May 29, 2025 • 17 mins
Mike Benton joins Dick Fain and Hugh Millen to discuss the Seattle Kraken hiring Lane Lambert as their new Head Coach, their third coach in franchise history, his history and reputation plus what he brings to town, his offensive style, and the patience of the fans.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Casting live from the R and R Foundation specialist broad
Jast Studio. Now back to Saftie and Dig powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, the betting capital of the Northwest, on
Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ R, f am.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Ahs and breaking Seattle Kraken News. They are once again whole.
They have a head coach and here to talk about
Lane Lambert, their new head coach, assistant coach from Toronto
Head and West to take over what will be his
second head coaching stint in his career. He was had
(00:43):
a cup of coffee as the head coach of the
New York Islanders a couple of years ago. Joining us
to talk about it, says the only man we would
want right now, and that would be our guy, Mike Benton,
who's been following this story for a long long time.
Hi Mike, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah? Out just in time for you?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Dick?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
How are you buying?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm doing good? I mean, I am an absolutely no opinion.
I have absolutely no opinion. I'm in no place to
evaluate whether or not Lane Lambert is a good choice
for the Seattle Kracken. But I will tell you what
is odd to me. What is odd to me? Is
that this took a long time. There were a lot
(01:20):
of names out there, much bigger names than Lane Lambert,
and yet they decided to go with a sixty year
old career assistant coach with just a season and a
half of head coaching experience. Should that be odd to
me the layman Kraken fan.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Give a look at this here for the timeline. I
think what really sticks out to me is that there
was a deep, intensive look as far as what they
wanted to do on two levels. Number one, it was
to get better defensively, and number two also was to
find the right kind of coach who can be the
right kind of steward and the right kind of guidance
(01:59):
for all a lot of young prospects who are ready
here to take the next level and make the next
jump on this roster. Berkeley Catton comes to mind, Johnny
Newman comes to mind. You want to get Manny Veniers
here next level. Shane Wright was so close to cracking
twenty goals as well in his first full NHL season.
So from there you then take a look at maybe
(02:19):
who's available, and you know, I think, to me, it's
not surprising that it took this long, just for the
fact that, I mean, I've got pretty good authority that
they were kicking the tires on Rick Tocket, how deep
they went as a matter of discussion, and he's been
weeks long gone now to the Philadelphia Flyers. But from
there you then start to play things carefully and cautiously
(02:41):
with who might be available in the playoffs. Mitch Love
was out there, who was put together a fine career
as a head whl levels Ahl level Everett silver Tip
here previously now Washington Capital assistant coach, and he was
reportedly in the mix here for this. But Laine Lambert
doesn't surprise me because Toronto was just knocked out of
(03:03):
the playoffs a few a few days ago, and it
was right after that where the Krakend then got permission
to talk to him. So, I mean, I think to me,
this was in the works here for a bit, and
they wanted to play their cards as much as play
things as carefully and cautiously as they could to find
the right guy.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Mike been here with us discussing new Kraken head coach
Lane Lambert and and Mike you you said that the
objective was number one defense number two to Stuart the
young players Uh in ways that presumably management didn't think
Dan Bisma could do that. So so do you believe
you sound like you believe that this guy can do that?
(03:43):
Break that down, give us some details as to why
how did Bilesma fail in that regard and why is
uh is Lane Lambert better equipped to do to accomplish
those objectives.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Well, when you look at winning teams across the board
here and the upper echelona will lead to games. And
we're talking teams from from Vegas to Dallas. Even Washington's
got some hints of upper echelon defense in their game Winnipeg, Florida.
