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Seattle Torrent Protect Wilgren, Murphy, Carpenter in Expansion Draft

The Torrent have made some interesting choices in the upcoming expansion process by choosing to protect Anna Wilgren, Hannah Murphy, and Alex Carpenter. Not exactly an expansion draft, the PWHL’s Expansion Roster Distribution Process is a six-phase series of very complicated (I would argue unnecessarily complicated) rules to add four new teams to the previously eight-team league, increasing the size by 50%. Because so many of the players are free agents, they couldn’t do a traditional expansion draft process, so we ended up with this. The Torrent signed Alex Carpenter and protected her, which was one of the three protection slots. The players on the roster eligible for protection are Fowards: Jenna Buglioni, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter, Lexia Adzija, Danielle Sardachny Defenders: Cayla Barnes, Anna Wilgren Goalies: Corinne Schroeder, Hannah Murphy Everyone else is a free agent, including Hilary Knight. It’s all turmoil these days with expansion. With two more slots to go, the Torrent chose to protect defender Anna Wilgren and goalie Hannah Murphy. “Ha ha, Zaiem,” I can hear you saying now with a tinge of contempt, “you’ve made a mistake. You accidentally typed some other name instead of Hannah Bilka’s! Nice journalism and attention to detail.” If only. Yes that’s right, forward Hannah Bilka was not protected. Now, I don’t know what GM Meghan Turner is thinking here, but one thing that is of concern is that Bilka did not return to the Torrent after sustaining an undisclosed injury en route to winning gold in the Olympics in Milan. Since hockey injuries aren’t required to be disclosed and therefore never ever are, we don’t know what it was (is?). Maybe it’s serious? Maybe they are betting that she won’t get taken by an expansion team because of the injury? Or maybe it’s just an interesting decision. Hannah Murphy is not a surprising pick. She’s 22 years old and she has a lot of upside as a goalie, a position that tends to peak later in age. I also find her impossibly charming, but that was probably not a factor in the decision to keep her (probably). Defender Anna Wilgren was the third protection slot, which was the real surprise. Bilka or Barnes were the ones I was expecting, but Wilgren was a surprise. I have, however, since talked myself into it. Steve O’Rourke, the recently fired Torrent coach, spoke highly of her and I do like her 200 foot game. He talked about how she altered her game to try to make the Olympic team and it messed with her a bit, but as the season went on, she got better and better. Anna Wilgren being protected by the Seattle Torrent is probably the one decision that stands out as a surprise to most.My mind immediately went back to the postgame after her 3-point game vs. Minnesota. O'Rourke is obviously gone, but it shows how the org feels about her. pic.twitter.com/EMlQuiKX2B— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) June 3, 2026 And so we march on with this overwrought expansion process. Where were you when we moved from Phase 1 to Phase 2?

Seattle Torrent Sign Alex Carpenter, Protect Her From Expansion Thieves

The Seattle Torrent re-signed forward Alex Carpenter to a 3-year PWHL Standard Player Agreement on June 2, keeping one of the franchise’s foundational pieces through 2028-29 and committing one of the team’s 3 protection slots under the league’s Expansion Roster Distribution Process (proper noun) ahead of 2026-27. If that sounded like word salad, it’s the entire expansion process is word salad. Carpenter signed as one of Seattle’s foundational players in June 2025 and played all 30 regular-season games of the inaugural season, serving as one of the first alternate captains in team history. The 32-year-old from North Reading, MA, tied Julia Gosling for the team scoring lead with 20 points, led the Torrent with 12 goals, and ranked second with 8 assists. Carpenter came to Seattle after playing 2 seasons with the New York Sirens. She’s the third all-time leading scorer in PWHL history with 63 points (31, 36A) and she has 16 power play assists, the actual most in league history. She’s also an Olympic medalists, having won gold in the 2026 Winter Games, and winning silver in Beijing 2022 and Sochi 2014. (She was left off the She represented the United States at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan and won her first gold after silver in Beijing 2022 and Sochi 2014. (She was a shocking cut from the 2018 gold medal-winning Pyeongchang team, so Milan was her first Olympic gold). She has 18 Olympic points (11G, 7A), which is fifth all-time in U.S. Olympic women’s history. The PWHL is adding four teams this season, and since so much of the league is not under contract, they can’t do a traditional expansion draft, so they have this byzantine six phase process that is…well, the video does a good job explaining it. But Carpenter is locked into one of the 3 protection slots available to teams during Phase 1. Teams have until today at 2pm to finalize their three protection slots before Phase 2: Expansion Team Foundational Signing Period. (No, seriously, that’s how it’s officially communicated by the PWHL. That is a proper noun.) There’s going to be a lot of turmoil with the league expanding by 50% from 8 teams to 12 teams. In addition to all the roster turnover, the Torrent also fired head coach Steve O’Rourke. These first few years of expansion are real Wild West.

