That could have been Marty McFly and Doc Brown pulling their DeLorean into a parking space at Kraken Community Iceplex – because the team appears headed Back To The Future.
A year ago at this time, detail-oriented, highly structured coach Dave Hakstol was being replaced by Dan Bylsma. Hakstol’s team in its third season had fallen short of the playoffs. Almost as bad, his defense-first strategy was considered a yawner by fans and restrictive by some Kraken players.
Bylsma promised a more entertaining, free-wheeling approach when he was promoted from AHL Coachella Valley. “Fans want a competitive team. They want a group of guys that are going to lay it on the line every night. We’re going to be a fast team, an exciting team. Teams that play the fastest, compete the hardest and (display) physical aggressiveness are usually the teams that win hockey games. We’re going to put that on the ice for the Kraken.”
The results were a marginally better offense, a way worse defense, no postseason berth, and Bylsma directed to the same door as Hakstol – the one with an Exit sign over top of it. (It’s beside the point to suggest that both Hakstol and Bylsma deserved longer leashes than they got.)
Kraken Hope 3rd Time’s The Charm In Head Coaches
The more that newest coach Lane Lambert described what he expects of his Seattle Kraken this season, the more we discovered what he felt they weren’t last season. What follows are quotes from Lambert’s introductory news conference earlier this week. Feel free to read between the lines, too.
“Detail, structure, everybody being on the same page is going to be huge. When they are, you will have success.”
“We have a back-to-back record that wasn’t good last year (0-12). That’s going to change, due to the structure and detail.”
“We have to play the right way. Everybody has a role. Everybody knows what that role is. There aren’t any gray areas. That is the formula.”
“My job is to provide an environment for our players to be prepared to have success.”
“You set a standard and you don’t deviate. You do the same things every day. Repetition. If something isn’t right, you take care of it. You have to nip it. You can’t turn a blind eye and let something slide.”
“Everything has to be addressed. You start demanding, and you start installing your systems, your structure, your detail.”
“Our special teams have to be better. We’ll be better in our defensive zone.”
“Team toughness is about players being willing to go to certain areas. Players who are willing to win 50-50 puck battles. Players who are willing to put themselves in shot lanes.”
Lambert Could Be Described As Detail-Oriented, Defense-First
Between the lines of those quotes are a whole lot of implications. The team wasn’t always on the same page, detail-oriented, or structured. Players, intentionally or not, weren’t assigned or didn’t accept clearly defined roles. The environment wasn’t conducive to success. Things were allowed to slide. Team toughness was lacking.
Despite what anyone outside the Kraken dressing room tells you, it’s impossible to know exactly how much of those implications were true. What is undeniable is that the Kraken finished with 76 points, and would have needed a whopping 20 more just to sneak into the playoffs as the Western Conference second wild card.
Quick aside: for 12 years, I worked for a company which constantly went through management shuffles. One group would come in and decide to centralize operations. The next would decentralize. The one after that – yup, here’s a new approach: centralize. Back To The Future.
It appears that in Lambert, the Kraken front office has returned to a highly-detailed, defense-first coach. One who, like Bylsma, has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. One who, like Hakstol, is capable of leading the Kraken to a playoff berth – but also may find his level of detail less popular in the room if it doesn’t produce results.
And there’s one more consideration. What if the key ingredient isn’t the philosophy of the man behind the bench, but instead the talent of the players who sit in front of him?