Seattle Kraken beat Calgary 2-1 at home

Well, the Kraken back on the ice last night at Climate Pledge Arena, taking on the Calgary Flames in their brand new hometown remix uniforms. The anchor prominently featured there, Matthew Wood, making his Kraken debut after last weekend's trade for Shane Wright. Berkeley Caton gets the Kraken on the board, his fifth goal of the season. And then Matty Beniers would come through with the game winner in overtime as the Kraken win this one. Two to one. Matty Beniers sealing it right there. Hey, we're joined by our old friend, Kraken broadcaster Ian Furness, who pulled over to the side of the road to join us live. Ian, good morning. Good morning, Wicks. How are you? Good to see you. Good to hear from you. Yeah, it's great to have you. So the Kraken get their payback last night after falling to the Flames 6-2 on Saturday night in Calgary. So my understanding was that there was kind of a team meeting and they took the extended time off to sort of address some defensive issues. What did you make of Lane Lambert's defensive changes? Yeah, I think the biggest thing was is, you know, they got smoked in Calgary last Friday, six to two. They beat Calgary the first two games of the year between the team, six to one each time. And You know, Friday was one of those games, you know, 82-game schedule now. I keep thinking 82, but 82-game schedule. You're going to have those games, and they happen. But the penalty kill had been bad. They'd been giving up a lot of easy plays, and, you know, there were some really hard practices between last Friday and before last night that Lane Lambert kind of put these guys through, and it paid off. They allowed one goal. Decord was fantastic in goal. This team needs to have great goaltending, and they got it last night, and they just were better all the way around. We have an emerging superstar, in this Berkeley Caton, and he's on a heater right now. Another goal last night on a seven-game point streak. He's 20 years old, but he's gaining confidence every day. What are you seeing out of Berkeley Caton right now? I'm seeing out of him what we saw when he played in juniors for Spokane. I remember doing a game, actually, over on Fox Plus when we were doing the WHL games a few years ago. He was playing in Spokane. I remember watching him play that game before he got drafted. It was just a wow factor. His skating is elite, his finishing, his playmaking, his vision, all the things that make you a great player in any sport, really, hockey or otherwise. And we saw that, you know, at the time he was 17 and got drafted as an 18-year-old and went back to Spokane, and last year as a 19-year-old he was okay. But, you know, the transition, he was a kid, you know, and he's still only 20 years old. Bill, he is... Easily Seattle's most skilled player. It's not close, and he's getting better every day. And, you know, the preseason, a lot of people had this team picked to not be very good. And we have a long way to go, and who knows what the season's going to bring. But one of the reasons they said is, hey, they didn't do a lot in the offseason and things like that. Well... When you have a young team, sometimes you just need the young guys to take that next step. In any sport, in hockey especially, when they're driving age, and Berkley has taken that next step. He's so much fun to watch, he's worth the price of admission, he's a great young man. And then watching him, he scored two goals last night, one was called offside, and it was right called by literally an inch or two. But then he came back and scored in the second period, tied it up, and he's a really fun player to watch. Absolutely, and I think you're going to see him getting more minutes moving forward as well. Kraken making a major move last night, or last week I should say. Shane Wright going to Nashville for winger Matthew Wood. So Matthew Wood making his Kraken debut, but you talk about making the transition to the NHL game. What happened with Shane Wright? Number four overall pick, never seemed to find a rhythm at this level. His agent was pushing for a trade in the summer. What's your assessment of Shane Wright and why the Kraken kind of cut bait with him? I think, you know, the trade itself is interesting because it's a one-for-one trade, and you don't see that anymore, really, anywhere. But it was two guys that were first-round draft picks, same draft year, that just hadn't reached what they hoped for with their initial teams. And, you know, Matthew Wood comes here after a 17-goal season last season, and we'll see what he can do. He can shoot. He can really shoot. And with Shane, it was hard. Bill, he was a guy, you know, you've been around, you did that story years ago following the Thunderbirds around. You know, when you have those kids that are in, you know, junior hockey that are 16, 17, 18, we always hear about the guy that's going to be the phenom, right? And they're going to be special. Shane, since he was like 10, 11, 12, was that guy. He's going to be the number one overall pick. Those are high expectations. I... My personal opinion, and this could be really far off, he feels kind of like he's the guy that peaked when he was like 14 or 15. I still think he's a good player, and I think he will be a good player. He needed a change of scenery. Matthew Wood needed a change of scenery, so it works for everybody. Okay, so the Kraken heading to Finland for this year's Global Series, the home and away series against Carolina, and they're the leaders of the East right now. They're playing lights out right now. This is going to be a really interesting trip for the Kraken, especially the European players. So what's working for Carolina right now? How do the Kraken slow them down? I don't know. Great question because this is defending Stanley Cup champions. They're really good. I mean, you can make an argument they're the best. This is not the draw you wanted for this trip to Europe, right? You're going over there and it's like, great. Hey, what a cool opportunity. Showcase the game globally. I think it's I like it better than the NFL because hockey's actually played in these cities, in these countries and so forth and Helsinki and they're going over there with a couple, you know, Seattle's got three Finns on the team, but Carolina's really good. I mean, really really good. We saw that last year when they won It's going to be a tough challenge, but listen, hey, that's kind of fun. Seattle split with Carolina last year. They won one at Seattle, a close one-goal game, and then they lost in Carolina, but it was a competitive game there, too. You never know. Change of scenery, fly nine hours, we'll see what they end up doing, but it's going to be really fun. Hockey and breakfast, you know, head out to the 32 Bar and Grill at Kraken Community Iceplex because it's going to be two early games on Thursday, a week from today, and next Saturday as well. But fun opportunity, especially for the guys that are from Finland, you know, like Newman and Kapokako and Otavainen. Really fun for them. Absolutely. And the Kraken are back home. They take on the Rangers. It's an afternoon game on Saturday, a 2 p.m. puck drop at Climate Pledge Arena. Hey, Ian, will you do us a favor and come back and hang out with us some more? Hey, I've said I'd come back, but I don't know. News Director Jake, you know, he just kicked me to the curb. He put me on waivers. I don't know what happened along the way. I blame him. So tell the boss man. Not even. No, listen. No, listen, I'm really enjoying doing the hockey. It's so much fun, and like you, I've got a great passion for it. But I miss all my friends. I miss all you guys. I watch you guys every morning. You and BMAC and Aaron and Adam, the whole crew, man, you guys are doing a great job, and I miss you a lot. But we'll do this again anytime. Kraken hockey broadcaster Ian Furness, it is always a pleasure, my friend. Drive safely.