Melinda French Gates Becomes Minority Owner of the Seattle Kraken

Melinda French Gates is becoming a minority owner of the Seattle Kraken, the team’s parent company said Monday, pending approval from the NHL. The size of her stake and the terms were not disclosed. French Gates, 61, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is buying into One Roof Sports and Entertainment, the company that owns the Kraken. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan first reported the deal. French Gates is worth about $30 billion, according to Forbes, and the investment is her first ownership stake in a major professional sports team. She joins a group led by majority owner Samantha Holloway that includes minority investors David Wright, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Holloway became majority owner in December 2024 after the death of her father, David Bonderman, the TPG co-founder whose group, Seattle Hockey Partners, won the expansion franchise. “As a longtime Seattle resident, it means a lot to me to have the chance to make this investment in our city and its future,” French Gates said in a statement. “I’m a big believer in the power of sports, and after many years of cheering on Seattle from the sidelines, I’m excited to have an even deeper connection to the Seattle sports community. Seattle is an engine of innovation in so many ways, and Samantha Holloway’s leadership of the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena reflects that.” Holloway said in the statement, “Melinda is an impressive business leader, philanthropist and importantly, a Seattle sports fan. We share many of the same values, including a deep commitment to Seattle and a belief in building organizations that create lasting impact.” “It’s just time,” French Gates told ESPN. “What you’re seeing is a generation of women coming into their full power. I’ve walked into tough rooms, and being one of the few is very hard. Once we can create enough that we’re one of many, it just gets easier.” Though originally from Dallas, French Gates has lived in the Seattle area for nearly 40 years. She joined Microsoft in 1987, where she met Bill Gates, and worked on multimedia products before leaving in 1996. She co-chaired the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from 2000 until 2024 and now runs Pivotal, a Kirkland-based organization she founded in 2015 to support women and young people in the United States and abroad. One Roof Sports and Entertainment, created in March, owns the Kraken and controls Climate Pledge Arena, along with the Kraken Community Iceplex, the rebuilt Memorial Stadium, and the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The group is pursuing an NBA expansion team for Seattle. What this means for the Kraken Nothing changes from a hockey operations standpoint. Jason Botterill will continue to be the GM, they are conducting an audit, they will pursue free agents and make draft picks and attempt trades and it will be business as usual there. The addition brings financial security. Though the NHL has a hard salary cap, Scouting, front office salaries, player development, analytics, facilities, and support staff are not subject to an NHL salary cap and can vary from organization to organization, depending on the owners’ willingness and ability to spend money. A group with French Gates’s money can cover all of that through a rebuild without needing the team to turn a profit, and won’t be forced to cut costs or tear the team down in a bad year. There is also a very expensive NBA bid going on. In March, the NBA’s Board of Governors voted to explore expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas, and Holloway’s group, advised by JPMorgan Chase and Moelis, is the only public Seattle bidder. The NBA hired PJT Partners to evaluate the markets, ownership groups, and arenas and the expansion fees is projected to be somewhere in the $6 to $10 billion range. French Gates is now an owner in One Roof, the group pursuing the NBA team, so her money is already behind that effort. Though we don’t know the extent of her stake, her fortune is several times the projected fee, and because the NBA weighs the strength of each ownership group, her name helps the Seattle bid. Her most visible impact will probably be in the community. The One Roof Foundation has focused on getting more kids into sports, and French Gates has spent her career working on opportunities for women and families. Holloway said, “We’re really aligned on that.” For the Kraken, the deal leaves them with a richer, steadier ownership group. For One Roof, it adds another prominent name as it tries to bring the NBA back to Seattle.

