The Kraken have powered through an incredible (in all the good and bad ways) schedule to see the light at the end of the season. And while Year 1 may not be the great re-blossoming of Seattle playoff hockey, we can still go through the month of March and see what looks like good opportunities for the Kraken to pick up some important wins. Maybe not for playoff position, but for some fellas who may or may not find themselves in a different uniform by months’ end.
The Great 4pm PT Road Trip: March 5th – 12th
The Kraken will be getting a good look at what makes the Eastern Conference strong and also bone-shatteringly weak, all at times when you should be working: Starting with the Caps, they’ll go from Washington to Carolina to Toronto before they run smack dab into the two easiest games on this road trip…in theory, we know how that goes with this team: Ottawa and Montreal. Ottawa is kind of a mess thanks to their goaltending, their defense, and the fact they didn’t play for almost two months thanks to The Virus, and Montreal is…honestly improving under Martin St. Louis? This might be a tougher game than anticipated.
Still, I happily expect at least a W here or there. Set your DVRs and make little nooks for your phones to be hidden from your boss.
Climate Pledge gets some time off
The Kraken got some great runs in November and January for home games, but will now be host to only four games this March: Nashville tomorrow, Tampa and Detroit the week of the 16th, and the 30th, where they face Vegas. In the meantime…You can go see Billie Eilish or something?
All of those games will be tough challenges regardless, but they will importantly also be a great look at a “Before and After” for the Kraken, as we’ll further explain…
Here Today, Gone Tomorrow: March 19th vs. Detroit and March 22nd vs. Arizona
The reason we’re highlighting these two games is very simple:
The Kraken will not look the same as they do now after that Detroit game, for in between these two games is the NHL Trade Deadline; the busiest time of the year before the playoffs start. The Kraken have plenty of assets that could end up being moved for teams trying foolishly to get tougher when they don’t need to, or a defenseman! The Detroit game will be in all likelihood the last chance for the Kraken to showcase talent before they start fielding calls.
Now, that might mean that the new look Kraken might be uh…slim on much of anything resembling talent, but thanks to their rotten injury luck, that particular problem isn’t getting solved until well after the season’s over. I’m sure we can survive at least a couple more months.
Cherish the Space between games
This is the last month of the season where the Kraken aren’t completely bogged down by back-to-backs. That’s April’s concern, and that’s a can of worms we’ll deal with when the month comes to and end because whoo boy…There are some doozy turnarounds. This will probably be the last month that our guys will look even slightly rested in between games.
Still! It’s a good time to think hard about the future of the team, which will becoming clearer as the month drags on!
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