws of defeat, and then comes so close where to
the point you maybe got goal lead against Dallas and
with that a one and one split coming home. So

(10:19):
here's some food for thought on this and I want
to be careful because moral victories don't get your points.
But weigh in the scope of this weekend and this
happening now than say, versus in March. Would you rather
take a two and a weekend back to back yet
you're playing poorly, or rather are you taking one in
one and come out with a kind of effort they

(10:40):
got against Saint Louis and Dallas now coming home.

Speaker 6 (10:45):
Well, Mike, first of all, you say they've lost four
of six. I say they have points in four of six.

Speaker 1 (10:50):
Perspective perspective matters.

Speaker 6 (10:51):
Yeah, let's pert perspective for a second. I think I
understand the question that you're asking. But at the end
of the day, this is a result the business. I'd
rather have two bad wins than two perfect one nothing
losses or two to one losses.

Speaker 7 (11:08):
You know, I do think that everything considered in back
to backs.

Speaker 6 (11:14):
I mean that was the game against Dallas on Sunday.
I mean we're going on a year plus of the
losses in game twos of back to backs, and I
don't remember an effort ever like that in the second
game of a back to back. And I guess maybe
there's a little bit of solace there, even though you
didn't get the point from what we were told getting

(11:36):
on the bus and getting on the plane like that.
The team was very quiet and very somber after that
Dallas game, which I liked hearing because it lets me
know that they knew that they should have won that game.
They're not comfortable with just playing well. They want the

(11:56):
results too, So it was kind of a quiet flight
outside of a couple of small conversations and the obligatory
card game in the back. But I think guys realize that,
you know, the new standard is being set here in Seattle.
I think overall, for for what this team is and
where this team is, I would.

Speaker 7 (12:17):
Say it's a successful weekend.

Speaker 6 (12:18):
But to go back to the initial question, I would
have loved to have found a way to get one
point out of last night. I mean that that would
have just made it so much better. And I think
that's where the frustration lies.

Speaker 2 (12:32):
I think going into the weekend, you know, we before
we get the news about Joey Decord, I think our
thoughts were, Okay, well, we've got these other two goaltenders.
They've got to play some games soon. Could it be
this weekend?

Speaker 8 (12:44):
And then of course you get the news, you immediately assume, okay,
they're each going to get a game.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
So despite the outcome.

Speaker 8 (12:50):
Of the games, I think you can check a box
now that says you've seen Philip Gribauer and Matt Murray
both start games. Matt Murray with a nine percentage last
night and Grubauer with eight four to two in his
games or his game, both both of them playing well.
So I think we got the benefit of seeing both

(13:10):
of them this weekend because of the Joey to coord injury.
So I think that was good. I agree with Everett
that the effort that was put out in the Dallas
loss was I think the best effort in a second
of a back to back of all of the back
to backs we've seen since his team won a back
to back. So the effort was strong enough to win
the game, that the effort was strong enough to take

(13:31):
it to overtime. Unfortunately, as you say, Mikey, you got
goalie a little bit there. So I come out of
it with I'm happy that if you're going to lose,
you're gonna lose. Laying all your cards on the table,
and the guy certainly did last night.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
See I brought this up on the other night here,
and we're noticing something maybe as far as period one
versus period two and period three. Everett, you talked about
this with Lane Lambert in your pregame conversation. But we're
sensing a pattern here, and I brought this up in
pregame coverage period two, period three. Previous four games combined,
the Crack can have allowed only twelve shots average twelve

(14:07):
shots period, period two, period three against Dallas the previous
night Stars seven shots in period two, seven shots in
period three. Guys are sensing a pattern as far as
how this team starts versus how things progress.

Speaker 8 (14:22):
Well, I think the pattern is this team's down after
the first period in three of those four games. So
maybe the wake up call happens between the first and
second period and they come out guns of blazing in
that second. So you'd like to see that happen in
the first. But again, I think it's the it's the
identity of this team that they know that they can

(14:43):
play with any team.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
In this league.

Speaker 8 (14:45):
We've seen it already with some of the top teams,
and we saw it again last night despite the.

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Eleven to one one record.

Speaker 8 (14:53):
I think that the Krack can have with Dallas over
the last thirteen that the effort was strong enough to
be to be in the mix potentially come up with
a point.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Un firstly they didn't.

Speaker 6 (15:02):
Yeah, no, I think so, and I am sensing a pattern.
You know, the team does.

Speaker 7 (15:07):
Get better as games go along.

Speaker 6 (15:10):
But I think with that with that same shot comparison,
they're allowing fewer shots, but they're also getting fewer shots
as well in third periods. And I think in more
more games that I had it written down, I think
five times this season now six times this season, the
Cracking have been limited to single digit shots in the

(15:31):
third period and they've had to they've had to survive
a push, and they've they've gone into you know, kind
of a I don't want to say a prevent defense
because they're not sitting back. They're still aggressive defensively, but
you know, you'd like to maybe see a little bit
more offensive push in the third period.

Speaker 7 (15:51):
And I understand that.

Speaker 6 (15:53):
You know, I'm going to contradict myself here because we
always say you only have to.

Speaker 7 (15:56):
Win by one.

Speaker 6 (15:57):
I get it, but if it's two to one or
three two going into the third, it would be nice
to find a way to maybe get an insurance goal
or put yourself ahead, give you a little bit more
breathing room, take some pressure off your goalies.

Speaker 7 (16:11):
But this team, I do think.

Speaker 6 (16:13):
Overall, has had a habit of getting better and playing
better as games have gone on.

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Absolutely, And I bring this up here to you as
well because this is something important to talk about because
there's a way to manufacture offense, and then there's a
way to try to maybe I think go as far
as forcing offense. And there's a difference here because how
do you look at if you're down, what you need
to do to find ways to generate versus say cheating

(16:43):
flying the zone and now you're leaving your own defense
and structure at risk.

Speaker 8 (16:47):
Yeah, I think it's not doing what you just said.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
They're flying the zone.

Speaker 8 (16:51):
But I think this team is doing a better job
of controlling the play with the puck. You see it
in the Afterton zone when they get some sustained offensive
zone time. We will start to see players changing out
one at a time to be able to get five
fresh on the ice while they've got control. You see
it in the neutral zone when they need to make

(17:12):
a change and rather than dumping the puck into the
offensive zone or putting a puck on net just to
get a shot on goal. They'll move it back to
their defenseman. They'll change out those three forwards and then
they'll come down the ice at the defense wan will
change you got five. So that puck control is a
big factor in being intentional about their offensive chances this year,

(17:32):
which you didn't see as much last year. It was
just go to earth and off they went, and they
attacked and it was exciting and sometimes they work and
sometimes it didn't. This year it seems to be a
little bit more of a controlled approach, and I think
that controlled approach can sometimes lead its way into okay, well,
let's look for the perfect shot on net as well.
I think it's finding that balance between that perfect play,

(17:53):
that perfect shot, and then also sometimes like the goal
last night, Ad Marshall just fired at hard on the
net works is flashing through redirection. It's one nothing, cracking
piggybacking on that.