The Los Angeles Kings. Defense is a foundation for a
winning team. The Seattle Kraken took a step back last
(04:17):
season defensively, and Lane Lambert, who they just hired, is
all about defense. I think for a move like this,
it checks off some pretty important boxes. I mean, first off,
somebody here with experience, somebody who can steer this team
back to a defensive mindset and the Stanley Cup and
his resume in Washington with the Capitol is about seven
years ago doesn't hurt. They also want someone who can
(04:39):
get this team up and going in tough parts of
the schedule and the Kraken last year this year left
a ton of points on the table in the second
game of back to back, And we're at a pretty
critical juncture with this, and there's no doubt about that
with where they want to go, Like, can't put myself
here in the heads right now, those who made this decision,
(04:59):
we do know that they want to be competitive, they
want to bring the young guys along, and they want
to play better here defensively, while it's still maintaining a
sense of a high OctaMED skating ability. As far as
who's out there, I mean, there was not a lot
of competition, but I think Lane Lambert's got a lot
going for him in those areas. And you're gonna see
a coach come in with a big defensive reputation is
(05:21):
pretty clear with how many years he spent with Barry Trotz,
the defensive Wizard, the penalty kill. He ran with the
Islanders with lights out. This year with the Leaps lights out,
He's got guys from the Islanders who swore by how
much he held that room accountable. And he goes back
with Jordan Ebery two. I mean, and I go back
here to the back to back record. The Kraken went
oh twelve this year in the second game of back
(05:42):
to back. Lane Lambert coached one full year with the Islanders,
fired the next but as one full season with that team,
they went eight to six and one in the second
game of back to backs and they made the playoffs.
So that's that ended pretty quickly, one season, playoffs and
a massive dip two years ago. Fired midseason. So coaches
(06:03):
often find a developing curve they hit in their second job,
and for a while he was known as perhaps the
best head coach without NHL experience. So I think, to me,
this is a move the Kraken saw coming where they
have a lot to fill with that potential.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
What do we know about his style offensively, Mike, is
this going to be a fun team to watch?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, you know, I'm really curious about where they go
as far as steering the offense. And again I go
back to this, when you have teams who are very
successful and very productive, that a lot of it comes
from the essence of roster building. Now a coach can
make him better, and Lane Lambert was responsible for the
forwards with the Washington Capitals. I mean it doesn't get
much better than Alexander Alexandro Vetchkin. He had him there.
(06:49):
There's familiarity to with Chandler Stevens and Andre Borakowski, but
he also had a couple of aircraft carriers Ovechkin and
Nicholas Bastrom, etc. That he could use to their advantage,
and they were a very very good offensive team league leader.
Matter of fact, at one point when he was there,
I think the door has got to stay open. With
how much Nolayne Lambert moves the needle back defensively is
(07:13):
from this time with the New York Islanders, and the
Islanders were run by a longtime GM who is as
iron fifted as it gets in Lou Lamarello. And there's
one way to play Lou Lamarello hockey. It is with
extreme defensive structure that takes precedence over anything else as
far as offense, and Lou has the rep of running
(07:35):
the show out there. So I really think here at
this point the word I've talked to, a word I've
gotten from people around the league so far, is that
Lane Lambert. One of the strengths is that under Barry Trotz,
he learned how to adapt this coaching style to the
roster that he has, meaning, if you have the parts offensively,
you're not going to hold them back and put a
(07:56):
leash on them. You want to get them structure, but
you want to open the door here to some creativity
where we go. I think that's a big question. I
think I'm looking forward to see answered here in the
next few days when he's formally introduced. But I think
where the team did their homework on this from those
I talked to around the league, is that you get
a coach who can have a sense of structure, but
(08:17):
is able here to adapt, just like Lane Lambert can
from what he did under Barry Trotz.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
A minute more with Mike Benton and Mike just to
sum it up. Then, for a Krack and fan that
we've certainly seen a restructure of the front office, if
you want to call it impatient, three coaches in three
years at the very least, we can say that's bold.
(08:43):
For a Krack and fan that would say, wait a minute,
you went one and done with Dan Bosma for this,
I was kind of expecting a little bit more. Your
response would be what.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Well, I go back to what Ron Francis said, and
that you know, when you have a person in that
position with a lot of conviction, and he was convinced
at the very end of the season that where this
team was going it wasn't to his liking. And he
said so as well at the very end of the year.
And that had a lot to do with structure. And
I go here with this, Dan Bilsman was terrific here
(09:18):
to work with and you know, he really did a
lot with I think moving the needle with where this
team wanted to feel free and play creative offensively, and
that was one of the reasons why he was brought on.
