Kraken 2nd Place
It always tough to combine or list headlines on a Seattle Kraken daily when one of the items is about the passing of a prominent hockey lifer and friend. That’s the case today, which we’ll get to in a moment.
Not that the Kraken need a lot of fanfare in a headline today anyway, their game speaks volumes for itself.
The club woke up this morning to find ‘Seattle Kraken’ sitting alone in second place in the Pacific Division standings, while Sunday also brought a well timed and well deserved day of rest.
“We’re playing as a team, everyone is contributing and it’s really fun to play that way,” Kraken forward Yanni Gourde said of the franchise’s first ever three-game road sweep. “All four lines, all four D, “Jonesy’s” (Martin Jones) been unbelievable in net, so it’s really been team wins since the beginning of the year.”
Gourde spoke after the Kraken’s 3-2 win in Pittsburgh Saturday night. The club also defeated the MInnesota Wild in St. Paul on Thursday 4-0 and came back to beat the Flames in Calgary on Tuesday 5-4. Combined with the 3-1 victory at home against the Penguins on October 29th and the Kraken have a four-game win streak heading into Tuesday’s game against the Nashville Predators at the Climate Pledge Arena.
Let’s Skate …
(Abridged from vancouverhockeyinsider.com)
Vancouver, BC native and former Buffalo Sabres, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks and New Jersey Devils forward turned TV analyst Peter McNab died Sunday of cancer at the age of 70.
Big picture, he may have been somewhat underappreciated, piling up 813 points in 954 career NHL games, with prolific playoff performances for the Bruins in the late 70’s, all while many of the eyeballs were on Jean Ratelle, Brad Park, Rick Middleton, or even head coach Don Cherry.
We obviously always point to hockey careers and statistics when a former NHL player passes away, and of course it’s the off-ice stuff that really matters.
I worked one Olympics with Peter for NBC in Torino in 2006 and from that point forward I had a buddy for life. McNab was one of those guys where I wouldn’t see him for a year, but when I ran into him at a morning skate, we’d pick right back up as if we’d seen each other the week before. Enthusiastic, friendly and extremely likeable.
During our little annual or semi-annual chats, he was always willing to share his honest thoughts on the Colorado Avalanche and on the NHL in general. I recall him telling me some very cool little behind-the-scenes stories about those 1970’s Cherry-led Bruins clubs. He liked to remind me that we shared the same birthday.
Hockey was in his blood, Peter being the son of longtime NHL player, coach and executive Max McNab. Peter was inducted into the US Hockey Hall of Fame in 2021, although his illness prevented him from attending the event.
Our condolences to his family, cohorts and many dear friends.