Speaker 6 (18:05):
That's huge because I think too, right, especially against a
guy like Casey to Smith, you know, who was just
money lights out last night.

Speaker 7 (18:14):
I look at the Connor Hellibooks of the world.

Speaker 6 (18:16):
I look at Dan Vladar of all people, right, the
guys who who've had our numbers goalies that you have
to put up, you know, a lot of shots against
just to get one or two goals. I think it
is having a shot first mentality. You don't need the
right shot, you don't need a perfect shot. I think
you just need to get shots through. And I think

(18:39):
both teams last night didn't show any signs of fatigue.
You know, Al said during one of the breaks, you know,
dare I say this is a playoff atmosphere.

Speaker 7 (18:48):
I was like, I know it was.

Speaker 6 (18:50):
It was like easy there, cheap roly in game was
it game third fifteen?

Speaker 3 (18:56):
But that's what the pace felt like.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
The pace did feel like a playoff atmosphere. But no,
I think you're beg on I about the shot selection
and about this team sometimes being a little bit too choosy.

Speaker 1 (19:09):
I want to go back to the Saint Louis game
because this is where victory was made possible when Chandler
Stevenson scored with zero point five seconds on the clock. Guys,
this is where we had to give props to broadcasters,
especially like you, to be able to contain yourselves, to
just describe what happened in incredible fashion, to tie that

(19:29):
game because it was the latest goal in cracking history
to tie a game. That being said, NetFront presence also ed,
z oh, yes, we gave your props right there made
this thing happen. Jordan Eberley was at the front of
the net checking social media. It was a firestorm for
everyone arguing for or against goal tender air interference. The

(19:52):
caller from the situation room stands. As this video review confirmed,
Jordan Eberley and his actions did not impair Joel Hofer's
ability to play his position in the crease. Hoefer came
way out as far as you could get, maybe to
that red line outside of the blue paint. And of

(20:12):
course in the final minute of play in period three,
at any point in overtime as well regular season in playoffs,
hockey operations will initiate the review of any situation that
would otherwise be subject to a coach's challenge. This is
where Toronto comes into play. But guys, the moral of
the story of this is getting very close down to

(20:33):
the point where I'm tired of trying to break down
goalie interference. It is so subjective and it feels like
one call that goes your way today may go the
other way the very next day.

Speaker 6 (20:46):
Listen, I was JT and we JT and we were
talking about this after after the game, and you know,
if we're gonna call balls and strikes, I could have
gone either way on that.

Speaker 7 (20:59):
Clearly happy that it went the Krakens way.

Speaker 6 (21:03):
But listen the goaltend your interference rule, it's it's so gray.

Speaker 7 (21:09):
It's such a gray area. And Alan and I were
talking about this, you.

Speaker 6 (21:12):
Know, how do you effectively determine goalie interference? And my idea,
I don't care if you have your left pinky toe
in the crease. If any part of the goalie is
in the crease and you touch the goalie without being
pushed by an opposing player, then that's interference. Boba played dead,

(21:33):
it's a penalty or something. But no, I think that
I see both sides of that play. You know, it
was already on that side. I don't think it. I
don't I don't think, in my opinion, I don't think
that Everly was there to It didn't disrupt the play
at all.

Speaker 7 (21:52):
I thought the puck was clearly on its.

Speaker 6 (21:54):
Way in before Everily even had a chance to get
the stick there. It wasn't like he was he was,
The shot was lowder, the ice was over the shoulder, right,
So I see it.

Speaker 7 (22:03):
But no, I'm with you. The goaltender interference conversation.

Speaker 6 (22:06):
We can spend an entire show talking about what is
or what isn't goalie.

Speaker 7 (22:11):
Interference, But it was. It was one that went the
other way.

Speaker 6 (22:15):
But I guarantee you twenty games from now, that same
thing's going to happen, and it's going to go against
the Kraken and we're going to be on here spitting
firestone for the exact same reason.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Well not only that.

Speaker 8 (22:27):
Too, but you know, we have the benefit of seeing
the slow mow replace And when you look at the
overhead cam of that shot, everybody's got his back to
the goal and he spins around, I think, to get
out of the way of the shot, like he had
nothing to do with. Maybe I'll clip the goalie stick
and try and interfere with him. It wasn't that it

(22:48):
was spinning around. And to be able to catch the
inside of your heel on the toe of the blade
of the goaltender stick, that that's unintentional contact. Yes, you
know when you see top and you see gloves and
pushes and shoulders and that's a very different situation. Doesn't
mean it wouldn't be called. I still think it was
a fifty to fifty call. But when you look at

(23:09):
that and you say was it intentional?

Speaker 3 (23:11):
No?

Speaker 8 (23:11):
Was he trying to get out of the way, Yes,
I think that had a lot to do with how
they ended up calling it a goal.

Speaker 1 (23:16):
And listen, we will gladly explain goals under interference each
and every day. We're trying to course educate new hockey
fans here. But folks, again, this is the most subjective
rule in the rule book here. Let's just get this
one thing clear.

Speaker 7 (23:29):
Like I said, listen, you're a goalie.

Speaker 6 (23:32):
You put any any part of your body is touching
the blue paint, black and white.

Speaker 7 (23:37):
Blow it dead, don't care.

Speaker 3 (23:38):
Move on.

Speaker 7 (23:39):
I'm tired of all these ten.

Speaker 6 (23:41):
Minute reviews in game twenty of the season that don't matter.

Speaker 3 (23:45):
Just what I'm going to fix it, Just take it
all out. There is no goal out right.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Hey, listen, we can only hear tell me something good
on loop over and over and over. When it gets
to be like the third like loop of the song,
we know what's going on too long? Now, that's not
Why don't we talk about Berkeley Catton, who is now
here for ten games, and we presume, going on now

(24:13):
eleven the first year of his contract officially has kicked
in which many people now presume, Okay, he's good to
go now, Well, not so fast yet, we're gonna hear
that confirmation maybe maybe not here, whether he has been
told to go officially get an apartment now. There is
still more of a chance here to give him an

(24:34):
AHL conditioning stint where he could get more playing time,
play further up the lineup consistently, and then also the
World Juniors right around the corner for him. But what
have we learned about about Berkeley Catton so far through
ten games, and maybe how long he could be staying
here added to where he fits in this lineup?

Speaker 6 (24:56):
I think for me, you know, it goes back to
what we said last week, and I don't think my
position has changed. I think that he has shown that
he can play in this league. You know, now again,
am I ready to put him on my top line
eighty two nights a year?

Speaker 7 (25:13):
Probably not, But I.

Speaker 6 (25:14):
Mean he he has earned a place in the lineup
wherever that place is in the lineup. I still think
that every game we see another good piece of his game.
We see another step taken in terms of his maturation
to becoming you know, an NHL.

Speaker 7 (25:37):
You know, a good NHL player.

