Sept. 20, 08:44 am | Bylsma has to play quickly, passes to Gourde

Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma has been looking forward to the start of training camp on the ice Thursday since the day he was offered and accepted the new job. In a media frenzy amplified by additional local television cameras and personnel, he appeared both happy and determined.

“Everyone should get the message that we are going to be a skating team, a fast and competitive team,” Bylsma said when asked what he told the 60 players practicing in three groups. “I’m going to challenge these guys to compete every day in everything we do. We’re going to skate. We’re going to skate up and down. We’re going to play with tempo and speed.”

That also makes veteran center and fan favorite Yanni Gourde happy and determined. During a conversation on Wednesday, he suggested that free agent signings Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour will increase the pace factor.

“You think about the two new additions. They’re great, great, talented players, but they work hard,” said Gourde, whose work ethic is undeniable. “They work hard, both of them. Yeah, I love it. They’re fast players. They’re going to bring the tempo of this team up, and that’s going to be part of our identity — playing fast and playing faster than we did last year, I think.”

This speed works best when linemates and defense pairs can accurately anticipate the direction their teammates are running as they rush down the ice to create scoring opportunities or quickly switch back to defense mode to turn the opponent’s rush into an attacking opportunity or to advance other play developments.

“It’s just about knowing your spots and being predictable,” Gourde said. “Playing faster doesn’t necessarily mean skating with the puck. It’s more about moving the puck faster. It’s about getting to your spots faster, knowing where the puck is going to be, knowing what the next play is going to be. That way, everyone is on the same page, you don’t have to think as much, everyone is on the same page. That way, you look faster as a team (and play faster). It’s not about, ‘Oh, we need to practice skating.’ It’s not about skating, it’s about moving the puck.”

Let’s close with Bylsma, who said he wants to build an “extremely competitive” team with this Kraken squad, which, as all Kraken fans can imagine, brings a smile to the energetic and relentlessly difficult-to-beat Gourde.

“I think we’ll get there,” said Bylsma, who noted that he and his coaching staff (which includes new CVF coach Derek Laxdal and his group until the start of AHL Coachella Valley) have 19 days to prepare before the Oct. 6 home opener. “You’ll see it (the competitive factor) in our practices before games. At the last practice before every game, usually at the end, we’ll do (one-on-one combat drills) to set the tone for what we’re going to do the next night.”

Bylsma paused, perhaps raising an eyebrow slightly, which was difficult to see under his octopus baseball cap (incidentally, he threw out the first pitch in the Yankees’ game against the Mariners on Wednesday): “Now I guess you’re going to take my word for it. This should happen at every practice before a game.”