Gourde Debuts, Daccord Called Up

During the first full week of October, a wardrobe change hinted at what turned into the surprising and welcome development of center Yanni Gourde making his Kraken debut Tuesday in Newark.
Goalie Joey Daccord will make his own uniform switch Tuesday. Coming off an impressive win in his first appearance for the Kraken's American Hockey League affiliate Charlotte Checkers, Daccord subs in for Chris Driedger, who was placed on the injured reserve list by Seattle.

In one additional move to make room for Gourde on the roster, forward Kole Lind, who made his Kraken debut Monday in Philadelphia, was assigned to Charlotte and did not need to clear waivers.
When Kraken alternate captain Gourde jumped on the ice for an Oct. 4 training camp session, he was not wearing his usual no-contact red jersey. Gourde zipped around the Starbucks Rink at the Kraken Community Iceplex in a powder blue jersey, which he cheerfully later asked the media to categorize as "half-contact."
By the end of the week, Gourde was wearing the usual blue or white practice jersey, mixing it up with teammates in puck battles in the corners and looking, well, fly, in all definitions.
After the "powder-blue" practice, Gourde was asked about any updated timeline for his return to competitive ice: "Honestly, I don't know. We were going to have to talk to the doctor again in a couple of weeks and see where we're at, but so far I feel pretty good."
Tuesday afternoon-a couple of weeks later-Seattle announced Gourde was coming off the injured reserve list and suiting up for Game 5 of the inaugural season. It's likely he will play between top-line forwards Jared Schwartz and Jordan Eberle, with whom he took regular turns during drills in the final days of training camp.
Gourde made a habit of arriving early for all training camp mornings, no matter what time his split-squad group was scheduled for on-ice workouts. He wanted to feel part of the team, get to know his new teammates over breakfasts and locker room banter to seize what has become an opportunity to be a veteran leader on an NHL team.
One thing hard to neglect: Every time Gourde talks with the media, he is smiling. It started with a summertime Zoom call with local and national hockey reporters talking about how honored he said he felt being selected from what he deemed a formidable Tampa Bay pool of available forwards. That same grin will no doubt appear regularly when speaking to media in days ahead.

Gourde is clearly happy to be part of the Kraken and part of a leadership group that includes captain Mark Giordano and fellow alternate captains Adam Larsson plus pending linemates Eberle and Schwartz.
"I've watched Yanni [Gourde] work every day, and his diligence is second to none," said Kraken coach Dave Hakstol during a later phase of training camp. "He just keeps pushing forward day in and day out. He does everything he can to improve himself on that day.
"We know what he is as a player and what he brings skill wise and ability-wise. You see it every day what he brings energy-wise ... he's just one of those guys."
When the Kraken selected Gourde from Tampa Bay during the July 23 NHL Expansion Draft, the two-time Stanley Cup winner was two days removed from shoulder surgery to repair an injury he gritted his way through while playing a key role in back-to-back Lightning championship seasons.
Gourde confided taking and winning faceoffs-a key part of his center position and right now in shortage among Kraken forwards-was bothering him quite a bit during the 2021 postseason, one in which he scored the winning shorthanded-goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, fueling a 1-0 victory that advanced Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup Final.
It was the first time in NHL history that a Game 7 in the playoffs ended 1-0 with the only goal being a man-down goal or what fans and players like to call a "shorty."
A month later, Gourde had celebrated another Cup win with his TBL teammates on boats, undergone surgery and received the call from Kraken GM Ron Francis he was highly coveted by the expansion team. Fast-forward nearly three more months: Gourde comes to the rescue in New Jersey.
Daccord deserves his own spotlight after a stellar training camp with third-period preseason appearances that had teammates raving and fans buzzing. One informed NHL broadcast analyst declared Daccord the "best player on the ice" during one road game.
Playing for Charlotte, Daccord stopped 26 of 27 shots Sunday to lead the AHL affiliate to its first victory of the season over the home team Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, 4-1. Daccord appeared in nine NHL games in his seasons with the Ottawa Senators organization.