Speaker 6 (25:40):
And I don't think there's been any glaring holes, at
least for me in his game outside of the typical
nineteen year old mistakes that he's going to make. Having
played only ten games in the NHL. I'm not gonna.
I'm not gonna to harp and kill the kid because
he serves up a pizza through the middle that would

(26:00):
have easily gotten through in juniors. Right, You're still trying
to learn this game, You're trying to learn the speed.
So I don't have any problem with it. I think
I like him here, and you're right, you get him
the World Juniors. But just because he goes to World
Juniors doesn't mean that you can't get him back. He
can go to World Juniors and then come back here.
He doesn't always have to go back to Spokane. But

(26:23):
I think that that he's fine here. He's playing well,
and until I think there is there is an obvious
gap or an obvious drop off in his game, I mean,
keep sending him out there.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
Alt this up for you in just the fact that
he was on the ice for Chandler Stevenson's game tying goal.
Now you earn the trust of Lane Lambert, who you
got to earn a lot of trust in those key situations.
That says a lot. Where Berkeley Catton is getting high
leverage ice time to go out there for a game

(26:59):
tying goal.

Speaker 8 (27:00):
Well, not only was he out there for that game
time goal in Saint Louis, he was out there in
the last couple of minutes of the Dallas game as well.
So clearly Lane Lambert believes this is a guy that
could be a difference maker when you're when you're looking
for a goal late in the game. But Mike, your
question was, what have we learned about Berkeley Catton. Well,
we already knew he was a fantastic hockey player. We
already knew he was worthy of of of the pick

(27:22):
that the Kracken made in the in the in the
first round for him.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
I think what we're.

Speaker 8 (27:26):
Learning is that as good as he is, he's still
got some growing, some growth He's got to grow into
becoming an NHL player. Well, you can't do that in Spokane.
You probably can't even do that at World Juniors. As
the lead as that hockey is, you've got to play.
And I think that's why we're going to see him
here for the majority of the rest of the season.

Speaker 6 (27:45):
And I will I'll say this too, you know, I
think we're all we're all acting like World Juniors is
a foregone conclusion.

Speaker 7 (27:54):
The Kraken control.

Speaker 6 (27:58):
Ye wait, right, so Berkeley Catton because of he's earned
it or because of injuries and they have no choice
but to play him every night. We get to World
Juniors and Berkeley Catton has played thirty games? How many
games we have left to the Worlds?

Speaker 7 (28:13):
Right?

Speaker 5 (28:13):
Like?

Speaker 6 (28:14):
I mean, if I'm the Kraken, am I like? Do
I really want to send him to Worlds.

Speaker 7 (28:20):
For four weeks and do all that?

Speaker 6 (28:22):
Look at what happened to Matthew Shaeffer last year, right,
kid breaks his leg and he's out.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
For uh, we don't know how long. Jared McCann's gonna
be out, and Freddi Goodrou is still quite a ways away.

Speaker 6 (28:33):
Absolutely, so I think that we're sitting here thinking that
World Juniors is a foregone conclusion. I think the Kraken
would like to give him that opportunity. I think he
would like that opportunity. But you know, there's no guarantee
that Berkeley Catton is gonna be playing in Worlds this December.

(28:53):
They could say, hey, kid, we need you here, and
we only have four days off for Christmas. Go home,
take a break, get your books in town, do something.
Uh but but we need you ready for for games
in January.

Speaker 1 (29:06):
Here's one guy the crack and would love to really
get going, but he showed some pretty impressive signs that
he's perhaps getting it in gear. And that's Mason Marchman
against Dallas from the other night. And here's Mason march
Mitt and his reaction after the game meeting with the media.

Speaker 9 (29:21):
Good to get the you know, some juices going again
and you know, you know, maybe prove them wrong or whatever.
But uh yeah, just I thought our team played a
good game, and we competed all night and Murray played
awesome probably huge save, so you know it's a tough loss,

(29:42):
but uh, you know we can build off that for sure.

Speaker 6 (29:49):
What's up?

Speaker 7 (29:50):
Did you think you might have had one time goal there?

Speaker 3 (29:53):
Yeah?

Speaker 9 (29:53):
Yeah, I just tried to get it off quick and
low and uh fivefole and he came across his legs closed,
so it was a great say by case Sar.

Speaker 1 (30:02):
So it was pretty apparent that Mason Marchmant was very,
very motivated to face his former team. He told us
he had this date circle on the calendar way back
in the preseason at media Day. But one goal right
now in fourteen games. How what can we take away
from the Dallas game that Mason Marchmant needs more of
consistently here moving ahead?

Speaker 3 (30:24):
Yeah, I think I think we saw his best game
to date. Hands down. We saw what I think.

Speaker 8 (30:31):
The Kraken expect to get out of Mason Marshmot. He
had four hits in the game, He had four shots
on goal. You heard of him talking about that opportunity
to get one there. He was involved during the play,
he was involved after the play. He was getting in
guys faces, like without taking penalties. I think that's the
sand papery Mason Marchman. It was some offensive power guy

(30:53):
that we're looking to see every game going forward.

Speaker 6 (30:56):
Yeah, And I think for me, you know, not trying
to go uh full Bob Staffer here.

Speaker 7 (31:01):
For the Edmonton Oilers.

Speaker 6 (31:02):
And if you don't know what I'm talking about, go
on the Oilers Daily onto Yeah, find Bob.

Speaker 7 (31:08):
Just search Bob Stoffer.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
He burned my phone up by the way, trying to
listen to that. Yeah, I need a new phone now.

Speaker 6 (31:14):
So not trying to go full Bob Stoffer, but I
think we've seen that he's capable of playing at this level,
like Al said, and I think that, you know, if
I'm being honest, I felt like, you know, he's got
he's got more to give, right, And we saw what
he can do and what he's capable of, and I'm
with you, that was his best game to date for
the cracket this year.

Speaker 7 (31:35):
So I think if if we can see him continue.

Speaker 6 (31:38):
To play that way, you know, being hard, going to
the dirty areas and not you know, not not scoring
and and and contributing to the offense, I think you're
gonna you have a good player in Mason Marshman. And
I'm hoping that that game unlocked a big piece of
his game moving forward.

Speaker 1 (31:57):
We have the home stand coming up here where are
the Crack and we'll face a Columbus Blue Jackets tomorrow night,
Winnipeg's second matchup of the season San Jose as well
on Saturday, and we're gonna hear from Dan Ruzanowski in
our conversation in just a little bit of course, long
time Hall of Fame radio voice for the Sharks on
that side. But if there's one thing I think we
learned again we touched on this earlier from last home stand,

(32:18):
applied for this homestand the Kraken back home in their
own home building in front of a very very boisterous crowd.
You've got to start fast.

Speaker 6 (32:27):
Yeah, no, I think I think that's that's gonna be key.

Speaker 3 (32:31):
Right.

Speaker 6 (32:32):
The Kraken finally won a game this season when they've
allowed the game's first goal, so scoring first is key
for Seattle. They got the four to three overtime win
in Saint Louis and that was their first win of
the season, win trailing, you know, won nothing, So you.

Speaker 7 (32:48):
Have to start fast.

Speaker 6 (32:49):
The schedule for the kracking, you know, we talked about
how it's a lot easier in uh in November rather
than then maybe it will in October.