Firebirds season ends in 4 games in AHL Pacific Division Final

Just not to be. The Coachella Valley Firebirds faced Colorado in Game 4 last night, and unfortunately, with their season on the line, couldn’t stymie the advance of the Eagles in the AHL Postseason, losing a heartbreaker 3-2 hot off the heels of a 4-1 beatdown. Colorado can be a scary place to play hockey. Let’s Give a Hand To… Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: Even in defeat, for these brief few weeks while Colorado’s Ivan Ivan can’t accrue any more points, he leads the AHL playoffs in points with 11 in 12 games played, and is tied for the playoff lead in goals with 7. This young man found another gear in the playoffs, and went from a solid two-way center to a cornerstone of the Firebirds success. This young man already proved, at least in limited engagements in the NHL that he’s already good enough to hang, but this series proved that he may not need the AHL anymore. A properly motivated Mølgaard seems to be a game changer. J.R. Avon: While an otherwise decent but ultimately pedestrian regular season in the AHL may have allowed Avon to skate by unnoticed by the larger hockey world, this second ever playoff appearance in pro hockey may have turned some heads. JR Avon loves postseason hockey; to the point he became the Firebirds leading scorer and the AHL’s leading playoff scorer alongside Mølgaard. Jagger Firkus: While 3rd on the team in points through these playoffs, Firkus’ postseason was an extension of the kind of player he became throughout the regular season; while very adept at goalscoring, he showed a lot of adept playmaking ability that made up for taking a backseat to the Mølgaard/Avon tour (though at 3rd in goals, his performance was more like a solid opening act). He wasn’t the uber-playmaker however, as that honor went to… Jani Nyman: A player whose howitzer shot only found twine thrice this postseason found that his hands could also be useful in getting assists, as he walks away with the most on the team this postseason with 6. One can hope he manages to start utilizing that skillset a little more, as he was a major part of Coachella’s scoring attack this year, and adding a developing playmaking sense to that already strong resume of goals would be a major value add. What’s next for Coachella Valley? Defensive Adjustment Required The Firebirds scored twice, and then Colorado won this game by scoring the next three unanswered. One was the same kind of bizarre bounce that side of the ice was creating all night, but the other two were just the same kind of breakdown they’d been dealing with all regular season. For Coach Laxdal, that has to change next season. A Full Season of Jake O’Brien? While the Kraken are skittish at trusting their young talent, their AHL team is under no such aspersions; allowing young talent to flourish as much as possible. With center wunderkind Jake O’Brien finishing off a 93 point-in-53 game regular season/23 point in 15 game playoffs with the Brantford Bulldogs where he finished top 3 in the entire league, there’s plenty to like about his game that, if it still needs a little seasoning, he could be a dynamite player for the desert. Wanna fly your flag? A number of players could be asked to join their national teams for the IIHF World Championships, of which Philipp Grubauer and Ryan Lindgren are already competing. There’s a non-zero chance these baby Squids could find themselves making auditions for future roles on Team USA or Canada. While it’s obviously not what we’d want to see, we’re just glad the Firebirds remain so strong, and applaud them on another successful AHL season! We’ll see them next year! LET’S GO FIREBIRDS!

