When a team goes from being firmly in a playoff position to effectively playing itself out of the conversation, one might expect the mood at a late-season practice\u2014with eight games left, a four-point deficit, and four teams to leapfrog to return to the postseason picture\u2014to be fairly drab. That\u2019s not what we saw Friday, though. From the way Seattle Kraken players were acting on the ice, you\u2019d think they were on a 10-game winning streak with their ticket punched. Players were hooting and hollering, ribbing each other, excessively celebrating goals, and even [gasp] smiling.<\/p>\n
Now, this isn\u2019t exactly a new thing. You always hear some chatter on the ice when the team skates together, regardless of the situation, but considering the circumstances the Kraken have put themselves in now, it was nonetheless a surprisingly chipper mood at Kraken Community Iceplex.<\/p>\n
In a way, the positive energy of the skate was by design.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was important for us to get on the ice as a group,\u201d coach Lane Lambert said. \u201cReality is what it is, but what is your perception of reality? We\u2019re four points out of the playoffs. Clearly, if we had won seven of our last eight games, and we\u2019re in the exact same position as we are right now, there would be a different mood. But we\u2019d be in the exact same position we are now. So it\u2019s our mental mindset and our perception, and [let\u2019s] move forward. Past is past, and we have an opportunity moving forward here. That\u2019s all we can think about, and that\u2019s all the players were thinking about today\u2026 I thought it was a good day for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forward Jaden Schwartz echoed Lambert\u2019s sentiment. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to be so tight where you lose a game, you come in the next day and you\u2019re down. You\u2019ve got to get back up. We\u2019ve got a lot of games in a short amount of days here, so you\u2019ve got to turn the page quickly\u2026 be excited, and enjoy the days and the opportunity that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Players-only meeting<\/p>\n
So with how things have spiraled since the Olympic break\u2014the Kraken are 5-11-2 and have fallen from third in the Pacific Division to having the sixth-best odds in the NHL Draft Lottery\u2014just where could this positivity be coming from?<\/p>\n
Well, the Kraken players held a brief closed-door, players-only meeting in the dressing room immediately following their miserable 6-2 loss to the Utah Mammoth on Thursday. That conversation may have sparked some improved perspectives and outlooks when the team returned to practice Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got eight games left, and we know where we\u2019re at, so let\u2019s put it all out there,\u201d defenseman Vince Dunn said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s kind of been the mentality that we\u2019ve had since the break, is to put it all out there. But we\u2019ve really put ourselves in an interesting spot right now with somehow still a chance to make the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
**Editor\u2019s note: Dunn put emphasis on \u201cstill,\u201d as if to indicate that even he is as shocked as the rest of us that this team has not been mathematically eliminated from contention at this point, considering its extended poor performance. Ok, back to Dunn.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo keep that at the front of your mind, rather than the back of your mind. Let\u2019s not be like, \u2018Oh, we might make the playoffs.\u2019 It\u2019s kind of, \u2018Play like we are in the playoffs,\u2019 right? Like, it\u2019s all more of a mentality right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Continuing to dissect what has gone wrong, Dunn confirmed that the players feel what many of us see when watching the Kraken play.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just get a little deflated when goals are happening. And this wasn\u2019t discussed in the locker room [Thursday], but I look back on games like the Columbus game, it\u2019s a puck off a foot, and then it\u2019s like bouncing everywhere, and then it goes in the net, and that\u2019s the first goal against. Look at the Edmonton game, it\u2019s a puck\u2026 off someone\u2019s head. And then last game, it\u2019s a forward trying his best to block a shot, and it\u2019s off his hip. Those are the first goals you give up in a game, and all the guys are trying to do the right thing. So if you\u2019re that guy, maybe you need to be the teammate beside him and be like, \u2018Hey man, you did your best. Let\u2019s go out and maybe try to score one, or let\u2019s go out the next shift and really put some pressure on and not get deflated.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, watching the Kraken play against Utah, you could feel the tying goal coming in the second period. Jacob Melanson appeared to make it 3-1, but it was negated after a successful goalie interference challenge, and from then on, it felt like only a matter of time before Utah flipped the script from what was almost 3-1 Seattle to 2-2\u2014and after that, a matter of time before Utah took the lead and grabbed hold of the game.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve seen this from this club on many occasions over its five years of existence, including earlier this season when the Kraken went 1-9-1 in 11 games between Nov. 23 and Dec. 18 before getting hot and winning eight of their next nine. They seemed to settle the fragility in the stretch before the break, too, rolling with the punches and minimizing the damage of letdowns in games. But now, it\u2019s like if any little thing doesn\u2019t go their way, they collapse.<\/p>\n
These conversations being had by the players are great, although they will almost surely end up being too little, too late. Still, it was refreshing to hear that the players are aware of their situation and their shortcomings as a team, that they care, and that they are not giving up.<\/p>\n
Jaden Schwartz feeling good after \u201cscary incident\u201d<\/p>\n
We chatted with Schwartz for the first time since he was inadvertently kicked in the face by Nick Cousins in a 7-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on March 7. Considering how badly that could have gone if that skate swung in just a slightly different direction, fans should be very thankful that Schwartz is back after just three weeks and appears no worse for wear.<\/p>\n
Wow. Scary one there. <\/p>\n
Eeli Tolvanen laid a huge hit on Nick Cousins, and Cousins’ skate came up and clipped Jaden Schwartz in the face. <\/p>\n
Schwartz was down for a while, bleeding on the ice, but he went down the tunnel on his own power. #SeaKraken<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/QyeBYgi5eN<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Headshot-New-2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n