Speaker 7 (33:00):
But you're getting to.

Speaker 6 (33:02):
A pretty difficult portion of the schedule coming up.

Speaker 7 (33:06):
You know, You've got this this homestand.

Speaker 6 (33:07):
Now you go on the road for four games out
East against you know, competition that are I would say,
in the same sandbox as you. But then you come
back home, and you've got a couple against Edmonton. You've
got I want to say, Utah's in there, la Anaheim
are in there. I think there's a Vancouver in there.

(33:28):
Maybe all of those games coming up before Christmas. So
you've got some pretty big games coming up before the
Christmas break. So over these next four weeks three weeks,
you want to try to bank as many of these
points as possible and starting fast. Winning your home games
are going to be a pretty you know, good good
way to do that.

Speaker 8 (33:47):
Yeah, And I think that you see above, the play
of Mason Marshman can factor into that. I think that
what we talked about with goaltending. If we're not going
to see Joey Decord for a while, we don't know,
But if we're not, then the way Matt Murray played
last night and the way Grubauer played, I think that's
going to factor into the success as team can have
between now and Christmas.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
All right to the Beacon Plumbing Hotline, we go. Always
a pleasure to have him with us. Hall of Fame
radio voice Dan Ruzanowski of the Sharks Audio Network. Dan,
good to see you a few days ago back here
in Seattle. Looking forward to the next one already here.
But I want to first begin just from the first
time that these two teams met. What surprised you most

(34:31):
may be about the Sharks start here to this season.

Speaker 5 (34:35):
Well, I think that it's taken a little while for
all things to start to piece together. I think that's
been part of the story, and we have to keep
reminding ourselves how many different players are on the roster,
and that probably led to the somewhat slow beginning. It
was getting a little bit tiresome in San Jose, simply
because the last three years it's been really tough in
the month of October, and so there was a kind

(34:57):
of a feeling of, oh no, here we go again.
Very very quickly things started to dissipate in that direction.
The Sharks started to, you know, show what they are
made of. And I think that they're only right now
beginning to really feel that they're in a position to
have a home iice advantage, to make sure that they
can compete against anybody. And with recent results, I think

(35:18):
they've done a really good job against top teams, and
I think all of that is lent to the confidence
of the team. But then you throw on what Macklin
Celebrini's doing at age nineteen. You know, you usually look
at players and you say, Okay, he's a young guy,
and he's scoring a lot of points, right, great, well
most of the time, if you take a look at
it and you break it down between home and road,

(35:40):
usually that you know the young guy will get a
lot of points at home, won't score as much on
the road because they don't have the matchups, you don't
have the last change, and a whole variety of other factors. Macklin,
Celebrini's leading the National Hockey League and scoring on the
road at age nineteen, and that's just sort of testimony
to what he's meant to the team and how things
are clicking for him and how we're looking at the

(36:01):
development of a next great era of unbelievable superstar in
the league.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
I remember having a conversation with you with Randy Han
when you guys were here, and I think it just
kind of shed more light as far as just the
potential he's got, but already how special of to start
that he is up to. So before we touch more
on that, I can't help but think after the winless streak,
you guys go into New York and get a game
into overtime, win a Celebrini hat trick five point game,

(36:29):
and then the win for instance against New Jersey, a
team that is rolling right now under Sheldon Keith. Was
there a specific game that you really began to see
the pieces begin to really fall into place it for
this team.

Speaker 5 (36:42):
I'd say probably that road trip. I'd say probably that
gamer reference to Madison Square Garden is probably the best
example because in that amazing atmosphere, with that spotlight on
the team, the Sharks rose to the occasion. It wasn't
just Celebrini and we shouldn't, you know, we do need
to see his praises and talk about what he's meant
to the club and what he's going to mean in

(37:03):
the future, not only to this club but to the
game of hockey. But also you know, the players like
Will Smith and Mario Ferrero and Colin Graff, and you know,
I can go through the entire roster. Both goaltenders started
to play quite well. That was another thing too. It
took a while for both goaltenders to start to really
really click. And I think that game Madison Square Garden

(37:25):
was a big one because it was in the big
spotlight that they performed, and after that they had some
confidence and they said, Okay, we can do this. They
had a few other challenges. I think that you know
that that has developed, and you know that sort of
is blossomed really with the first meeting in Seattle where
you know, the Sharks. The morning of that of that game,
we're not expecting to play seven defensemen and eleven forwards.

(37:46):
They were expecting to play a standard six d and
twelve forwards. Michael Misa got dinged up in the morning skate,
so they called Vinnie Deharna and after you know, they
started really bag skating him and they said, well, you're
going to have to You're gonna have to in a
little earlier because you think you might have to play.
He ends up playing really well in the penalty kill.
And I think that they were very prepared special teams

(38:07):
against that team, So every time they had something thrown
at them, they seem to respond to it and do
it with enthusiasm and accept that challenge instead of letting
the challenges get to them. And I think that's sort
of a description of the way the season is going.

Speaker 8 (38:22):
Dan talk a little bit about the culture of this team,
the personality if you will. You know, from the outside
looking in, it seems like a bunch of guys that
obviously take their jobs very seriously, but don't take themselves
very seriously. They keep things light. At a chance to
be between the benches last night, and you know, it
wasn't just towards the end of the game when it
was certainly out of hand for the cracking, but you

(38:45):
could see it throughout the game. A lot of smiles
on the bench, you know, talk a little bit about that.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
Well, I think that that's a big part of it.
You know. Larry Robinson used to always tell us back
in the day that one of the keys to all
of the Stanley Cup championships that he won, not only
as a player but later on the coach or a
member of management, was because they remember that it was
just the game and that they have to have fun
playing the game. And you know, Igor Larryanoff used to
always tell us, you don't work hockey, you play hockey,

(39:12):
and that's the side of it that you have to
remember about this game. That's really important. So you probably
saw that on the bench. They've got an element of that.
Of course, they've got prodigious talent to be able to
back it all up. But then again, behind the bench,
you've also got Ryan Warsowsky who understands this generation quite well.
He's a very young coach in the National Hockey League

(39:34):
and he seems to get the best out out of
that group of people. And you know, we saw what
he's already done with Team USA and the World Championships,
winning a gold medal too, So you know that's another
factor that's important.

Speaker 1 (39:46):
Dan touching on Maclin celebrating more, We've heard a lot
of the supplieratives already about the comparisons his game, But
what do you see right now with where he's at
in just his nineteen year old season versus say, when
he he could be, you know, peaking topping out of
say twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven years of age.

Speaker 5 (40:06):
Sky's a limit for the kid. He can do everything.
He does it in all three zones, and he does
it with a joy about the game that's very infectious.
He gets people to follow him as he drives the
energy and the level of the team. When things aren't
going well, he plays with a great competitiveness to try
to get things back under control. And all of these
things are things that are just starting to develop. I

(40:28):
think just before we played, you know, we said we
had we played the game between the Sharks and the Kraken.
There was a back to back set of games against
Colorado against Detroit where the Sharks beat Colorado on overtime.
Next game they were playing against the Red Wings, and
through that entire game, he and Maurit Sider had an
unbelievable back and forth, Batley going intensely at it, and

(40:51):
he just put his arms around that and absolutely loved it,
and his teammates loved it too.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
You know.

