DALLAS — There is no joy among the Kraken players now, but they shouldn’t be short on pride.
They might not have made any celebratory toasts Monday night, May 15, but they spent the past month as the toast of the town.
This fledgling franchise just gave Seattle a gift that spanned 14 games over this postseason, captivating the Emerald City in a way few saw coming before the playoffs began.
Pain is understandable after that 2-1 defeat to Dallas in Game 7, but that improbable run was pure pleasure.
It’s wild to juxtapose the Kraken of the past few weeks against the Kraken of the previous three months.
It’s even wilder to compare the playoff Kraken to the team that finished with the third-worst record in the NHL last season.
Yes, it’s postseason hockey, where unpredictability is a factory setting.
But to knock out the Stanley Cup-champion Avalanche in the first round and then take the Stars to seven in the second?
It will likely go down as the foundation for the long-term love affair between this team and its city.
“It won’t register tonight, but this group changed the landscape of hockey in Seattle,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “This group changed the culture, and the trajectory and the belief of our franchise.”
There are a lot of people reading this column who have been Kraken die-hards from the second they were announced as the NHL’s 32nd expansion team.
But there are likely many others who would have struggled to name three players on the roster 30 days ago.
Even though Seattle surged to the top of the standings in the earlier part of the season and reached the playoffs in its second year, the organization wasn’t generating the same citywide buzz as staples such as the Seahawks, Mariners and Huskies.
Then came Game 1 vs. Colorado, when the Kraken stunned their heavily favored opponent and the NHL universe by posting a 3-1 victory.
Then came Game 4 in Seattle, when Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar became Climate Pledge Arena’s top villain via a cheap shot on left winger Jared McCann, which ignited the Kraken and their fans en route to an overtime win.
And then came Game 7 in Denver, when Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer channeled his inner Patrick Roy full Brinks in his team’s 2-1 victory.
Suddenly the Kraken weren’t just on par with the aforementioned Seattle sports teams; they had seemingly topped them in terms of fan fervor. And when they scored four goals in the first period of their series opener vs. the Stars, that fervor reached a fever pitch.
Five goals in Game 1, seven goals in Game 3, and six more in Game 6 — they didn’t just look like a threat to win the series but one to win the Stanley Cup.
Who foresaw this taking place?
Not many outside of Seattle’s dressing room.
“From Day One everyone’s kind of written us off. We took a big leap this year,” Kraken right winger Jordan Eberle said. “I don’t think anyone expected us to make the playoffs, nobody expected us to beat Colorado, and I’m sure nobody had us to get to seven here.”
Unfortunately for the Kraken, they looked far more enervated in Monday’s Game 7 than they did energized.
Dallas dominated for most of the night, and if not for the majestic play of Grubauer, Seattle could have lost by four or five goals.
Following a deluge of quality shots, the Stars finally got on the board 16 minutes into the second period after defenseman Jamie Oleksiak mishandled the puck to set up a Roope Hintz goal.
They’d add one more late in the third, but even before that two-goal lead was established, Seattle’s likelihood of tying the score appeared to be under 1%.
As Hakstol said after the game — the Kraken never found that top gear. They were clearly outplayed by Dallas, which didn’t allow a goal until 19 seconds remaining in the game. Sometimes those losses are easier to take when you know you were lucky it was even close.
Still didn’t mean players weren’t hurting.
“Tough pill to swallow, for sure,” Grubauer said.
But Grubauer also said how proud he was of the team and how it played throughout the playoffs.
Seattle center Yanni Gourde echoed his goalie’s thoughts.
There were no celebrations for this team Monday night — but this season provided plenty to celebrate.