Four Options for the Kraken at Pick 7

The NHL Draft Lottery has come and gone, and luck continues to not be on the Seattle Kraken’s side. The Hockey Gods are clearly prepared to drag this team – and fanbase – through years of developing instead of having nice things. The Kraken were one number away from moving up to the 2nd overall pick. Instead, they moved down to the #7 pick after San Jose saw their number drawn. So, now that we know when the Kraken will pick, it is time to look at who is likely to be available – and who the Kraken should select. Keaton Verhoeff, D, North Dakota (NCAA) At 6’4”, 212 lbs, Verhoeff is built to play in the NHL. He is a large defenseman that would undoubtedly help the Kraken’s blueline, which clearly needs a facelift. With the likelihood of Jamie Oleksiak being on the move this offseason or at some point next year, the Kraken will need someone with size and grit to defend the blue line. After a successful 2024-25 season playing for Victoria Royals of the WHL, where he netted 21 goals, he followed it up with an equally impressive season in the NCAA, scoring 20 points in 39 games. In addition to his play on the ice, it is his leadership potential off the ice that makes him that much more desirable. Having represented Canada as team captain at the U18 Men’s International tournament, it is clear he has the potential to lead a team and be a quarterback of the blueline. He was named to Team Canada’s U20 World Junior Championship roster last year, which as a 17-year-old is typically unheard of. Daxon Rudolph, D, Prince Albert (WHL) At 6’2”, 206 lbs, Rudolph possesses the same build as the majority of NHL defenders. While a good majority of draft eligible defenders need an extra year to put muscle and size on, Rudolph has the size and weight to compete immediately. He is coming off a very successful campaign for the Raiders, having scored 78 points in 68 games, while adding 27 points in 18 playoff games so far. Prince Albert has made it to the WHL finals, providing him with playoff experience – a skill the Kraken clearly lack on their roster. Rudolph is not afraid to use his size – having watched numerous games this year, particularly in the playoffs, he makes it very difficult on opponents by wearing them down after taking numerous body checks. He did serve a 1-game suspension for a cross-check to the head of an opponent in the WHL finals, which he will undoubtedly learn from. It is difficult as a teenager to find that line between assertive and overly aggressive, and that typically comes with time and experience. If he can learn to walk the line and stay out of the penalty box, he could be the bodyguard many teams look for in the NHL. This also would provide the Kraken another player who is not afraid to get dirty in the corners – which they lack outside of Jacob Melanson. Ethan Belchetz, LW, Windsor (WHL) A former 1st-overall pick in the OHL draft, Belchetz has the size that every NHL team wants and needs – 6’5”, 228 lbs – and unafraid to use his size. The power in his shot makes him a threat in many situations – the 34 goals in 57 games this season speak for themselves. He is known for his shot and quick feet in tight situations, which generates more possession in the offensive zone – a category the Kraken desperately need help with. The fact he is a winger is a category the Kraken need to upgrade – after Jared McCann and Kaapo Kakko, there is a clear drop in talent level in the rest of the lineup. Belchetz is committed to Michigan State University for the 2026-27 season, which provides a year of development before any Entry Level Contract kicks in. This also gives another year for Belchetz to continue finding his game, battling against opponents with more size and grit in their game. One point worth noting is that Belchetz’s 2025-26 season was cut short, having suffered a broken left clavicle in March, causing him to miss the remaining 11 games plus the entire post season. Windsor made it to the Conference Finals – needless to say, his presence in the playoffs was sorely missed. It will be interesting to see how he finds his game upon his return to skating after such an intense injury at a young age. Brooks Rogowski, C, Oshawa (WHL) Like Belchetz, Rogowski bears size and height that every NHL player wishes they could have – at 6’6”, 236 lbs, he would instantly tower over many players. This is something that coaches cannot teach – and he is not afraid to use his size to his advantage. His height gives him an extended reach, allowing him to deke and maneuver around defenders easier, while also acting as a defensive forward with an extended reach for poke checks. He is known for his puck handling skills, which is a desirable skill to have as a forward. He is an asset on the penalty kill due to his defensive abilities, and his skill on the powerplay stems from his size and net-front presence – he is great at screening the goalie and unafraid of getting into the danger zone. The Kraken desperately need help with their special teams, so having a player of this stature would be a welcome addition. With the fact the Kraken have depth at the center position, this is a great time to develop a young player with these intangible skills – like Belchetz, he is committed to Michigan State University next year, which will provide the Kraken a year of watching him develop before deciding whether to have him spend a year in the AHL or bring him immediately up to compete with the “big boys”. He is currently known first and foremost for his defensive skills – while the Kraken are lacking in the offensive category, the old saying is “defense wins championships” – this pick would be an investment into the defensive style that coach Lambert loves to play.