But you know, we kind of heard this as well
from my previous colleagues or from my colleagues previously, and
I think a great analogy in that, you know, how
much do you have to give to Rob Peter here
(09:39):
to pay Paul Meaning you're going from you know, an
extreme lockdown approach to an extreme offensive approach. And you know,
for how this team was built in the first three years,
that lockdown approach really worked out well for them because
there was not a lot to deal with, you know,
with up and coming prospects, and didn't have much wiggle
room here for trades. And they were playing with an
(09:59):
ex anson roster. Defensively, those teams can tend to be
more successful, and they were in their second season. But
I think unfortunately, where things really fell apart here for
the Dan bilesmaths side, not just where where this team
was headed offensively, but I really think the points that
were left on the table here in back to back
situations at zero to twelve that became alarming, I think
(10:20):
toward the very end of the year. And I mean, look,
if you make up half of that and you go
about five hundred six get or six wins times two points,
that's twelve points. That's putting you right back into the
playoff mix. And so I go back and think of
where maybe it puts someone like Laylbert over the top
is his knowledge, his acumen, and his experience to handle
(10:42):
those kind of situations, especially in the second game of
back to backs, because we're going to see more than
I think this year. The schedule is unknown, but we're
getting hints that there's going to be a lot more
of a crunch back to back situation when you put
in the Olympics on top of that. So to find
someone who has that experience to bring young players a
long like he's done previously with a national organization, but
(11:03):
also find a way to be a winner in those situations.
I think was what really helped separate him from the pack.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Great stuff as always, man, we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Hey, I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Thank you you bet.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Michael Benon joining us. The big news of the day.
We'll talk a little bit more about it in a
few moments. Lane Lambert assistant coach of the Toronto Maple leafs.
Now you're head coach of the Seattle Crack and the
third in franchise history. Much much more to get to
next on ninety three point three KJRFMOD.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Casting live from the R and R Foundation Specialist broad
Jas Studio. Now back to Safie and Dig powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, but Betty and Capital of the Northwest
on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Thanks to Mike Benon for shedding some lights on the
new head coach of the Seattle Krack and Lane Lamberts.
I'm just digging in. You're just doing a little research
on Lane Lambert was I was just a little surprised.
I mean, you've got a sixty year old career assistant
coach Hugh that has just a season and a half
(12:10):
of head coaching experience. There was an article that I read.
It came out about a week ago, said this Seattle
Cracken are yet to hire a new head coach in
the offseason, and now we know they've missed out on
both Rick Talckett and Mitch Love as they're left scrambling
to find their new bench boss. This offseason, We've already
seen new head coaches hired in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Vancouver,
(12:32):
and Anaheim. And with the Penguins closing in on Mitch
Love is their newest head coach, it presents a major
problem for us, the Seattle crack And now you know,
Mike seemed to think that that Lane Lamber will be
a good fit, particularly on the defensive end. He kept
mentioning defense, defense, defense. But I don't know if it's
anything like basketball, because in basketball, let's face it, there's
(12:55):
been a lot of coaches that no one thought were
close to Hall of Fame level coaches that have won
championships because it's about the dudes that are bouncing the ball,
and you know, you can you bring them together. Yes,
they're coaching is involved. I don't know if it's as
important in hockey, is it in as basketball or less important.
(13:16):
We know in football it's pretty damn important who your
head coach is. But these numbers stun me, Hugh, looking
at what the Seattle Kraken have done offensively in the
form of a star and I'm just taking points.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Goals plus assists.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Where the top Seattle Kraken player ranks in points scored
per season? Now, you would think, correct me if I'm wrong. Here,
they're thirty two teams in the league. You would think,
on average, all things being equal, everybody should have a
player in the first thirty two, a player in the
second thirty two, a player in the third thirty two.
