Coach Dave Hakstol said it first and alternate captain Yanni Gourde confirmed it. The declaration? Gourde and fellow linemates Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen “fight like brothers.” In a good way.
“I think that's sort of true,” said Gourde. “It’s very, very cool. We just love to get on each other's nerves. We are all competitive, making fun and like having fun out there but also doing our best and holding each other accountable in a funny way.”
There are a couple of key tenets for Kraken fans to unpack here. One is the Kraken players, coaches and hockey operations staff clearly and openly feel like the team is a family. The second key concept is that familiarity upgrades, on-ice chemistry and communication.
It might be cliché to some, but the lift a team gets is real, especially when a squad faces adversity or embraces a huge undertaking ahead or both. Families stick together and support each other.
When Kraken GM Ron Francis met with the media about the last roster cuts before the opening season roster was set, he was naturally asked about 2022 first-rounder (No. 4 overall) Shane Wright’s prospectus. He punctuated his answer with an emphatic, we-believe statement.
“The kid had a whirlwind last summer with the draft and what happened and everything went on,” said Francis. “He had a much more normal summer this year, which allowed him to train and get himself better prepared for camp. He didn't look intimidated being in training camp this year. He looked like he fit in and felt comfortable with our guys. He showed that at times in games. Other times he showed that he still needed some things to work on.
“He's 19 years old. It's a process with these kids. We're going to continue to work with him but as I said to him on his way out, ‘the Kraken family is really happy with where he is and how he's progressing and will continue to work to where we think he can ultimately get.’ ”
Last year’s playoff run, knocking out then-defending Stanley Cup champ Colorado, which is Tuesday’s home opener foe, organically added oomph to Kraken family ties. Gourde, who won back-to-back Stanley Cups with Tampa Bay knows how family liftoff can go next level and points to last April (including qualifying for the postseason with a 100-standings-points record) and May as a rocket fuel for the Kraken.
“Once you wear the same jersey and you go out there, you battle for one another,” said Gourde, who has talked “we” and “play our game” from his first press meeting after being selected in the Expansion Draft. “You become really close to one another. Once you go a little bit in the playoff, you get super-close because you know how much winning a game means to everyone in that locker room. It will unify everybody even more.”
Eddie Olczyk, the Kraken analyst and U.S. Hockey Hall of Famer, played on a conference finalist Chicago team as a rookie and then 10 years later hoisted the Cup in 1994 with the New York Rangers, says the family effect can be a big advantage in triumphing in the sports world’s most arduous postseason.
“I think you really look to your leadership group [alternate captains and other veterans],” said Olczyk during this past week’s road trip. “It's not just the coaches. It comes from within and the guys that are in the room understand there has to be accountability.
“You're not going to let the next guy down, but I think sometimes that [family effect] just has to be able to form and evolve organically. I think, for me, with some of the teams I’ve been on it doesn't mean you're going to win it all. But it does end up having a lasting effect. If you are on a team that's going to make a Cup run together that you can use it to your advantage.”
About family bonds boosting on-ice chemistry: The three forwards on the Gourde line, one from Quebec, another from Denmark and the third a Finn provide plenty of built-in ribbing opportunities with those origin stories. All kidding aside, the line was the team’s best on both ends of the ice on the opening road trip, providing shutdown work on opposing top lines and looking potent in both 5-on-5 play and a power play unit on which all three are part.
Side note: I know what you are thinking, fans, two goals in three games doesn’t equate to potent but all parties from Hakstol to Gourde to Olczyk agree there were lots of prime scoring chances on the trip and that goals will come from it.
In the Kraken’s third year, the coaching staff has identified players who fit well together and are committed to keeping them intact on lines and defensive pairs. Those intact pairs include both Jamie Oleksiak and Will Borgen, who played an elite all-zone game Saturday in St. Louis, and the top pair of Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson, who used the first three games of the season to re-acquaint themselves as partners after Dunn sat preseason games as a precaution from returning from a summer injury too soon.
“We’re pretty familiar with each other,” said Dunn, smiling after morning skate on opening day in Vegas last Tuesday. We sit on flights together. We eat dinner together, sit beside each other in the locker room ... there’s room for both of us to grow individually and together. We’re excited to be back together.”
Kraken forward Jaden Schwartz, part of the leadership group Eddie Olczyk talks about, won a Cup with Dunn and St. Louis in 2019. He says the family tree here in Seattle has strong roots and welcomes newcomers such as veteran center and penalty killer Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (already considered a positive voice) and rookie Tye Kartye (who plays a physical game his coaches and teammates appreciate).
“We all know the first year with COVID and everyone coming into a new city wasn't ideal,” said Schwartz after a preseason game. “I think going on that run last year and families getting to know each other, families getting around in the city a little bit, meeting people, that chemistry takes time. Everybody was new here.
“You can tell how well we've been gelling. It gets carried over with our planning on the ice, especially the improvement from last season. We’ve got to keep doing it this year, but it's a great group of guys all the way through.”