Firebirds Round 3 Playoffs SO FAR: BIRDFIGHT…2!

The Need to Knows The Times for remaining games: Game 3: May 17 – 5:05pm PDT Game 4: May 20 – 7:05pm PDT Game 5: May 22- 7:05pm PDT The Place: All remaining games in this series will be conducted in Blue Federal Credit Union Arena in Loveland, Colorado Place to Watch: FloHockey What Happened in Games 1 and 2? Shutouts. Shutouts happened. The Eagles came to Coachella’s barn and dropped a 3-0 result on them to open the series… …Not taking that lying down, Coachella came right back in Game 2, and smashed Colorado flat in a 4-0 series tying statement. What to expect from the rest of this series and X-factors Honestly? The beginning of the real series. After two absolute blowouts where both teams took turns making the other look hapless or considerably unlucky, we now get to see how both teams respond. As for playoff performance, the Eagles haven’t been nearly as battle tested as the Firebirds, but that’s because the Eagles are damn good at just eliminating foes when it comes time to; going 2-for-2 against San Diego, and have only surrendered one game prior to Game 2 to the Henderson Silver Knights, and that one was in Double OT. The loss that the Firebirds handed them however suggests that they were not ready for that kind of game; particularly against a forecheck that seems to have adjusted in just such a way to break into their defensive structure and make them look silly. Colorado might be good, but they struggled on the regular season to keep up momentum against Coachella as the season wore on. They certainly didn’t expect to be facing the AHL playoffs’ highest goalscoring duo, and four of the top 7 point-getters in the playoffs to be playing in Coachella; which is just a testament to the work that the Firebirds are getting across their lineup, but specifically JR Avon and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard; who have become game-warping talents out there in the desert, and the work of Jagger Firkus and Jani Nyman, who have become playmakers and goal enablers for the rest of the Firebirds. Colorado meanwhile can boast depth throughout their lineup, and certainly some strong goaltending, but that depth if it can’t get going can look pretty easy to throw off their game. Naturally, this will be a major pain point for the Firebirds to exploit, because unlike the last two games and unlike the last two series; they’ll have to do it all on the road. While the Reign series did feature more games in Ontario than in Coachella, they were spaced out enough that the juice of returning home to their impressively raucous crowd allowed them to take some serious momentum. That will not be the case in this series, as all three of the upcoming games in this series, should they need all of them, will be in Loveland; come hell or high water. The Firebirds need to dig deep, make life easier for Nikke Kokko, and find a way to keep that blowout’s lessons in mind; they can be beaten, they can be flustered. They just gotta do that two more times before we’re in Western Conference Finals territory. LET’S GO FIREBIRDS.