(13:58):
Like you'd think you're top player should be someplace ranked
between one and thirty two. Here is where the top
Seattle Kraken has been ranked each of the years of
their existence, twenty four to twenty five. This past season,
Jared McCann seventy.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Ninth in points.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
That is your top Seattle cracking score twenty three to
twenty four. Jared McCann eighty second in points twenty two
to twenty three. Guess who Jared McCann fifty ninth in
points and the franchise's first year twenty twenty one twenty two,
Jared McCann one hundred and twenty ninth. They have never
(14:42):
had one player he was. That seems statistically impossible, Yeah,
to go four years without having anybody ranked in the
top fifty five in.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Points scored, indeed, And I feel like that's in some
sense they're kind of floundering because you've got, first of
all the four seasons, their best year was year two,
so there, and and their second to worst year was
(15:13):
this year, right, and so they I was a little
surprised when they whacked Haxtall just a year after that
really good year two, because they whacked him in this
after his third year, and the thought was they need
to get more explosive offensively because they went from in
year two they had one hundred points and in year
(15:36):
three they had eighty one. So they dropped by twenty
call it twenty percent, right, and then the first week
of this most recent season, first week or ten days,
it's like, whoa, you know, they're you know, this worked,
we got the you know, the better offense. Because remember
that was the the issue that got hacks call fired. Yep.
(15:59):
And then as it turns out, that was just a
mirage that first week or ten days of the season
and they end up with just seventy six points. So
now we're going three coaches in three years and we're
going back to, well, we need more defense, when we
really did get the offense that I thought was what
(16:21):
got Hackstall fired in the first place. Now, look, I
don't I don't analyze this with any kind of course likes,
but that's just my kind of layman perspective, and it's
and it seems like it's a little bit of a flounder.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And my layman's perspective is you've got to find somebody.
You've got to find somebody that can be a top
fifty point scorer in this league. Whether it's via trade,
whether it's via draft, whether it's via free agency. You
just can't have your best player offensively be seventy ninth,
eighty second, fifty ninth and one, and twenty ninth in
(17:00):
points scored in the NHL for four consecutive years
Casting live from the R and R Foundation specialist broad
Jast Studio. Now back to Saftie and Dig powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, the betting capital of the Northwest, on
Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ R, f am.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Ahs and breaking Seattle Kraken News. They are once again whole.
They have a head coach and here to talk about
Lane Lambert, their new head coach, assistant coach from Toronto
Head and West to take over what will be his
second head coaching stint in his career. He was had
(00:43):
a cup of coffee as the head coach of the
New York Islanders a couple of years ago. Joining us
to talk about it, says the only man we would
want right now, and that would be our guy, Mike Benton,
who's been following this story for a long long time.
Hi Mike, how are you?
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Yeah? Out just in time for you?
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Dick?
Speaker 3 (00:59):
How are you buying?
Speaker 2 (01:00):
I'm doing good? I mean, I am an absolutely no opinion.
I have absolutely no opinion. I'm in no place to
evaluate whether or not Lane Lambert is a good choice
for the Seattle Kracken. But I will tell you what
is odd to me. What is odd to me? Is
that this took a long time. There were a lot
(01:20):
of names out there, much bigger names than Lane Lambert,
and yet they decided to go with a sixty year
old career assistant coach with just a season and a
half of head coaching experience. Should that be odd to
me the layman Kraken fan.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Give a look at this here for the timeline. I
think what really sticks out to me is that there
was a deep, intensive look as far as what they
wanted to do on two levels. Number one, it was
to get better defensively, and number two also was to
find the right kind of coach who can be the
right kind of steward and the right kind of guidance
(01:59):
for all a lot of young prospects who are ready
here to take the next level and make the next
jump on this roster. Berkeley Catton comes to mind, Johnny
Newman comes to mind. You want to get Manny Veniers
here next level. Shane Wright was so close to cracking
twenty goals as well in his first full NHL season.
