2 years in, Kraken pull off first NHL playoff berth

It's a reality for Seattle hockey fans — the Kraken clinched a playoff spot with a win over Arizona Thursday night. So, how far could the Kraken go? Kate Shefte covers the team for the Seattle Times. She told KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about their dramatic turnaround from their expansion season to year two.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kate Shefte: They may have been up against some very unrealistic expectations last year. The most recent expansion team was the Vegas Golden Knights, who went to the Stanley Cup Finals immediately. I think that set the bar just impossibly high for other expansion franchise teams. Seattle stumbled out of the gate, struggled in pretty much all areas, sank to the bottom of the league, and never recovered.

But in the offseason, they got some complementary pieces, nothing too flashy, but just filled in some gaps. By late October, it was clear this was not the same inaugural Seattle Kraken team. They found their scoring and they were tighter defensively. They were getting adequate goaltending. In all areas, they were just better, and this season they've gone on some record-setting win streaks. It's all just kind of gone right for them.

About a year ago, the vibe was completely different. You had disappointed fans, and spotty attendance. It wasn't hard to find tickets for a game. How would you describe where the Kraken fan base is right now?

Resale tickets have been above $100 for most of the year, which is kind of wild. Not an easy night out for everyone. Diehards were very nervous after the first season. They were wondering if this was all smoke and mirrors. But right now, this is a new and exciting postseason experience for them. The fan base seems pretty psyched from what I can tell.

Up ahead, what should fans be looking for? Is there a particular matchup that the Kraken should be worried about?

They might be playing the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche. They will almost certainly be playing the winner of the Central Division. Right now, Colorado and the Dallas Stars are tied at 100 points. The Minnesota Wild are two points back. All three teams gave them a run for their money in the regular season. They’re all going to be tough outs. But Seattle has been an excellent road team. If the series goes to seven games, Seattle would start on the road as the lower seed and then could play four road games. That suits them and their success this season very well. It might just work. We'll see.

Without crashing our dreams of getting to the Stanley Cup, can you set some expectations for us? Is that out of the question?

I don't know if it's out of the question. Even getting past the Colorado Avalanche or the Dallas Stars in the first round of the playoffs is going to be an absolutely daunting task. Then they will have another very tough matchup. Wild things happen in the NHL playoffs. The parity is maybe unmatched. You see number eight seeds upset one seeds. Anything is possible. If they get hot at the right time, they could do it. But even getting through the first round is going to be tough.

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