Who is Sportsology?: Seattle Kraken Hire Audit Firm

The Kraken announced Tuesday they have hired Sportsology Group to conduct the external audit of hockey operations that Tod Leiweke first mentioned on April 9, the day after Ron Francis’s departure as president of hockey operations was formally announced. Per the team, Sportsology is “conducting a full assessment of organizational structure, communication and decision-making, player development, amateur and professional scouting, analytics integration, coaching, roster construction philosophy, sports science, medical support, and the alignment between the Kraken and AHL affiliate Coachella Valley. The work is running parallel to the team’s own annual end-of-season review.” The question is: who is Sportsology, what they actually do, and if this audit is an actual audit or if it’s a “ooh look at the shiny distracting thing over here!” piece of theater. Who is Sportsology? Sportsology Group was founded in 2014 by Mike Forde, a Manchester native who spent 6 years as director of football operations at Chelsea FC. The Ringer described Forde as the most powerful person in the NBA that you don’t know. His firm operates across 5 continents and 9 sports. The documented client list is heavy on the NFL and NBA. The Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, and Atlanta Falcons all appear. So do the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Brooklyn Nets, and the entire Harris Blitzer portfolio (76ers, Devils, Commanders, Crystal Palace FC, Joe Gibbs Racing). 4 MLS clubs are listed on Sportsology’s website: FC Cincinnati, LAFC, Chicago Fire, and Inter Miami. The NHL experience is thinner, the most prominent prior hockey engagement being the Chicago Blackhawks GM search after Stan Bowman resigned in the wake of the Kyle Beach sexual abuse scandal. This isn’t a Big Four accounting firm (say…didn’t that used to be a Big Five? Whatever did happen to Arthur Andersen anyway?), but rather a boutique firm focused entirely on professional sports organizations. They have only a couple of dozen employees by public reporting. 78% of the firm’s clients deal directly with ownership, which means the deliverable typically goes above the executives being evaluated. What they can do for Seattle The mechanics are not exotic, because this is a corporate audit and there is nothing remotely exotic about that. Auditors arrive, they interview everyone they can reach: front office, scouting, analytics, coaching staff, medical, support functions, and whoever else may be relevant to hockey operations. They ask how decisions get made, who has authority over what, they identify the silos, and identify who is not pulling their weight. Their strengths lie in identifying good org structures and figuring out where the contributions are actually coming from in the organization they are auditing. Then they deliver a report, and sometimes help ownership turn that report into an implementation plan. The only NHL client I could find publicly that Sportsology worked with is Chicago. After Bowman resigned in October 2021, Danny Wirtz brought Forde in to advise on the GM search alongside Eddie Olczyk (what’s he up to these days?), Marian Hossa, and Patrick Sharp. Wirtz wanted someone who had operated in different sports presumably to get the view of someone who wasn’t institutionalized with the sport’s blind spots. European soccer was far beyond what hockey was doing on the performance and medical side, and Sportsology’s soccer background was very appealing here. The Blackhawks promoted Kyle Davidson to GM, who gave us one of the greatest man on the street interviews ever and no that is not an exaggeration. But the Blackhawks were looking for a GM and used Sportsology to help them find him. The Kraken situation is more analogous to when the Boston Red Sox commissioned Sportsology in 2024. New chief baseball officer Craig Breslow had had the role for about 6 months when he brought Sportsology in to evaluate a baseball operations department of hundreds. Breslow wanted help wrapping his arms around the operation to understand who his people were, what work they were doing, and whether the org structure was working. Sportsology came in and identified a bunch of structural redundancies and reporting issues, gave Breslow a report with recommendations, and Breslow implemented them. The Athletic’s Keith Law called the resulting wave of firings and reassignments “a midnight massacre.” Long-tenured staff were let go or marginalized. Breslow said he was “not afraid to upset the apple cart.” Now, we’ll see in a few years if the Red Sox win as a result. But the audit produced inconvenient findings and the front office acted on them. In this case, there were a lot of extra people (hundreds in baseball operations! hundreds!) and they reduced the workforce. Other audits they’ve conducted did not, by my research, result in massive purges of personnel. It doesn’t seem to be their M.O. The Eagles have been a Sportsology client since last decade. We don’t know what exactly Sportsology recommended to the Eagles when they chose to fire Chip Kelly in December 2015 and hired Doug Pederson. But they won the Super Bowl two years later and are one of the best-run organizations in the NFL, having also won a second Super Bowl since. Feb 4, 2018; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles (L) and quarterback Nate Sudfeld (R) react after defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Eagles won 41-33. