SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken's first team captain will be honored in a pre-game ceremony Wednesday night, even though it may also be his final week in a Kraken uniform.
The Kraken will honor Mark Giordano for recently playing in his 1,000th NHL game, a tremendous professional accomplishment that came during a recent road trip. However, Head Coach Dave Hakstol announced he won't be in the lineup, which is sure to fuel speculation in advance of Monday's trade deadline.
Giordano did nothing to dispel the idea, during an interview with KING 5 on Tuesday.
"I don't think it's a secret that I'm 38 years old, and I'd like to play in playoffs and have a chance to win a Stanley Cup," he told KING 5 in a sit-down interview after a team skate. "Ron was honest with me, and I was honest with him, and we had a great conversation. I think we have a great relationship. I'm sure if there's something that can work out and help both sides, I mean, he's going to try and push the franchise further ahead. He said he'll accommodate me, but I'm living day-to-day to be honest, like, never been through this before in my career."
Giordano was the designated team leader from the opening of camp. He was the former captain of the Calgary Flames, where he had played his entire 15-year career. He was selected by the Kraken in the expansion draft and almost instantly elevated as a face of the franchise.
The season has not necessarily gone according to plan on the ice as the team tried to coalesce around COVID-related disruptions.
"You don't want to make excuses. But at the start of the year, when when you're bringing in 25 guys who've never played with each other, never met each other off the ice, never got a chance to hang out over the summer – we had things set up for team building and hanging out and getting to know each other and to have those all canceled because of COVID, it does affect things for sure," said Giordano.
Still, as he sat in the arena wearing a t-shirt with the logo of Seattle-based Pearl Jam, he talked fondly of the city.
"My wife, my family and I, we've seen quite a bit of this city. We love it. I mean, the atmosphere in the arena, night in night out has been great. So there's really, really nothing to complain about," Giordano said. "The buzz in the crowd after we score a goal, the atmosphere is pretty special. Then as far as the facility I mean, it's second to none. We have everything we need. As players come out it's pretty cool. It's different with the two score clocks, but it's pretty cool to have some different like that as your home rink."
Giordano said while the immediate future may be uncertain, he believes the foundational pieces exist in Seattle. He name-checked teammates Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Vince Dunn, Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev as other Kraken leaders.
"I keep saying to everyone, friends around the league and teammates here, this is going to be a pretty special place to play for a long time and you know, I'm looking forward to the day that the Seattle Kraken are in a playoff spot and in the playoffs here because it's going to be pretty cool in this building," Giordano said.