Game Time: West to East

Drop the puck Seattle and Spokane and everywhere in between and, well, all around the NHL's 32nd franchise's rooting region. The Kraken travel to Eastern Washington Sunday to face a preseason version of the Vancouver Canucks in Game 1 of the inaugural preseason for Seattle.
The official puck drops at 6:10 p.m. at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena, home of the Western Hockey League's Spokane Chiefs. The game will be broadcast on ROOT SPORTS Northwest on the TV side and KJR-950 for radio listeners.

The NHL preseason is a work-in-progress proposition. Teams start playing exhibition games just a handful of days after the start of training camp.
NHL traveling to road games don't tend to suit up the full roster that will be on the ice opening night of the regular season. The idea is to test some younger players in game conditions and save wear and tear on veteran players who have proven their worth in the lineup.
But the Kraken's preseason games are going to feature more players who will be in uniform opening night Oct. 12 at Vegas.
"We have six exhibition games to get as much done as we can," said Ron Francis, Kraken GM earlier this week. "The games can help players get to know each other [on the ice], how they play."
Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol said his squad is "excited to play a game against somebody with different color jerseys." He told the media after Sunday's morning skate workout that Philipp Grubauer will start in goal and teammate Chris Driedger will play half of the game in Spokane.
"These [preseason] games are valuable," said Hakstol. "You start the preseason thinking you have a lot of games, but they come and go quickly."
For the defensive pairings, there is a learning curve to understand your partner's tendencies on the ice in the defensive zone and transitioning to an offensive rush. Forwards are equally getting a feel for where partners will be in the offensive zone.
"You are also learning a new system," said Francis. "For the forward lines, a big part of it is communicating with each other."
That "new system" is being installed by Hakstol and assistants Paul McFarland and Jay Leach. It will be installed methodically and gradually imparted to players during training camp, which features six exhibition games in the next 10 nights, then a full week of practices before the regular season starts. The on-ice installation will be reinforced with abundant video review.
The early days of camp have included drills and on-ice whiteboard talks focusing on defensive zone management (getting the puck out of the zone; preventing zone entry by the opposing team) plus how Hakstol wants his forwards to forecheck (stop the opponent's attempt to get the puck out of their zone; getting the puck back).
The players and coaches had not worked on powerplay (man-advantage) and penalty-kill (man short) situations on the ice until Sunday's morning skate, a traditional workout before NHL night games. Fans should not expect fully representative powerplay or penalty-kill units until later exhibition games or even the regular-season opener.
Hakstol said Sunday "there is a lot of competition on the blue line." The defensemen on the ice for the morning skate's "game group" included Mark Giordano, Jamie Oleksiak, Adam Larsson-all three expected to play big minutes this season-along with Carson Soucy, Hadyn Fleury and Dennis Cholowski.
Cholowski played for two teams in the WHL and counts Spokane as one of the fun places he visited as a member of Prince George and Portland teams.
"It's going to be cool," said Cholowski, who is noted for his offensive production as a D-man. "I always like playing in that arena."
As one of six defenseman on the trip, the former Detroit Red Wing has one of the "opportunities to show chemistry" that Hakstol mentioned in his morning remarks.
"I plan to be myself, playing my game," said Cholowski, who was praised by Detroit captain Dylan Larkin for working hard on the ice and in the weight room when he was called up from AHL Grand Rapids last season. "We will learn as we go, skate with the puck, move with the puck and play aggressively in the defensive zone [box out opponents and win puck battles]."
Vancouver will arrive in Spokane without young star forward Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes. The two franchise cornerstone pieces are still negotiating with the front office on their contracts. Goalies Thatcher Demko, the presumed No. 1 at age 25 and veteran Jaroslav Halak, signed from Boston this summer, are not making the trip.
"We're not hoping for a finished or complete product tonight," said Hakstol. "It's a day-to-day process. Each day we are building a bit further. We still have a long way to go."