Kraken lose pre-season opener

 Pre-season games, especially early ones, are more about individual performances than they are about the final score. The Seattle Kraken dropped a 6-1 decision to the Calgary Flames last night at Climate Pledge Arena - really a Flames' rookie team- but there were still some bright spots as the Kraken begin a new era under new head coach Dan Bylsma. 

 The Kraken had their share of rookies on the ice in their first pre-season tilts, including the two top picks from the 2024 amateur draft - number-one pick Berkly Catton and number-two selection Nathan Villeneuve. Both made their presence felt in the game. 

 First the positive. Villeneuve, who played for the Sudbury Wolves a season ago, recorded the Kraken's only goal in the second period. He took a pass from Oliver Bjorkstrand stationed along the right wing boards, and snapped a shot past Calgary netminder Dustin Wolf, a former American Hockey League Most Valuable Player. Wolf, a former Everitt Silvertip, stopped 33 of 34 shots in a complete game performance.

 On the negative side, Catton lost a faceoff to Calgary's Clark Bishop less than two minutes into the game. Then Catton lost sight of Bishop who headed to the net and tapped home a rebound shot past a sprawling Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer had made an initial save and then got tangled up with defenseman Lukas Dragicevic. 

 In the third period, Catton had a breakaway but was ridden off the play by Adam Klapka. The fans wanted a penalty, but it appeared to be a clean play. Adding insult to injury, Klapka then scored the Flames' sixth goal of the game at the other end. 

 ``We saw that Berkly Catton, in the third period, had a couple of chances up the ice on rushes,” said Bylsma. ``And I thought Villeneuve clearly made a statement in the game. Not on every shift. But he had an impact on the game as well, and that was evident.” 

When asked about Catton's faux pas after the game, Bylsma's response provided some insight into his coaching philosophy. ``The correction doesn't come tonight," said Bylsma, who coached the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup in 2009. ``If they hear my voice saying you messed up, it's just putting them in the wrong mindset. Did Berkly Catton make a mistake on the faceoff and lose his man? Yes. But he didn't hear it from me. I put him right back out there to keep playing.” 

The Kraken played a more physical game than they ordinarily did last season. A Kraken web site pointed out there were eight blatant cheap shots last year against Seattle with no retaliation by the pacifistic Kraken.

 ``It's not surprising at all," said Bylsma, about the physical contest. "The thing I didn't like about it, was that it was reactionary. We don't want to be reactionary. We want to be the aggressor. I like to be the aggressor in physicality and how we play." I

n fact, the Flames did outhit the Kraken by a 54 to 27 margin. But rookie Tucker Robertson dropped the gloves against Calgary’s behometh defenseman Artem Grushnikov, and held his own agai

nst the 6’3 230 pounder. The Kraken also came out on top in a couple of scrums in front of the net. However, Villeneuve was the most physically active Kraken. The Ontario native calls super-pest Matthew Tkachuk his favorite player and has a similar game. Villeneuve twice challenged Brayden Hunt, one of the few Calgary veterans in the lineup, to fights in the third period. With a 6-1 lead, Hunt had no interest.

 ``People don’t see the offensive side of my game,” said Villeneuve, ``and focus on the Matthew Tkachuk (physical) style.” 

The remainder of the Kraken pre-season schedule includes a road game to Vancouver on Tuesday followed by a home tilt with the Canucks on Fri. Sept.27, at Edmonton, Sat. Sep. 28, at Calgary, Tues. Sept. 30 and home against Edmonton, Oct. 2. Instead of the usual scoring rundown, here are some other Kraken stats. 

Shots on Goal- Nathan Villeneuve 5, Tye Kartye 4, Oliver Bjorkstrand 3, Jordan Eberle 3, Cale Fleury 3. 

Hits- Kartye 5, Fleury 5, Lukas Dragicevic 3, Ryker Evans 3, Villeneuve 3. 

Blocked Shots- Nikolas Brouillard 3, Evans 3.