The Need to Knows
- The Time: 4pm PST
- The Place: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario
- Place to Watch: KHN, KONG, CBC, SportsNet, NHL-N
- Place to Listen: KJR 93.3-FM
Game Preview
A Tulpa is a kind of thoughtform, kind of like an imaginary friend or a daydream, that is believed to be capable of materializing in real, flesh and blood reality through intense spiritual or meditative practice, or a lot of intense concentrating on it. This was a concept created by Theosophists in the early 20th century, and while yes, Theosophy is exactly the kind of early 20th century occult nonsense that comes from exactly the kind of thing you’d run into with a bunch of english people going to places where Buddhism thrives as a dominant cultural force, this particular concept does have a lot to do with how the Kraken’s most recent foe; the Toronto Maple Leafs, are conducting themselves. They are trying to build a Tulpa of the team they are currently watching.
While sure, being mad about repeated first and second round exits are expected, especially when you put so much effort into keeping four players in town and only two of them at best end up being any use in the playoffs, it feels like the Treliving and Berube Leafs are not trying to recreate the one Berube team that’s actually won anything; that would require a lot of difficult work to find a bunch of 2-way players, a goaltender who is capable of having the worst night of all time and then also a .950 SV% the night after, and a veteran center who can properly motivate all of that into being one of the better suffocating possession teams of the modern era, but instead more of a “vibe” of ass-kicker, defense-first hockey team. Results so far? Reviews on the style have been quite mixed; especially post-Mitch Marner.
The Leafs are 3-2-0 through their first five games, and while they have definitely won the games they were supposed to, the feeling of a dynamic team is definitely not part of the experience anymore; they want to be big, they want to be tough, and they want to be hard to play against. What that’s translated into is a serious struggle to control play for any length of time, and where Seattle largely picks their shots by cramming the net-front full of opportunity, the Leafs also do that…at a much lesser rate than the Kraken do. They critically defend the net a lot harder than their last opponent, so forcing them to vacate the front of the net either by good puck movement or by capitalizing on turnovers is going to be paramount.
Questions about how their DNA is being “changed” and whether or not that’s a good thing aside, they still need to be respected; Matthews and Nylander and Tavares are still very good players with strong complimentary pieces like Matias Maccieli and Matthew Knies out on the wings, and it will be a fight to try and get the puck past Anthony Stolarz or Joseph Woll; two very good goaltenders who have a lot of beefy shot-blockers in front of him. That’s combined with Calle Jarnkrok being a point-per-game player for…some reason, Dakota Joshua being a big physical presence on the boards. There is plenty to suggest this team could get much better in a hurry, so striking them while they’re still unsure of themselves is the best bet they have.
If there are any areas of attack that the Kraken could use to their advantage; while their Net-front presence is formidable, the actual coverage of the high-slot this year however has so far been kind of weak for them, so attacking the middle of the ice regardless of distance will be a major boon for Seattle. Further, Toronto’s PK is also quite leaky, so one goal on however many penalties they get, which the Maple Leafs’ third pair is good for one a game at least so far, they need to get more than just a goal from. Finally, and I admit this is an inexact key, they need to actually hold a lead. Their last two games were entirely winnable were it not for either shoddy goaltending or a furious comeback they failed to bottle up. As fun as the Kraken are right now, they need to crush some hope tonight.
Also, get ready for the narratives from this game and this game exclusively to follow this team like the plague! I sure am!*
It’ll be a helluva game either way, with two teams with something to prove going at it. Let’s see Deep Blue show Toronto Blue a preview of what’s coming at 5pm for them.
LET’S GO KRAKEN, LET’S GO SQUIDS, LET’S BEAT TORONTO’S ASS TWICE IN A WEEKEND!
* = Multiple bottles of scotch getting cold in the freezer