Seattle Kraken winger Daniel Sprong obviously didn’t like sitting out of the line-up. Since returning from being a healthy scratch for the October 25th game against the Buffalo Sabres, he’s played in five consecutive games and made the most of it.
In six total games played, half the team’s total, he’s tallied two goals and five assists. He’s found chemistry with fellow 4th-liners Ryan Donato and Morgan Geekie, giving the Kraken some offensive threats throughout the line-up.
“Yeah, I think we compliment each other really well,” Sprong told the Kraken radio postgame show after the Minnesota game, “we all bring something special to each other, but I think the biggest thing is we can all skate and play a physical game as well and I think we’re taking advantage of our match-ups.”
“Spronger” picked up two assists in the win over the Wild. He has a three game point streak and seven points over his last five games, all while averaging just more than ten minutes a night in ice time.
Kraken Shift Diary
Oddly enough, the one game Sprong didn’t register a point in this stretch was against the Vancouver Canucks on October 27th, the same night seattlehockeyinsider.com ran a “shift diary” on his game that night. Feel free to blame Seattle Hockey Insider for the jinx.
In an interview with Sprong for a national entity a few years back when he was playing with the Washington Capitals, we had a little debate with him about just how many hockey players from the Netherlands had made it to the NHL. Officially he’s the third Dutch-born player to make it, behind late defenseman Ed Kea and forward Ed Beers.
Sprong was correct to point out that he’s the first Dutch born and trained player to have a presence in the big show. Kea moved to Ontario as a four-year-old while Beers also moved to Canada as a youth. Either way, among those born in the Netherlands, Sprong needs 98 points to pass Kea and 133 to catch Beers on the all-time NHL Dutch scoring list.
If he keeps up with his latest opportunity, it’s just a matter of time.
Proost, Spronger!