Speaker 5 (40:56):
Of course, he was doing that with the knowledge that
if things ever he did get out of hand. Number one,
he was showing Detroit that he wasn't going to put
up with that. But number two, he showed confidence that
his teammates would would be right there to back him up,
which of course they would be. So I think it's infectious.
I think it's I think it's fun, and it's spectacular.

Speaker 1 (41:17):
When it comes to Will Smith, who has been you know,
along his side basically here for the last couple of
years and a big part of this score. I mean,
we've seen a lot of the skill that was on
display here for the first game between these two teams
in Seattle again. But you know, I kind of asked
a similar question previously with Mattlan celebrating, But is there
anybody you've seen prior, whether it might be on the
Sharks or in the NHL that kind of reminds you

(41:39):
of Will Smith in his game.

Speaker 5 (41:41):
Not really. He's got a combination of a lot of
different types of players. I think the biggest thing that
he has is an incredibly high hoy iq. He knows
where the puck is going. I don't know how he does.
He has sort of a premonition as to where things
are going to happen. He puts himself into a position
because he's able to buy more time for himself. He

(42:02):
makes himself appear faster than perhaps the actual reality is.
And I think that that's really important. But there's another
factor about Will Smith too that has nothing to do
about hockey, and that has to do with the fun
part we were just talking about. I think that Macklin
is just very serious, very driven, very into it, and
yes he's got a great personality, but Will brings out
the lighter side in Macklin, and I think Macklin brings

(42:24):
out a more serious side and Will So it's really
an interesting combination. You know, when you're trying to put
together a great team, every club needs a Batman and
a Robin, and it looks like the Sharks have both
of those superheroes on their roster.

Speaker 8 (42:38):
Talk a little bit about and I've read this, I've
got to believe it's true. But talk a little bit
about the living situation with Macklin Celebrity. I understand he
might have a roommate from a former Shark.

Speaker 5 (42:50):
Well, it's not just Macklin, it's a whole group of
him now. So Macklin Celebrini lives with Joe Thornton, Hall
of Famer, somebody that also knew exacts actly how to
approach day to day life and knew how to enjoy
the game. Will Smith lives with Patrick Marlowe, which I
think is an interesting in combination. Joe Thornton was number

(43:11):
one overall, so he knows exactly what Maclin is going through.
He understands all the pressures. He played in Boston played
for the Sharks, always had the weight of the world
and his shoulders, and on the other side of it,
Patrick Marlo was always kind of that second guy, even
though he was a you know, superstar. He's likely going
in the Hockey Hall of Fame too. He was always
sort of in the shadow of Joe Thornton is the

(43:32):
second overall guy, and Will Smith is sort of in
that area right now too, so it's really interesting to
see how those guys have combined together. The third kind
of leg of that appears to be Michael Misa, who
now was eighteen years of age, I guess is spending
a lot of time with the Tyler Tiffoli family. So
you know, another veteran player who's been through everything. He's

(43:53):
won a Stanley Cup. And these kids are really benefiting
from the fact that their living situations are like that.
Think about it when you know, if I were nineteen
years old and I were out in the NHL and
you gave me a million dollars, I'd probably be dead
right now. But these guys are so, you know, such
great shape, pardon me, and and they're they're they're really uh,

(44:14):
they're really amazingly qualified. But they have that balance.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
With these players, I can't imagine what I would want
to do at nineteen years of age with a million
dollars in anywhere I would want to live or anywhere
I'd want to go. It'd be a scary combination here.
But that's what but surety is for when you grow
up here a little bit more, Dan.

Speaker 5 (44:32):
I want to ask you about remember this. Remember this
one thing too that it's really important to add to
that is that, you know, we joke about a little
of that, but the truth is they are still kids
and part of them they are you know, you see
that off the ice, but on the ice they're total pros.
But you have to remember that, you know, the process

(44:52):
of becoming a full fledged adult is a is a
sometimes like a stock market chart. You have some moments
where things go right and they don't. So it's great
to have people around you that show you the right way.
I mean, the biggest thing for me is that number
one to Bee of Thornton, Joe's wife is an awesome cook,
Christina Marlow makes the food like nobody else. So they're

(45:16):
getting proper nutrition, and they're getting proper guidance with sleep,
and they're also getting guidance between with men that have
their own families, that care about their kids, that spend
a lot of time away from the rink with their
children and take that responsibility and I think that that's
just a great example for any of these people.

Speaker 8 (45:34):
It sounds like there's a lot of focus on the
off ice stuff. What about the on ice stuff like
Jumbo and Marlow reviewing tape with them at home or
they leave that stuff alone.

Speaker 5 (45:45):
No, they probably do spend a little bit of time
talking about things like that with them, but I think
it's a little bit less organized when it comes to that.
You know, maybe if these guys ask them the question.
You know, both Joe Thornton and Patrick Martin were part
of the Sharks development staff and that's officials this year.
With Joe Thornton, once he got into the Hall of

(46:05):
Fame and so forth, we used to call him the
director of Vibes with the Sharks. I'm not sure if
he still has that sort of unofficial title, but he's
part of the development staff. Patrick Martl is a development
coach and they spend a lot of time with a
lot of the young prospects in the organization. And you know,
the way it's worked is, you know, they go back
and they might even talk to a kid that's playing
junior and watch him play a little bit. And we've

(46:27):
got another group of people, Tommy Wingles, Lucas Spik's people
that have had long careers that spend a lot of
time with these young players. And even in the goaltending department.
You again, you to back office, the director of goaltending,
but they've got Ryan Miller out there scouting future goaltender
prospects for the Sharks. And I think that it's very
organized to make sure that they have the tools that

(46:47):
are necessary for these kids to succeeds. Yeah, they are,
and they you know, if I had somebody like that
to be like Yoda, you know, I'm saying that these
guys really understand what needs to be done, and you know,
they are also there for when things don't go well.
I think that might even be the most important thing,

(47:08):
because you know, they have to be reminded that yes,
they're going to have great careers, yes that you know,
they need to feel really good about themselves.

Speaker 1 (47:16):
We have a Star Wars reference now checked and we
can also can say Patrick Marlow, I've mentioned here on
this conversation with Al Koniski to former Seattle Thunderbirds check
as well for that reference. Andrew Zanowski joining us here
on the Beacon Plumbing hotline, and Dan Last couple of
things before we let you go here. Yeah, check. I mean,
once upon a time the San Jose Sharks, an infant

(47:38):
organization coming out of the cal Palace looking to grow
the game in San Jose, and the ninety two massive
Playoff runs. And now you have players like Joe Thornton
from London, Ontario is ticking around, Patrick Marlow as well,
and the bakav that you mentioned, Tommy Wingles. What's the
what's what's the common uniting theme here with what has
now attracted players to stay and build a greater foundation

(48:02):
in San Jose, kind of like what the Kraken want
to be, you know, years upon years down the road.