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports One Sportsology service is Corporate Knowledge Capture. They take the playbook of organizational philosophy and put it in writing and say “okay, this is how you run your organization successfully using your people and your ethos.” Sportsology helped San Antonio Spurs GM R.C. Buford develop the Spurs Way. Although in this case with the Kraken, there is very little institutional success to codify so far. That probably came off meaner than intended. Sportsology, when it’s had misses, have been mostly the “we recommended the wrong person as GM,” which may or may not be fair given the hit/miss rate of GMs in their respective sports, and the results have been mixed. As far as misses go, Sportsology has a doozy: in 2021 they helped the Dallas Mavericks hire Nico Harrison as GM, who then made the most out-of-nowhere trade in the history of professional sports (and also one of the worst) when he traded Luka Doncic to the LA Lakers for Anthony Davis, a trade so implausible people thought that Shams was hacked when he tweeted the news. In hockey terms, Dallas traded Leon Draisaitl for Mark Stone straight up with no picks. I don’t know how much you peg that one on Sportsology for a trade made three+ years later with still no plausible explanation whatsoever why it happened, but if there are any who happen to be Kraken/Maverick fans reading “this company was a reason why Nico Harrison was the Dallas GM, setting in motion the worst moment in franchise history,” I apologize for putting you through that. Please enjoy Cooper Flagg as a consolation prize. Seattle has indicated they’re keeping the GM, so the Kraken are safe from the next Nico Harrison walking through that door. (Say what you will about the Ron Francis/Jason Botterill power platter the last five seasons: the Kraken almost never lost a trade. Actually, did they ever lose a trade? We might be throwing a perfect game here.) So it’s a structural audit, more like the Red Sox, rather than a search. The work is to examine why the organization that missed the playoffs four out of the last five seasons and figure out the action items. Apr 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) in action during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images What if it’s all a sham? Okay, so how do we know that this isn’t just going through the motions and using this audit as a shield of sorts, saying “oh man, we totally were going to make big changes but ugh the audit said we were really close to being a consistent playoff contender?” I don’t know, but there are things we can look for: A legitimate audit should be defined by its capacity to be inconvenient. Not just “how you do your job” but “why you do it that way, and what happens if you do not?” A legitimate audit would find bottlenecks, find friction/siloed behavior between scouting and analytics (as an example; I don’t know if that’s the case with the Kraken), and creates a clear line of accountability. Asking a bunch of softball questions or meaningless questions (ooh another Meyers-Briggs test! I always get ENTJ) would point more to the sham side of things. More sham things: Scope limitation. If certain people or legacy processes off limits to the auditors (less likely legacy given how new the team is), then you’re not really leaving every stone unturned. This is especially true the higher you go, and the executives should participate fully. It’s really hard to drive structural change when the most important people to the success of the organization aren’t participating. Sham: If they’re talking about holistic talent integration and workflow optimization and business process improvement objectives and they aren’t able to actually provide anything of substance and talk like a real person, we’re in Sham-gri-la. Having worked in corporate environments, I understand that you have to play the game. Depending on the job, being able to speak fluent corporate can be a real asset and gets you on the good side of management and gets you noticed. But vibes can’t be all you bring. I don’t know if the recommendations go down to the hockey operations specifics. Like “drafting 7th every year is going to leave you in playoff purgatory and you’re only a 3% chance to be a Cup contender by 2030” and “buy out Chandler Stephenson, it’s very affordable” etc. or if it’s more about who reports to whom and getting the analytics team to talk to scouting or the GM’s office (like the analytics team surely had to have been sounding some alarm bells when Chandler Stephenson’s name came up during free agency discussion, right?) If the Kraken emerge from the deep dive in order to right the ship amidst stormy waters and nautical metaphor their way to a meaningful different org structure, then it’s a pretty strong indication they took Sportsology seriously and instituted the changes. If they announce the audit is complete, put out a vague statement, and resume business as usual, then the audit probably did nothing. Although this may be the sort of thing that takes years to see the effects, because hockey rosters are slow and hard to move around and the market is so tough right now. We are, of course, not entitled to all or any of the information in the audit, other than revealing nothing would be inconsistent with the messaging and commitments they’ve made so far. So a lot of this is speculative. If, however, the Kraken run a “fly on the wall” contest and you get to be the lucky fan who metamorphosizes into an insect and gets to sit in on the meetings, let us know how it went in the comments! These firms aren’t cheap, even for a sports team. It is more likely than not the Kraken ownership is serious about this. Also, this ownership clearly wants to win, and my guess is it eats them up that they aren’t winning more and are willing to take a hard look in the mirror. But I’m also an optimist.

