A Grip on Sports: Did the Kraken kiss away a great chance to bury the Avalanche?

A GRIP ON SPORTS • We were just off to college when the Sonics played in their first NBA postseason. We had been living in Spokane less than a year when the Seahawks went on their first magical run. Had young kids who were all in with the Mariners as they finally broke through. Saw the Sounders struggle in their MLS playoff debut. And now? The Kraken.

•••••••

• Forgive us if we don’t recall the SuperSonics first time playing with playoff pressure. We were young, trying to keep our head above water at UC Irvine despite never having learned how to swim. The NBA playoffs revolved around one question: Were the Lakers any good? No? OK, then. When do we have to be at the baseball field for practice?

We knew who the Sonics were, of course. Slick Watts. Freddie Brown. Spencer Haywood. Bill Russell coaching. But if they won or lost was immaterial – though we’re sure we were rooting for them to beat the Warriors. We were not a fan of Rick Barry.

The Seahawks first playoff game? We remember that one well. Not as well as the later AFC title game loss in Los Angeles – we working in the S-R’s sports department at the time and made a decision that ticked off a whole bunch of people, which was nothing new – to the Raiders, but we do recall the wild-card rout over the Broncos in the Kingdome.

The Mariners? Who could forget 1995? The injury. The stretch run. The bunt – on our birthday. The double. Randy. Junior. Edgar. Joey. What an experience. That the season ended against Cleveland was beyond ironic.

Our recollections of the Sounders first MLS postseason experience are muted, though they live in our household through our son, who could tell you, probably, about every pass in the 2009 series loss to Houston. We were living most of the time in Pullman back then, so our memory of non-Washington State sports at that time is not the best.

But we will remember watching the Kraken’s first foray into the postseason. At least their first loss. After all, who could forget a third period in which the second-year team succumbed to Colorado’s unrelenting pressure? Not us.

Not after four periods in Denver in which the Kraken had outplayed the defending Stanley Cup champions in every phase. Had won the first game. Led after one period of the second game. And seemed to have all the momentum on their sticks.

Then kissed it all away.

We’ll never know for sure in Brandon Tanev’s blowing a kiss to the Avalanche fans – after scoring a short-handed first-period goal – was the turning point of this series. Heck, we won’t ever be able to prove such a theatrical act had any impact at all. But it happened. And the Kraken never scored again in the 3-2 loss.

We’re old school. Always lived by the credo you go about your business, get it done – and then rub it in. Vindictively. We know that isn’t the way anymore. But it still seems unnecessary to poke a sleeping bear. Or hockey team.

Tanev may have. All we know is the Avalanche came alive. The Kraken lost. Game three is Saturday night in Seattle.

• Today is Friday. The day we look to the weekend ahead. And we wrote about an NHL playoff game. Yep. It’s the biggest event in the Northwest.

So big, in fact, you can watch it on two channels. TNT, which has the game nationally, and Root, which is showing it as well. That means Saturday night, when the Mariners host St. Louis, their game will be on Root+, something we didn’t know existed until recently. And we didn’t know we had on our cable offerings until Tuesday night.

That’s big. Bigger than the NBA playoffs? That’s up to your personal preferences. We’ve watched some – including last night’s Warrior win over Sacramento – but we will wait to see how the overwhelming number of seven-game series shake out before we go all in. Maybe in late May.

•••

WSU: There are some folks out there – ya, we’re referring to you Billy – who make fun of our fascination with college offensive lines. And yet our premise that it is the key unit for every team has never been disproving scientifically. At least we won’t admit if it has. Anyhow, it warms our heart when Colton Clark writes a story on the Cougars’ offensive line in any fashion. He has one today. We loved it. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12 and the nation in football, there is an offensive line story from Washington as well. … As happens often, there is a story on the Pac-12 office from Jon Wilner in the Mercury News, with money as its focus. … A former Stanford quarterback is hoping he still has NFL interest. … The spring rolls on at Oregon, with more roster changes in play. … Oregon State will hold its Spring Showcase on Saturday, which will be a chance to view the almost complete Reser Stadium renovations. … ESPN will broadcast Colorado’s spring game for the first time, as the Buffs rebuild under Deion Sanders. … Entering the transfer portal doesn’t always mean a player is leaving. It didn’t for one Utah player. Maybe more NIL money became available. … The UCLA defense is under new management. … USC’s attempt to improve the offensive line through adding a Florida transfer has been derailed by injury. … Arizona is still trying to figure out its offensive line.… In basketball news, we linked Wilner’s story on the roster churn earlier this week. It is available on the S-R site. … A couple Washington players found new places to play.

Gonzaga: Jim Meehan has been around the GU program for years. He’s known quite a few assistant coaches. He’s the perfect guy to introduce R-Jay Barsh and weave Barsh’s story into the Zags’ history. … Hey, breaking news. Ryan Nembhard, the Creighton transfer, told ESPN is he is heading to Gonzaga. That’s a big get for the Zags in the portal. And Graham Ike, a 6-foot-9, 255-pound post, who sat out last season at Wyoming due to injury, has signed an aid agreement. The left-handed Ike averaged almost a double-double (19.5 points, 9.5 rebounds) for the Cowboys in 2021-22. Theo Lawson has that story.

EWU: After a disappointing 2022 season, Eastern is focusing on physicality as it moves forward through 2023’s spring practices. Justin Reed has this story. … Elsewhere in the Big Sky, Montana State finishes up spring drills tomorrow. … A Northern Colorado football player also plays baseball. That couldn’t happen around here. … Weber State’s new women’s basketball coach has a philosophy rooted in golf.

Preps: There is a lot to share here on this Friday. We start with yesterday’s GSL scholar/athlete luncheon, one of the best things that happens in Spokane. Dave Nichols was at the event in the Valley and has this coverage. … Dave also has a feature on Shadle Park High pitcher/first baseman Crimson Rice, whose rare first name – her parents were both Cougars – is matched by her ability. … Finally, Dave has a roundup of Thursday’s action.

Indians: Spokane fell 2-1 at Tri-City last night.  

Kraken: We had some thoughts on the 3-2 loss last night but you probably want the real news. We share it here, of course. … There was some coverage out of Denver as well.

Mariners: More like designated outs, right? The M’s DHs aren’t doing much of anything yet. Will they? … The Oakland A’s are probably leaving the Bay Area. Headed to Vegas. We may have more thoughts about that tomorrow.

Seahawks: Did you know the draft is next week? Snuck up, huh? No coverage. Ya, right. There are always stories.

•••       

• It’s no secret we love doughnuts. And that we’ve decried the state of the industry in Spokane over the years. But yesterday we were treated to a revelation. An old standby place has transformed. Donut Parade’s doughnuts are spectacular. Kim brought home a dozen of the little bites of heaven after an early morning doctor’s appointment. Breakfast. Dessert. Heck, we could have had one as a midnight snack, if we stayed up that late anymore. And any were left. Until later …