The Seattle Kraken were given a bonus day off on Friday following their dominating 6-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella really didn’t want to talk about it in his postgame.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory what you saw out there so you really don’t need my comments,” Torts said. “I’m not going to talk about my hockey team after a performance like this. It doesn’t do me any good, it doesn’t do the team any good. Those are the people I’m most concerned about.”
The Flyers gave up two goals in the first period and were outshot 12-1 by the Kraken. As we pointed out in the game recap, Philly simply couldn’t find its way through the neutral zone.
The only good news for the visitors was that Travis Konecny broke a month-long goal scoring drought and set a new career high for a season with his 25th and 26th goals. Otherwise, the Kraken dominated.
Long Before The Kraken
In early 2003, I visited Seattle with our Leafs TV crew (that would be cameraman and editor Dave Falcone) and shot a half-hour program about hockey in Seattle, the Thunderbirds, the new Everett Silvertips, and Toronto Maple Leafs alumni Brad “Motor City” Smitty, a local resident. We also took a fun tour of old Seattle under new Seattle.
I had previously spent a great deal of time in the area during the 1990’s broadcasting both minor league baseball and hockey as a visitor with the Boise Hawks and Idaho Steelheads. The games were in Everett and Tacoma respectively, but I’d skip the hotel and crash with friends in Seattle every single time, every single night.
I’m very fortunate to have many very good friends scattered around the planet and it just so happens two of them still live in Seattle with their families. This season has been a homecoming of sorts.
Anyhoo – here’s a little flashback for Kraken fans. See just how far Seattle hockey has come, and just how different it was two decades ago. Among other things, you’ll see how intimidating the old Mercer rink was for visitors.