Speaker 5 (48:08):
It takes a long time to do that. And of
course you also have the added factor. You have two
things going on here. Number one, no offense to any
place else, but we really believe Northern California is the
best place to live in the world. There are the
cost of living issues certainly that get involved, the cost
of housing, so forth and so on, but the facilities
are great, the weather is beautiful, and the one thing

(48:31):
that we've always said is that the guy's wives and
girlfriends really love it in Northern California. So that's all
check marks in favor. But what you're talking about, too
is the development of the game. Scott Hannon, who's another
former Shark, another former Western Hockey leaguer, ended up he's
run now running the junior Sharks program, and so that's
a real upgrade in terms of the total overview of

(48:54):
the coaching and working with the kids. I think that
the goal is to make the Sharks junior program here
stronger as time goes on. What's happened over years, and
what happens oftentimes with young kids is they get to
be about fifteen. This was the tradition in the in
the northern California area. You become really good and then
you leave. Well, now they want to make it so

(49:15):
that they can stay and you've got more people sticking around.
You know, you remember a few years ago, I think
it was one year, I can't remember the exact year,
but four people were drafted in the first round and
they were all from the Saint Louis area. Well, that's
because of all of those guys that's stuck around to
Saint Louis and now are coaching all these kids. And
I think that that's the kind of direction we like

(49:36):
to see things going here. Most of it still is
with the you know, the NHL team's development staff and
so forth. But you know, Mark Smith lives here. He's
involved in coaching girls and guys in the junior Sharks program.
Scott Hannon is here. There are a number of other
people that have stuck around, and I think it creates
a great atmosphere for the future.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
Dan, you had the Jets schedule here obviously, so I
mean we can't talk about what you've seen as far
as when we have you know, this conversation translate into
when it's going to go live and I'll kind of
market here. But what's your general perception about the Jets
and about the kind of potential that they have again
this year?

Speaker 5 (50:16):
Well, this upcoming group of games for the Sharks is
a really important set of games, not only to keep
going what they've got going right now, where they're playing
pretty consistent hockey in which they're responding to challenges, getting
good goaltending, you know, getting better as the games go
on and so forth, but they've also got to establish
a really strong home ice advantage and they really need

(50:38):
to do that. And I think that being able to
do that against a team like Winnipeg, a team like
Florida coming up. You got one team, Florida that's the
Stanley Cup champion. But you've got Winnipeg, I think, is
a team that's maybe the best team that hasn't won
the Stanley Cup. I mean, they've got just about everything
on their roster. Now, they've got Jonathan Taves there to
provide some veteran leadership. You know, you've already got Mark Schifeley,

(51:00):
one of the best players in the game, our old
friend Diyldon Devello, whom we like to see come back,
and you know, having such a successful career. And well
Connor Hillibuck, I mean he's going to be the team
USA goaltender so in the Olympics. So I think that
that's a big, big challenge. The other thing about it, too,
is they play a hard game. Both these teams in

(51:23):
the in this homestand they play a hard game, physical game.
They make you pay. Whether or not Matthew Kitchuk can
play an off for Florida doesn't really matter. They come
at you too. But Winnipeg is like that. They have
strong team toughness and they're not to be trifled with.
So I think it's a big challenge for the Sharks
to continue that development of home ice advantage and to

(51:44):
make sure that they're you know, you know, sending out
the message to the league that coming to SAP Center
is a lot like it used to be back maybe
as seven eight years ago when the Sharks were challenging
for a Stanley Cup. They want to create those conditions
again and the fans are looking forward to.

Speaker 1 (51:59):
That kind of has that similar feel of Thornton and
Marlow again.

Speaker 5 (52:03):
Dann.

Speaker 1 (52:03):
We appreciate the insight, keep up the great work. Looking
forward to having you back up here once again, and
we'll talk to you soon.

Speaker 5 (52:09):
Thank you, looking forward to seeing you guys.

Speaker 1 (52:10):
Thanks all right. Great to hear from a legend radio voice.
Dan Rusanowski foxtere Hewitt recipient, longtime San Jose Sharks radio voice,
joining us here on cracking weekly brief, Ahl Update, Coachell
Valley off Today. They're hosting Baker's Field tomorrow. Firebirds three
one and one now in their last five games. Jagger
Fercus is your scoring leader eleven points so far on

(52:32):
the season. EHL Kansas City and the Circus. The Circus
is open for business. EHL Kansas City Wednesday, they're at Wichita.
They are third right now in the Western Conference, two
points back of first place Tahoe. Boy, did I ever
regret not going there for a road trip back in

(52:54):
my EHL days. But I think also is in the
same boat. Also Fort Wayne in that first place tie
as well.

Speaker 7 (53:00):
Well listen, I'll tell you what partner I was.

Speaker 6 (53:03):
I was born and bred in the north central division
of the EHL, Kalamazoo, Wheeling, West Virginia, Fort Wayne, Toulleda.

Speaker 1 (53:14):
Or in the heartland of the EHL.

Speaker 6 (53:16):
Reading Pennsylvania, Mowleen, Illinois. You know you were out in Stockton,
but at least you had bakers Field.

Speaker 1 (53:24):
Oh yeah, some plum visits, Oh yeah, some plum job visits.
Ontario not too far out of LA. I had San
Diego my first year. You had Victoria.

Speaker 7 (53:33):
Also times in the EHL.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Yeah, Victoria for from five to twenty twenty eleven. There
there was some good living up there. Utah, great stop
Phoenix as well, Great Stop Idaho is still there there there.
There's a lot of fun stops from back in the
day in the Western Conference. All right, looking at head
here for the Kraken, no back to backs here for
this week. Of course, again, as we said, Columbus is

(53:56):
coming up tomorrow night for Military Appreciation Night, winnipe second
matchup of the season. They visit here Thursday. San Jose
Hockey Fights Cancer Night coming up on Saturday. Rematch from that.
When we look at the benchmark here, three games, six
points on the table, four points out of six, are

(54:17):
we setting that as the appropriate bar?

Speaker 3 (54:19):
Yeah, that's the way I see it, Mikey.

Speaker 8 (54:22):
There's no reason why they shouldn't plan to have four
of the six points, however they get it. But though
there's definitely four points in there this team can have.

Speaker 6 (54:30):
Yeah, I'm with al here, and I'm gonna even go
a little bit further. You know, we're not We're We're
fifteen games into the season, so obviously there is a
ton of hockey left. And I'm not gonna sit here
and say that we are we are at the point
of no return. But we're getting to the point where
teams who aren't in a playoff spot, teams behind the

(54:51):
crack in, or teams who are out of it, they're
gonna have to start going on runs here. They're gonna
have to start winning five in a row, six in
a row.

Speaker 7 (55:00):
So seven in a row. Si Anaheim, they're gonna start.