So from there you then take a look at maybe
(02:19):
who's available, and you know, I think, to me, it's
not surprising that it took this long, just for the
fact that, I mean, I've got pretty good authority that
they were kicking the tires on Rick Tocket, how deep
they went as a matter of discussion, and he's been
weeks long gone now to the Philadelphia Flyers. But from
there you then start to play things carefully and cautiously
(02:41):
with who might be available in the playoffs. Mitch Love
was out there, who was put together a fine career
as a head whl levels Ahl level Everett silver Tip
here previously now Washington Capital assistant coach, and he was
reportedly in the mix here for this. But Laine Lambert
doesn't surprise me because Toronto was just knocked out of
(03:03):
the playoffs a few a few days ago, and it
was right after that where the Krakend then got permission
to talk to him. So, I mean, I think to me,
this was in the works here for a bit, and
they wanted to play their cards as much as play
things as carefully and cautiously as they could to find
the right guy.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Mike been here with us discussing new Kraken head coach
Lane Lambert and and Mike you you said that the
objective was number one defense number two to Stuart the
young players Uh in ways that presumably management didn't think
Dan Bisma could do that. So so do you believe
you sound like you believe that this guy can do that?
(03:43):
Break that down, give us some details as to why
how did Bilesma fail in that regard and why is
uh is Lane Lambert better equipped to do to accomplish
those objectives.
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Well, when you look at winning teams across the board
here and the upper echelona will lead to games. And
we're talking teams from from Vegas to Dallas. Even Washington's
got some hints of upper echelon defense in their game Winnipeg, Florida.
The Los Angeles Kings. Defense is a foundation for a
winning team. The Seattle Kraken took a step back last
(04:17):
season defensively, and Lane Lambert, who they just hired, is
all about defense. I think for a move like this,
it checks off some pretty important boxes. I mean, first off,
somebody here with experience, somebody who can steer this team
back to a defensive mindset and the Stanley Cup and
his resume in Washington with the Capitol is about seven
years ago doesn't hurt. They also want someone who can
(04:39):
get this team up and going in tough parts of
the schedule and the Kraken last year this year left
a ton of points on the table in the second
game of back to back, And we're at a pretty
critical juncture with this, and there's no doubt about that
with where they want to go, Like, can't put myself
here in the heads right now, those who made this decision,
(04:59):
we do know that they want to be competitive, they
want to bring the young guys along, and they want
to play better here defensively, while it's still maintaining a
sense of a high OctaMED skating ability. As far as
who's out there, I mean, there was not a lot
of competition, but I think Lane Lambert's got a lot
going for him in those areas. And you're gonna see
a coach come in with a big defensive reputation is
(05:21):
pretty clear with how many years he spent with Barry Trotz,
the defensive Wizard, the penalty kill. He ran with the
Islanders with lights out. This year with the Leaps lights out,
He's got guys from the Islanders who swore by how
much he held that room accountable. And he goes back
with Jordan Ebery two. I mean, and I go back
here to the back to back record. The Kraken went
oh twelve this year in the second game of back
(05:42):
to back. Lane Lambert coached one full year with the Islanders,
fired the next but as one full season with that team,
they went eight to six and one in the second
game of back to backs and they made the playoffs.
So that's that ended pretty quickly, one season, playoffs and
a massive dip two years ago. Fired midseason. So coaches
(06:03):
often find a developing curve they hit in their second job,
and for a while he was known as perhaps the
best head coach without NHL experience. So I think, to me,
this is a move the Kraken saw coming where they
have a lot to fill with that potential.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
What do we know about his style offensively, Mike, is
this going to be a fun team to watch?
Speaker 3 (06:25):
Yeah, you know, I'm really curious about where they go
as far as steering the offense. And again I go
back to this, when you have teams who are very
successful and very productive, that a lot of it comes
from the essence of roster building. Now a coach can
make him better, and Lane Lambert was responsible for the
forwards with the Washington Capitals. I mean it doesn't get
much better than Alexander Alexandro Vetchkin. He had him there.
(06:49):
There's familiarity to with Chandler Stevens and Andre Borakowski, but
he also had a couple of aircraft carriers Ovechkin and
Nicholas Bastrom, etc. That he could use to their advantage,
and they were a very very good offensive team league leader.
