The Seattle Kraken won a playoff series for the first time in franchise history Sunday, and they’ve done so with a veritable deluge of ex-Caps paving the way. Philipp Grubauer, Daniel Sprong, Justin Schultz, and Andre Burakovsky have all made their mark on the emerging franchise.
Former Capitals haven’t just helped the Kraken on the ice, however. Kraken video coach Tim Ohashi has taken what he learned over five years in the District out west, proving a vital part of the Kraken’s success.
And those calls might have won them the series.
In a tight seven-game series between the Kraken and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche, Ohashi’s video work led to two successful coach’s challenges, wiping Avalanche goals off the board. The first came in Game Six when what would have been a game-opening goal by Bowen Byram that was ruled offside.
An even more critical call for Ohashi came in Game Seven. Though Seattle had a 2-0 lead at the midway mark of the winner-take-all game, the Avalanche pushed back to take back the game. By the start of the third, it was 2-1, and a Nathan MacKinnon slap shot looked like it had tied the game 2-2.
Ohashi and video assistant Brady Morgan knew better, having seen Artturi Lehkonen enter the zone too early without an offsides call. Challenging the goal was a risky move for head coach Dave Hakstol: if Ohashi was wrong, the Kraken would go shorthanded in a tie game. But he made the call anyways, and they were right. The score reverted to 2-1, where it remained through the final buzzer.
The goal taken off the board: pic.twitter.com/cbTFeh3745
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) May 1, 2023
“They nailed it,” Hakstol said of Ohashi and Morgan after the game. “That is not an easy task and they had it immediately.” In fact, the two had identified the missed call before the puck had even gone in the net.
Hakstol highlighted the impact of the successful challenges.
“Those guys, they did it a couple of times this series, right?” Hakstol said. “That’s a huge point momentum-wise in the game with that goal being disallowed early in the third period.”
That impact was felt by Kraken players as well.
“Obviously that’s a huge turning point in the game,” said Philipp Grubauer, once again on a team with Ohashi. “If they tied it up, it’s 2-2, it’s maybe a different game.”
“I mean when you just sort of allow a goal, you’re on the ice and you skate to the bench and they’re saying it could be offside, you’re like ‘thank God,'” said alternate captain Yanni Gourde. “They have our back, and they’ve been doing an amazing job. It’s a great feeling when they say it’s offside.”
Ohashi predates both the Kraken’s players and most of their staff on the team, joining the organization nearly a year before they played their first game. The Maryland native had spent the previous five years with the Capitals, starting as an intern before joining the coaching staff full-time.
Growing up as a Caps fan, Ohashi analyzed the team from the tender age of seven. He was a member of the Capitals’ coaching staff for the 2018 Stanley Cup run, winning a championship with his childhood team. For his day with the Cup, he stayed local, taking it to the Lincoln Memorial and Bethesda’s police station.
Now across the country from where he grew up, Ohashi is once again joining a team competing for the Stanley Cup. In part thanks to him, the Kraken are a quarter of the way there.
S/T to Pete Robinson for the idea.
Headline photo courtesy of @keeperofthecup