Speaker 6 (55:02):
Needing points in ten of eleven if they want to
get back in it. If you're Seattle, obviously you'd also
like to go on runs. But if you can take
four of every six points, if you can find ways
to I mean, we hate overtime games, but these points
are gonna be massive down the road. What are the
Avalanche seven? One in five, seven to one and six.

(55:25):
For all intents and purposes, the Avs are seven and
six this season, right, So it's not like they're these
world beating teams. So if the Kraken can find ways
to continue like they have been doing, I mean they're
four to two and two in their last eight games.
Yeah you know, yeah, they're two to two and two
in their last six. But they've got points in four
of their last six games. So if they can find

(55:46):
a way to keep up what they've been doing, I
think they hold down that playoff spot. I think they
continue to fend off the teams who are behind them.
So yeah, I think four of four of six points
this weekend, that is the absolute low bar for the Kraken.

Speaker 8 (56:02):
I think you said it well too, fits It's not
a lot of teams that have not started out well
need to go on runs. But the Kracking don't have
to go on the run, right, They just they just
have to play consistently and keep getting points here and there.
Like you say, three games, get four to six points,
that's fine, you don't have to win all three. Keep
playing that way, you're going to find yourself in a

(56:23):
playoff position and.

Speaker 6 (56:24):
Try to avoid and try to avoid the stinker, right,
I mean, they're going to happen. I remember back when
I was one of my old coaches said Everett and hockey,
you know, every year you were always guaranteed to get
blown out, but you are not guaranteed to blow someone out, right,
So there's always going to be a stinker or two

(56:44):
that happens, but they need to be well timed stinkers,
like for me, the San Jose that was your one
stinker until January. Right, you can't have another six Monday,
and you have them coming back Saturday.

Speaker 8 (56:57):
So exactly because of what happened in the last game,
I would expect that might be the best game the
Crack and play all week, even though they've got Winnipeg
and Columbus as well.

Speaker 1 (57:06):
That first period is going to be under a microscope
coming up on Saturday versus what happened matplan celebrating is
scoring over a minute end of the game in this
first matchup here. Hey, speaking of guys, the San Jose
Sharks are knocking on the door here for a playoff spot.
The crack in in a playoff spot right now. Anaheim's
lead in the Pacific Division. They won seven straight games,
Vegas tied with the Kraken, then behind them right now

(57:29):
in the division, behind the Kraken tied for second. You
have the Kings tied for them, San Jose one point back,
Vancouver one point back, Edmonton two. Calgary's in the basement
right now. I mean, how many of these teams are
on your Bengo card for the spots that they're in
from two months ago. But ultimately the biggest question is

(57:50):
who are you most concerned about behind them going on
a major run?

Speaker 8 (57:54):
Well, no, I mean you're right, Mike, And the way
it looks right now isn't anywhere close.

Speaker 3 (58:00):
To where what we all find I mean, look at
Calgary at the bottom.

Speaker 8 (58:03):
Yeah, nobody thought that coming with Dustin wolf in the
big contract he signed, and you know Edminton coming off
of the Stanley Cup Finals, you just assumed they would
be in the top portion of the division, let alone
the conference. So yeah, a lot of surprises. Winnipeg concerns me.
Utah concerns me like Utah has been playing lights out.

Speaker 3 (58:25):
I think they might have.

Speaker 8 (58:26):
Cooled off a little bit over the last kick couple
of games, but they've been playing lights out. So yeah,
Utah is probably the one that stands out to me.

Speaker 6 (58:34):
Yeah, Utah Winnipeg both have lost three in a row.
You know, I think for me, the biggest surprise is Anaheim.

Speaker 7 (58:42):
Eleven to three and one, they've won seven.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Even then they're they're also eleven two and one since
opening night here.

Speaker 7 (58:49):
Yeah, that's the crazy part opening that was here though. Yeah,
let's go.

Speaker 6 (58:53):
So, I mean, I think Anaheim to me is the
biggest surprise. Say what you want, you know that that
group I think is real. You know they I think
they're gonna cool off a little bit, but I mean,
I think Anaheim is again you're getting to that point
where they're banking enough points early.

Speaker 7 (59:12):
On where you know they're not going to.

Speaker 6 (59:15):
Have to go on one of these runs that I
was just talking about the team that scares me, and
that will continue to scare me.

Speaker 7 (59:21):
Or the Edmonton Oilers.

Speaker 6 (59:22):
We've there back to back Western Conference champions, They've gone
to the finals tiers in a row.

Speaker 7 (59:26):
They have McDavid, they have dry title.

Speaker 6 (59:29):
Goaltending, let's be real, non existent most nights in Edmonton.
They are a team that outscores their problems. And as
long as you have two of the three best players
in the world, two of the four best players in
the world, you can never write Edmonton off. They're two
points back of Seattle right now in the division. Vancouver's
one point back, the Kings are tied.

Speaker 7 (59:50):
San Jose is one point back of Seattle.

Speaker 6 (59:52):
So I mean the one team that if I had
picked one of those teams, it's still Edmonton.

Speaker 7 (59:58):
But yeah, didn't have any of this on the Bingal card.

Speaker 1 (01:00:02):
Before we get out of here, let's get to our
three stars from this past week. I'll begin on this one.
I would go with star number three, team defense and
for their ability to lock matters down period two and
especially in period three. This is a way they have
to play to give their goaltending a chance to keep

(01:00:22):
them in games night after night, and they can't rely
on goaltending to bail them out like other teams would
have when you can go with top line star power,
this is the way they have to play. It's with
a lunch pail mentality and finding a way to keep
the middle clear and get pucks eventually out of their
own zone and keep games low. Event Star two, I'm

(01:00:43):
gonna go there. I'm gonna go Philip Grubauer and things
didn't begin well for him in Saint Louis Akraken we're
down two nothing, but you saw in the midst of
this comeback the saves he made were very important saves
to keep this team in this game, and I think
for that kind of game, that's what you're asking for,
to have Grubauer make the basic saves and eventually, when

(01:01:06):
you have a high dangered chance, hope that he can
bail you out. And I remember even before the Jordan
Kyru goal, he was phenomenal one stop, two stop, three stops.
He was key, and the room recognized him for that.
After that win in Saint Louis and Star one, I'll
stay at the same position. Matt Murray as well. A
lot of question marks heading into this season, but against Dallas,

(01:01:29):
that against the kind of game that you're looking for
out of him. First period wasn't pretty and he kind
of guessed maybe in the Tyler Sagan goal, but he
was tremendous, shot after shot after shot. Period two, period three,
he didn't face a lot of rubber likes say Casey
to Smith, but again he gave this team a chance.
And this is what the Kraken are asking for out

(01:01:51):
of those two. When Joey Decord cannot go.

