Two long-sidelined Kraken players heard the roars from ice level again Sunday afternoon at the Super Skills Showcase. The lower bowl of Climate Pledge Arena filled with fans who got a smaller-scale All-Star Game skills competition experience — Seattle players only — for a fraction of the price of a game ticket.
“Great day for the fans. It was amazing to see how many people came here today,” Kraken forward Joonas Donskoi said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been out there, so it was good to see the fans and experience that again.”
Donskoi, who suffered a preseason injury and hasn’t played since, served as an honorary captain for one team alongside goaltender Chris Driedger, who also hasn’t appeared in a game yet this season following offseason knee surgery, who was the other captain. Driedger’s team downed Philipp Grubauer’s group last season, and won for a second straight year … probably.
“I don’t know how our team ended up winning, I thought we were tied,” Morgan Geekie admitted. “But we get the trophy. I guess we won.”
Most of Donskoi’s afternoon on the ice was spent wrangling his 1½-year-old son, who seemed to be sending a clear message: “Put me in, coach.”
“He loves being on the ice. Every time I try to get him off the ice, he starts crying,” Donskoi said.
Alternate captain Jordan Eberle skated in on his first breakaway challenge attempt with his daughter in tow. Father and daughter missed, and teammate Brandon Tanev kept her upright on the bench while Eberle took his second, successful attempt — a gorgeous, behind-the-back chip-in.
They did keep track of how many pucks went into the net during the breakaway challenge. There were no grades for artistry, though how does one pass up such a chance? Rookie center Matty Beniers, set to be the Kraken’s sole representative at the actual NHL All-Star skills competition in less than two weeks, went ahead and scored through his legs. Oliver Bjorkstrand converted a casual first bid. Geekie scored lacrosse-style, waving the puck around sealed to his stick blade before flinging it in. The move was borrowed from a Sidney Crosby commercial of his youth.
“It’s pretty outrageous. I would never try it, ever,” Geekie said. “But the game’s going in the direction where you kind of try what you want these days.”
Though some competitive fire creeped in, it was about the spectacle and fun. There was a quick radio and broadcast booth hardest shot competition. TV color analyst JT Brown begged off, citing offseason hip surgery, and made the unfair request that Kraken forward Daniel Sprong take his place. Sprong’s rip was in excess of 98 mph.
Geekie, the defending hardest shot competition winner, ran into controversy last year when the radar gun may or may not have malfunctioned. On Sunday, he left no room for doubt. Geekie’s first attempt was 100.9 mph, which was good enough to win. His second, for emphasis, was 104.8 mph.
He pointed out that he worked smarter, not harder.
“There’s a little bit of a trick to it. I think if you shoot it lower, it registers a little better,” Geekie said.
“I honestly didn’t think I’d (win) — Spronger’s got a way better shot than I do. Same with (Cale) Fleury — I thought Fleury had it for sure.”
Eeli Tolvanen completed the accuracy shooting challenge just under the wire, knocking down his last target as time ran out. Jared McCann struggled in that challenge and Daniel Sprong finished strong, winning handily. He knocked out all of his targets two at a time with just a few misses.
Players who have missed time recently with injuries, such as Andre Burakovsky and Justin Schultz, looked on but did not participate. Yanni Gourde, who played in Seattle’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche the night before, took on some emceeing duties.
The finale was a low-scoring 3-on-3 scrimmage. McCann took a swing at a puck and got more on it than he’d intended, sending it toward defenseman Jamie Oleksiak and narrowly avoiding real-world consequences.
“I was about an inch away from taking out his teeth — his brand-new teeth,” McCann said. “I was scared for my life after that. Probably shouldn’t have done that.”