A slumped over Kraken locker room didn’t adequately feel the heat of their dire situation. Dave Hakstol happily fanned the flames for them— but his angriest media availability of his tenure as head coach lacked reverberation.
Losing eight consecutive games for the second time this season after Sunday’s loss signals loud and clear either an unwillingness or a cluelessness as to how to fix the issues dragging them out of the playoff race and once again under .500%. Seattle’s 5-1 loss to the 27th-ranked Montreal Canadiens— their second four-goal blowout at home in a row— only reinforces that.
Post-game, Hakstol ditched his familiar poker face for something more irate.
”You play this game with passion, you play it with heart, you play it for the guy next to you and we’re not doing that right now. And that’s more than disappointing, that’s hard to be a part of and that’s something that we’re going to change.”
Curiously, specificity as to how that would be accomplished was avoided.
Defenseman Ryker Evans sustained a lower-body injury and did not take a single shift in the final forty minutes versus Montreal. Firebirds’ Logan Morrison and Ryan Winterton were recalled later that night in a move initially assumed to be one such method, a shakeup akin to recalling Evans in early December.
But Monday morning, questioning of Morrison revealed the recall came well before puck drop. The 21-year-old told reporters he was receiving treatment in Coachella Valley when he was beckoned into office by head coach Dan Bylsma and VP of hockey operations Troy Bodie.
”I had no idea what it was about, to be honest,” Morrison said with a hint of a smile. “They told me that I got called up— there was definitely some disbelief. It was pretty special.”
Hakstol later confirmed this to be the case, and emphasized neither skater would be used to send a message to the rest of the roster.
”The decision to have them here today, that was made before last night’s result. They’re not— they’re here because they’ve earned their way. We’re in a situation where we have the ability to give them that opportunity, and they’ve earned it.”
Undoubtedly Morrison and Winterton have earned their stripes— both rank top-10 on the Firebirds roster in points, and will dress Tuesday versus the Anaheim Ducks, expected to round out the fourth line. Morrison is set to make his NHL debut.
Hindsight disproves characterization of the recalls as management ‘breaking glass in case of emergency’ witnessing their team sink to new lows on ice. But opportunity for more impactful adjustments will be wasted with Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, Tomáš Tatar, and Kailer Yamamoto anticipated to be the only healthy scratches.
Using the remainder of the regular season to exercise the NHL capability of the prospect pool isn’t illogical— Matty Beniers spent the tail end of the inaugural season with the club doing just that. Pitted against the fiery claims made on Sunday, however, surrendering to the youth movement in such a noncommittal fashion stands an unflattering decision— the majority of the roster responsible for the losing skid, the same one unable to surmount their disappointment to properly compete, will be deployed again Tuesday.
To Seattle’s credit, intensity was higher than usual at practice Monday. Drills encouraged fierce board and net-front battles, a healthy dosage of physicality, frustration. Co-owner Samantha Holloway could be seen watching from an office overlooking the rink; CEO Todd Leiweke took a stroll through the locker room. Stakes felt high.
But that energy didn’t stick around Tuesday, where morning skate proceeded business as usual. Line rushes reflected uninspired changes lacking rhyme and reason. Even tones softened— Hakstol was much more forgiving of Sunday’s effort, crediting his team for their ability to “shake off” a worst-case scenario first period.
Compare that with what the head coach said Sunday: “I can go through and find all the positives as well because hey, you can always find those, but this is start to finish, right? You don’t play part of a hockey game, you don’t pick and choose the pieces that we’re competing in.”
Encouragingly, there’s been plenty of honesty when it comes to discussing the mentality issues of the locker room, struggling under the “weight of the world.” While adjustments of mentality are needed, it’s hard to believe those will occur of their own volition— if they could, Seattle arguably wouldn’t be sinking into another losing skid.
Meaningful change will start with tangible, strategic adjustments, and so far, there haven’t been any. If there’s no marked increase of performance, the low confidence Hakstol speaks of as responsible for standings woes won’t have reason to improve.
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