Firebirds Series RECAP: Coachella goes the distance, wins series against Ontario in double overtime!

The Firebirds punched their ticket to the Pacific Division finals last night with a double OT spectacular, where forward JR Avon, who has absolutely exploded through these last few games, broke through the Reign’s defense and finally put this series to bed, sending Coachella Valley to the Division finals to face Colorado. How did they get there? The Firebirds started this series with a 3-0 shutout in a game Ontario could only say they attended for about 20 minutes; putting up feeble shots on goal through the middle and final periods of the game. In a sign of things to come, JR Avon and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard were the men who led the charge, with some help from Mitchell Stephens and Tyson Jugnauth. This…would be answered in kind. Ontario absolutely blew the doors off of Coachella in Game 2, and then hung on to beat the Firebirds in Game 3, putting them once again on the brink of elimination. However, just like last series, they absolutely locked in for the series tying game 4 wherein 6 different goalscorers found the back of the net, and of course, brings us to Game 5. Highlights from the Final Game! Series Stars JR Avon: Of course the man who ended the series would be considered a star here, but it is really the capper of 6 points in 7 games going back to the Bakersfield series that’s made Avon the star of the playoffs. Only matched by… Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: Mølgaard does a little bit of everything for the Firebirds, and his 5 points in 5 games; 3 of them being goals, just adds to the postseason he is having. Jani Nyman: the big Finn was a little quiet to start the series, but became a point per game player from Game 3 onward, and was instrumental in getting them into this game. Nikke Kokko: After that one game stumble, Kokko has been an absolute wall for the Firebirds; giving them a .917 in Game 3, and then only getting better with each game; Game 5 ending with a .944 SV% on 36 shots! Shots from the Scene! Our intrepid photographer Jenn was at the all important Game 5, and sort of got drafted on an emergency basis to be the official photographer of the game. To say she got a helluva game experience would be wildly underselling it. All Photography provided by @Jennthulhu_Photos on Instagram! Here’s Jani Nyman celebrating his goal!Tensions are running high.It should be noted that the Firebirds loved being up the Reign’s goaltender’s nose.Being a goalie seems like a lot of stress from this angle.Not really from this game, but I do love this shot from Game 3.Stripes making all sorts of friends.Near as I can tell, this is the game winner seconds before it made it.Naturally, celebrations were jubilantAll Photography provided by @Jennthulhu_Photos on Instagram!I’d be jazzed too!No quit in the Desert. Thank you so much for this treasure trove, Jenn. We hope you get a good night’s sleep! What’s next? The Firebirds take on the Colorado Eagles next; the second-best team in the regular season for the AHL Pacific Division. Like I said last time; nobody said any of this was easy. Game 1 of that series begins on Wednesday, May 13th in Coachella Valley. LET’S GO FIREBIRDS!