Seattle Kraken Play First Road Game Of 2024 Tonight In Buffalo
Welcome to hockey season, Seattle football fans.
Our condolences to Washington Huskies rooters, whose team fell to Michigan in Monday's national championship game. Same to Seattle Seahawks "12s," whose team ended its season Sunday without an invitation to the NFL playoffs.
It's a fact of sports life that in U.S. cities with a college or pro football team - Seattle has both - hockey doesn't usually take center stage until those seasons end. So again, welcome.
Technically, the NHL started its schedule in October. But for those of you just joining the rest of us, you've picked a swell time to turn your attention to Seattle's icemen. A quick catch-up:
Injuries
Brandon Tanev twisted his leg on opening night; he's back. A teammate accidentally gashed Jordan Eberle's leg with his skate blade; Jordan's OK. Andre Burakovsky suffered two lengthy injuries; he's also back (knock on wood).
Jaden Schwartz's stay on the injured list is expected to end soon, maybe tonight. Not so for Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, weeks away from a return.
Nor does goalie Philipp Grubauer have a firm return date. He hasn't played since attempting to make a save against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Dec. 9.
Roster Moves
Mostly due to persistent injuries, the Kraken have been forced to call up at one time or another a bushel of regulars from their Coachella Valley AHL farm team.
Still with the Kraken as of this writing are defenseman Ryker Evans (just recalled), backup goalie Chris Driedger and spare forward Devin Shore. Other Firebirds who've seen time in Seattle are Shane Wright, Kole Lind, Max McCormick, Andrew Poturalski, Marian Studenic, and Ryan Winterton.
General Manager Ron Francis also made an offense-bolstering trade Dec. 15, sending a 2024 5th round pick to Colorado for veteran winger Tomas Tatar. In eight games with the Kraken, Tatar has delivered three goals and five points.
Roller Coaster Results
An early season inability to score, or protect leads when they did score, turned into a full-on collapse. Between Nov. 24 and Dec. 10, Seattle lost eight consecutive games. Playoff hopes were fading over the horizon.
Equally unexpected, a defense-first emphasis (if you can't score on them, keep them from scoring on you) started to pay dividends. The Kraken are riding a six game winning streak, with points earned in each of their last 10 (8-0-2).
Joey "Iron Horse" Daccord
The Phoenix-like rise from the losing streak can be attributed to, more than any other individual, the emergence of goalie Joey Daccord.
As mentioned, number one netminder Grubauer has been sidelined for a month. Daccord stepped into the breach with an aggressive, acrobatic style and fancy stickhandling which has energized teammates and fans, while frustrating opponents.
Daccord's on a personal 7-0-2 streak in his last nine starts, backstopped the first shutout in Winter Classic history, and in the words of coach Dave Hakstol, is making "the right saves at the right time."
While admittedly premature, one might wonder whether we'll someday remember Grubauer as Seattle hockey's Wally Pipp.
(Pipp was a Yankees star first baseman, who before a game in 1925 suffered from a headache. Lou Gehrig replaced him; the "Iron Horse" went on to play 2,130 consecutive games.)