Matter of fact, at one point when he was there,
I think the door has got to stay open. With
how much Nolayne Lambert moves the needle back defensively is
(07:13):
from this time with the New York Islanders, and the
Islanders were run by a longtime GM who is as
iron fifted as it gets in Lou Lamarello. And there's
one way to play Lou Lamarello hockey. It is with
extreme defensive structure that takes precedence over anything else as
far as offense, and Lou has the rep of running
(07:35):
the show out there. So I really think here at
this point the word I've talked to, a word I've
gotten from people around the league so far, is that
Lane Lambert. One of the strengths is that under Barry Trotz,
he learned how to adapt this coaching style to the
roster that he has, meaning, if you have the parts offensively,
you're not going to hold them back and put a
(07:56):
leash on them. You want to get them structure, but
you want to open the door here to some creativity
where we go. I think that's a big question. I
think I'm looking forward to see answered here in the
next few days when he's formally introduced. But I think
where the team did their homework on this from those
I talked to around the league, is that you get
a coach who can have a sense of structure, but
(08:17):
is able here to adapt, just like Lane Lambert can
from what he did under Barry Trotz.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
A minute more with Mike Benton and Mike just to
sum it up. Then, for a Krack and fan that
we've certainly seen a restructure of the front office, if
you want to call it impatient, three coaches in three
years at the very least, we can say that's bold.
(08:43):
For a Krack and fan that would say, wait a minute,
you went one and done with Dan Bosma for this,
I was kind of expecting a little bit more. Your
response would be what.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
Well, I go back to what Ron Francis said, and
that you know, when you have a person in that
position with a lot of conviction, and he was convinced
at the very end of the season that where this
team was going it wasn't to his liking. And he
said so as well at the very end of the year.
And that had a lot to do with structure. And
I go here with this, Dan Bilsman was terrific here
(09:18):
to work with and you know, he really did a
lot with I think moving the needle with where this
team wanted to feel free and play creative offensively, and
that was one of the reasons why he was brought on.
But you know, we kind of heard this as well
from my previous colleagues or from my colleagues previously, and
I think a great analogy in that, you know, how
much do you have to give to Rob Peter here
(09:39):
to pay Paul Meaning you're going from you know, an
extreme lockdown approach to an extreme offensive approach. And you know,
for how this team was built in the first three years,
that lockdown approach really worked out well for them because
there was not a lot to deal with, you know,
with up and coming prospects, and didn't have much wiggle
room here for trades. And they were playing with an
(09:59):
ex anson roster. Defensively, those teams can tend to be
more successful, and they were in their second season. But
I think unfortunately, where things really fell apart here for
the Dan bilesmaths side, not just where where this team
was headed offensively, but I really think the points that
were left on the table here in back to back
situations at zero to twelve that became alarming, I think
(10:20):
toward the very end of the year. And I mean, look,
if you make up half of that and you go
about five hundred six get or six wins times two points,
that's twelve points. That's putting you right back into the
playoff mix. And so I go back and think of
where maybe it puts someone like Laylbert over the top
is his knowledge, his acumen, and his experience to handle
(10:42):
those kind of situations, especially in the second game of
back to backs, because we're going to see more than
I think this year. The schedule is unknown, but we're
getting hints that there's going to be a lot more
of a crunch back to back situation when you put
in the Olympics on top of that. So to find
someone who has that experience to bring young players a
long like he's done previously with a national organization, but
(11:03):
also find a way to be a winner in those situations.
I think was what really helped separate him from the pack.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Great stuff as always, man, we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 3 (11:11):
Hey, I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Thank you you bet.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Michael Benon joining us. The big news of the day.
We'll talk a little bit more about it in a
few moments. Lane Lambert assistant coach of the Toronto Maple leafs.
Now you're head coach of the Seattle Crack and the
third in franchise history. Much much more to get to
next on ninety three point three KJRFMOD.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Casting live from the R and R Foundation Specialist broad
Jas Studio. Now back to Safie and Dig powered by
Emerald Queen Casino, but Betty and Capital of the Northwest
on Sports Radio ninety three point three KJR FM.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Thanks to Mike Benon for shedding some lights on the
new head coach of the Seattle Krack and Lane Lamberts.
I'm just digging in. You're just doing a little research
on Lane Lambert was I was just a little surprised.
I mean, you've got a sixty year old career assistant
coach Hugh that has just a season and a half
(12:10):
of head coaching experience. There was an article that I read.
