Jared McCann, Seattle Kraken.
On Sunday night, the Seattle Kraken righted their ship at the Greenhouse ending a two-week losing streak. After welcoming back former Kraken goalie Vitek Vanecek and limiting future Hall-of-Famer Alexander Ovechkin to a single goal, Seattle assured itself at least a series split this year against the Washington Capitals. Former Caps and current Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer was relieved, as he said in the post-game presser.
“We had a couple conversations yesterday in the locker room. Everybody wants it…I don’t know how many games we lost- six in a row. Last game, it was seven nothing, and the fans cheer us on. It’s incredible. I’ve been in places where they throw beer cans at you! Just to have that support…We got to get going here….Tonight we went out there and played loose but tight at the same time. Smart.”
Over the past five full seasons, the average amount of points it takes to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs out of the Western Conference is 93. That’s a tall tentacle for this expansion team currently third-worst in the league, with only 11 points in 18 games. But all the Eastern Conference series splits are still on the table in this inaugural year.
Completing that goal would create 33 points from the East teams or over one-third of the way to playoff status. The extra point comes from Seattle’s overtime loss at Columbus on October 16th (16 Eastern Conference teams X 2 points per each team’s two-game series = 32 points + 1 point in from the OT loss to Columbus).
That still leaves two-thirds of a 93 point total. The Seattle Kraken must make up ground in their own bracket. At the end of April, eight conference teams will reach the playoffs, while the other eight watch them on television. Here are my early season picks of vulnerable Kraken opponents out West.
Public enemy number one for Seattle is currently in the hurt locker. Our neighborly rivals always give to the community but are in disarray in their hockey operations, with their GM and head coach on the hot seat. The tide is high to win this series after the Kraken dropped their first matchup to open Climate Pledge Arena. Game 2 is two days after Christmas.
A win last night and a winning record so far this year for the Bridgestone banner makers, but the days of coach Peter Laviolette and goalie Pekka Rinne are over. The first-ever Kraken victory came on October 14th in Music City, and the Preds make their way to the Emerald City on January 25th.
Fallout over the Kyle Beach incident continues in Chicagoland, while the on-ice product is a mere shadow of what it was during the Stanley Cup run of 2015. Seattle played good enough to win the first meeting last week, but Hawks goalie Marc-Andre Fleury stood on his head. Coach Dave Hakstol saw it too.
“At one point, I looked up and we were outshooting them 16 to three, and we were losing the period one nothing. Nothing slow about that. We were on top of it but couldn’t get one to go. They had good goaltending. We had more volume and had some real good looks from inside.”
To quote the Minnesota Vikings’ Dennis Green from years ago, they (the Coyotes) are who we thought they were. Have they even named a captain yet in the Valley of the Sun? Is this team moving to Houston or Quebec? After a one-goal loss in Glendale on November 6th, the desert dogs come to The Greenhouse next on December 21st.
Bright lights, big city, and aging leadership. Losers of four straight, the Kings are looking more like the jesters. This potential rivalry in the West doesn’t get started until January 15th at The Greenhouse.
The Fins won last night against Carolina in overtime but are 4-5-1 in their previous 10 games. I don’t know if the ire of Bay Area transplants to Seattle still widely exists? But the first game of four between these sea dwellers happens at SAP Center on December 14th.
They were in the Stanley Cup Final two years ago, and now they are treading water in the Central Division. Who wants to play goalie for Big D? We will find out in the first meeting on January 12th.
Yes, the current standings have the Saddle-domers on pace for 116 points this year. But seemingly every year, one of these Alberta teams makes a nose dive towards the playoffs. I’m picking the Oil to be legit and stay that way versus a Calgary team that may lose its burn. Their first matchup is slated for Festivus on December 23rd.
Just winning each of these series picks up 24 points out of a possible 40. 33+24 is still a long way from 93 and a playoff spot. If the Seattle Kraken can take every point possible out of these Western Conference matchups? Then the number reaches 73. Sweep a few Eastern Conference foes and get some bonus wins… and we’re in. ⚓