Speaker 8 (01:01:53):
Well good next. My third star of the week was
Mason Marchman. I think we saw his the best game
of the season and all he logged eighteen minutes of
ice time, four shots on goal, four hits. He's got
to play that way every game, and I hope that
he's getting a little bit of pressure from his linemates,
from the coaching staff to say, you know, that was

(01:02:14):
your best game. We want to see that every game
going forward. Second star of the week for me was
Shane Wright. The ot winner in Saint Louis was huge.
The tit a chance at the end of the game
in Dallas that if you listened to the call, I
think Fitz thought it was going in. He was, he
was that excited about it, but it was It was
two games in a row, almost tied it within seconds

(01:02:35):
of the final buzzer, but Wright wasn't able to get
that second one. So he was my second star of
the week. And then my first star goes to Elli
told And I know he's been on the schneid lately,
but a goal to assist in the Saint Louis game,
five hits for him in the Dallas game. He's now
tied with ty car Cha for hits in the season
at forty. I'd like to see ty car Cha, Ellie Tolson,

(01:02:56):
and Mason MARSHMANNT one two and three on that list
for hits.

Speaker 7 (01:02:59):
My third Star the week is I'm gonna go Tanler Stevenson.

Speaker 6 (01:03:02):
I just think that, you know, again, you have the
late game time goal in Saint Louis. He's average, He's getting,
you know, Monday in Chicago twenty two minutes, Saint Louis
twenty one minutes.

Speaker 7 (01:03:14):
Dallas twenty three minutes of ice time.

Speaker 6 (01:03:16):
He's your best face off guy, you know. I think
he had a really good week. Even though he was
only rewarded with just one goal in that week, I
think he could have had a.

Speaker 7 (01:03:26):
Few more points. Number two, I'm going Tolvin and I
think I think.

Speaker 6 (01:03:29):
Et you know, after being elevated to the top line
and then dropped to the fourth line.

Speaker 7 (01:03:35):
I mean, he's done a really good job this week.

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
Play still in the power play.

Speaker 6 (01:03:39):
He's rolling with the punches, and he had a really
good week. I know we're only going to count the
four games this week, Chicago, San Jose and Saint Louis,
but Tolvey's got points in four of his last six overall,
so I mean, I think he's starting to find it.
And then number one, I'm going goaltending. I'm going Grubauer
Murray my one and two. I think because Joey was

(01:04:01):
out for the weekend. Hopefully, you know, by the time
this airs today or maybe tomorrow, before the Columbus game,
we'll have an update on Decord. Maybe Decord's playing tomorrow.
We don't know right so hopefully we'll have to wait
and see. But I think both those guys coming in,
you know, on on two and a half week's rest,
haven't gotten a lot of game time to come in

(01:04:24):
and play the way that they did to give the
cracking a a win in Saint Louis and Matt Murray
giving Seattle every chance to win that game in Dallas,
I mean cracking goaltending for the situation that they were
thrust it into there.

Speaker 7 (01:04:39):
My number one star.

Speaker 1 (01:04:40):
Well, because this is a podcast, we can go as
long as we want. Is there anything else that you
want to get off your chef to avoid doing chores
here for the rest of the entire day, kind of
procrastinating delay the process here, anybody, I'll.

Speaker 8 (01:04:51):
Add it to you know again column balls and strikes.
As many good things that happened this week, I think
an area that's still needing work is to face offsh
base off continue to be on on the lower side
of fifty percent. And I know it's something that the
guys work on every practice, but it's definitely factoring into
chances and even some of the outcomes of these games.

(01:05:13):
So it's an area to see the guys can prove on.

Speaker 7 (01:05:15):
Yeah, I think third period offense too.

Speaker 6 (01:05:17):
Al told a second ago, eleven of the fifteen games
this year, the krack and have had single digit shots
in the third period, And of those eleven, I'm willing
to bet at least half six of those eleven games.
You know they're five or below. So when you're in
a two to one, three to two game. You know,
I understand wanting to tighten things up defensively, but you

(01:05:39):
know it takes a lot of pressure off your goaltending,
off your defense.

Speaker 7 (01:05:42):
If you can go up three to one, go up
you know, the four to two, whatever it is.

Speaker 6 (01:05:48):
Right, So I think third period this week if the
krack and can have more of that shot first mentality,
We've seen them getting better as games win, as go on,
but I'd like to see more pucks onto the net
and the third period.

Speaker 1 (01:06:01):
I'm going to also go there for some props I've
not had a chance to give to Riker Evans back
now from his injury. He's looked terrific in his first
two games games oh Man, two points through two games.
Those two points came in his debut with Saint Louis,
But I mean you look at him and how he plays,
and then you add Vince Done there, Brandon Montour on
a different pairing defensive cores all of a sudden now

(01:06:23):
looks a lot more mobile right now with Ryker Evans
as a part of all of this, and now potentially
maybe we'll see if what Lane Lambert wants to do,
and I think the structure might you know, and I
think inhibit where you put these guys, but now you
have options for the power play in case you want
to switch things up. Dun's there, montor separate unit. Do

(01:06:44):
you switch him up? Maybe Riker Evans though he can
carry you two as a point man. So this team's
got options down in case they want to go there.
But having him back, it couldn't have come any sooner.
And I think the same goes when we can hopefully
get some good news here for guys like Jared McCann
and Freddie goodrou is a crack and the is certainly
still hanging in there right now and miss all the injuries.

Speaker 7 (01:07:06):
Yeah, I'm hoping we get some info.

Speaker 6 (01:07:08):
I mean, Jerry McCann has been day to day, you
know since there were a wild stars on the flag.

Speaker 7 (01:07:14):
So I'm hoping that. Yeah. And listen, I understand that
it's not our business, stripe medical stuff is. It is
what it is. I get it.

Speaker 6 (01:07:25):
But I really I'm hoping this week with with both
the coord you know, with Gudreau and and I think
most importantly with the Cord, we can get some definitive
answers on Hey, you know, day to day is out
for X. You know Joey Decord, we re evaluated and
he is available or not. Freddie Goodreau is either skating

(01:07:50):
or not right like, I'm hoping we can get some
definitive answers going into the week here, because listen, it's
it's not an easy schedule. You know, you've got some
tough games with Columbus and Winnipeg Ands and San Josa
this weeeky go on the road for four out east
next week, then you come back home for Dallas back
to back with Edmonton. Utah's in there like you're gonna start.

(01:08:12):
You're gonna need these guys. And I think, you know,
just for for media's sanity, our sanity, which I know
they care about, it will.

Speaker 7 (01:08:22):
Be nice to know who's available, who's not available.

Speaker 6 (01:08:27):
So that's my that's my my polite soapbox for the day.

Speaker 1 (01:08:31):
And on that note, are we set to get back
to chores?

Speaker 9 (01:08:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:08:36):
There?

Speaker 1 (01:08:36):
Yeah, why not? Why not? Home businesses calling here, Let's
get back to it. But friends say, appreciate you dropping
it once again. Cracking weekly every week dropped on the
Crack and Audio Network via the iHeartRadio app Again. Sign
up for free to get it at sports Radio kjar
dot com. Cracking back home tomorrow night against Columbus seven
o'clock Pacific, same time as usual. Thursday again Winnipeg, and

(01:09:01):
against San Jose coming up on Saturday. Big thanks again
to Dan Rusanowski for joining us forever. Now I might
see it.

Speaker 8 (01:09:08):
You're home for the Kraken Sports Radio ninety three point
three kJ r FM