It came out about a week ago, said this Seattle
Cracken are yet to hire a new head coach in
the offseason, and now we know they've missed out on
both Rick Talckett and Mitch Love as they're left scrambling
to find their new bench boss. This offseason, We've already
seen new head coaches hired in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Vancouver,
(12:32):
and Anaheim. And with the Penguins closing in on Mitch
Love is their newest head coach, it presents a major
problem for us, the Seattle crack And now you know,
Mike seemed to think that that Lane Lamber will be
a good fit, particularly on the defensive end. He kept
mentioning defense, defense, defense. But I don't know if it's
anything like basketball, because in basketball, let's face it, there's
(12:55):
been a lot of coaches that no one thought were
close to Hall of Fame level coaches that have won
championships because it's about the dudes that are bouncing the ball,
and you know, you can you bring them together. Yes,
they're coaching is involved. I don't know if it's as
important in hockey, is it in as basketball or less important.
(13:16):
We know in football it's pretty damn important who your
head coach is. But these numbers stun me, Hugh, looking
at what the Seattle Kraken have done offensively in the
form of a star and I'm just taking points.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Goals plus assists.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
Where the top Seattle Kraken player ranks in points scored
per season? Now, you would think, correct me if I'm wrong. Here,
they're thirty two teams in the league. You would think,
on average, all things being equal, everybody should have a
player in the first thirty two, a player in the
second thirty two, a player in the third thirty two.
(13:58):
Like you'd think you're top player should be someplace ranked
between one and thirty two. Here is where the top
Seattle Kraken has been ranked each of the years of
their existence, twenty four to twenty five. This past season,
Jared McCann seventy.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
Ninth in points.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
That is your top Seattle cracking score twenty three to
twenty four. Jared McCann eighty second in points twenty two
to twenty three. Guess who Jared McCann fifty ninth in
points and the franchise's first year twenty twenty one twenty two,
Jared McCann one hundred and twenty ninth. They have never
(14:42):
had one player he was. That seems statistically impossible, Yeah,
to go four years without having anybody ranked in the
top fifty five in.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Points scored, indeed, And I feel like that's in some
sense they're kind of floundering because you've got, first of
all the four seasons, their best year was year two,
so there, and and their second to worst year was
(15:13):
this year, right, and so they I was a little
surprised when they whacked Haxtall just a year after that
really good year two, because they whacked him in this
after his third year, and the thought was they need
to get more explosive offensively because they went from in
year two they had one hundred points and in year
(15:36):
three they had eighty one. So they dropped by twenty
call it twenty percent, right, and then the first week
of this most recent season, first week or ten days,
it's like, whoa, you know, they're you know, this worked,
we got the you know, the better offense. Because remember
that was the the issue that got hacks call fired. Yep.
(15:59):
And then as it turns out, that was just a
mirage that first week or ten days of the season
and they end up with just seventy six points. So
now we're going three coaches in three years and we're
going back to, well, we need more defense, when we
really did get the offense that I thought was what
(16:21):
got Hackstall fired in the first place. Now, look, I
don't I don't analyze this with any kind of course likes,
but that's just my kind of layman perspective, and it's
and it seems like it's a little bit of a flounder.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
And my layman's perspective is you've got to find somebody.
You've got to find somebody that can be a top
fifty point scorer in this league. Whether it's via trade,
whether it's via draft, whether it's via free agency. You
just can't have your best player offensively be seventy ninth,
eighty second, fifty ninth and one, and twenty ninth in
(17:00):
points scored in the NHL for four consecutive years
Popular Podcasts
Boysober
Have you ever wondered what life might be like if you stopped worrying about being wanted, and focused on understanding what you actually want? That was the question Hope Woodard asked herself after a string of situationships inspired her to take a break from sex and dating. She went "boysober," a personal concept that sparked a global movement among women looking to prioritize themselves over men. Now, Hope is looking to expand the ways we explore our relationship to relationships. Taking a bold, unfiltered look into modern love, romance, and self-discovery, Boysober will dive into messy stories about dating, sex, love, friendship, and breaking generational patterns—all with humor, vulnerability, and a fresh perspective.
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!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com