Flu bugs have been known to hit hockey teams. The Kraken may be the victims of something along those lines right now.
All one has to do is look at the NHL during the Covid pandemic; when one guy went out with symptoms, he was usually followed by another, and another, and another. That bug decimated the 2020-’21 Vancouver Canucks to the point that head coach Travis Green was sick for months and Brendan Sutter’s career ended.
That’s an extreme example, but just points to the fact that the Kraken may have a less serious bug problem. Things spread. Hopefully for their sake that’s a no.
Kraken Weary?
Other than beating the crap out of Cole Sillinger in the 2nd period of the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, there’s no other reason besides illness to suggest Vince Dunn needed to miss Monday afternoon’s game against the Penguins.
Then his D-partner Adam Larsson left the game in Pittsburgh in progress and didn’t return for reasons head coach Dave Hakstol referred to multiple times as illness.
Is Matty Beniers ill as well? Or did he suffer a malady related to the boarding hit he took from Sillinger, the one that pissed off Dunn enough to drop the gloves? That one’s a bit more of a mystery.
As for Andre Burakovsky, his departure in Columbus didn’t appear to be queasy related. Or maybe that’s just a dangerous assumption because he’s serially injured, and left the Columbus game after 1:40 of ice time.
Then again, given that there may be a bug around, it would be unfair to suggest he’s suffered a lower body relapse. He’s still on the active roster and considered day-to-day. It’s possible it’s just a coincidence that the guy who can’t seem to stay in the line-up got sick first.
We’ll know more Tuesday night when the Kraken and Rangers take the ice at Madison Square Garden.
Just know that in hockey, with dressing rooms, and work-out rooms, and treatment rooms full of men spending all of their time together, that outbreaks happen. Not to mention airplanes, buses and hotel rooms.
The team played a bit tired and listless on Monday. They’re on a big stage, what those in NYC like to refer to as “the world’s greatest arena’, on Tuesday night. Let’s hope whatever this is, it’s quelled quickly.
By the way, one last question … is “illness” (flu) a lower body or upper body injury? I reckon, depending on symptoms, it could be both.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Lose 3-0 To Penguins, Seattle Streaks End
— The Kraken; Schedule Strength And The Red Hot 5
