Seattle Kraken center Berkly Catton returned to the lineup for Wednesday night’s road game against the Dallas Stars.
Unfortunately for Seattle, that game didn’t go well as the Kraken fell 4-1. That loss handed the team its third consecutive loss. But their opponent for Thursday night, the St. Louis Blues, have also lost their last three contests.
Before Wednesday night’s game against the Dallas Stars, Catton had been on the injured reserve with an upper body injury he’d been battling since late January.
Kraken coach Lane Lambert said it’s just been a progression of learning for the 5-foot-10, 179-pound Catton this year.
“If you look at last night against Dallas, big D men, [Lian] Bichsel and [Esa] Lindell and these guys, Berkly’s not a big guy, Berkly has to move, he has to use his feet,” Lambert said. “If he gets pinned off, it’s hard for him to get out of trouble.”
Lambert explained it’s just part of his learning curve at the NHL level.
“He has to make sure he’s using his speed and his quickness and assessing which way to go,” Lambert said.
Outside of that injury this season, Catton has compiled five goals and six assists for 11 points in 41 games played.
“Coming into the year, I didn’t know what exactly was going to happen,” Catton said. “The guys have been so welcoming and so good to me.”
He explained he’s just trying to bring his game and trying to create offense. Defensively, he wants to play well and impact the game.
The rookie center previously spent time at the major junior level in the Western Hockey League with the Spokane Chiefs.
During his time in Spokane, Catton compiled a mark of 116 goals and 168 assists for 284 points in 197 games played. In his last season with the Chiefs, the team went to the league championship series, ultimately falling to the Eastern Conference champion Medicine Hat Tigers.
“That was a fun year I think,” Catton said during morning media availability Thursday. “Came in as a 16-year-old and we weren’t a very good team and then a couple years later we were in the finals.”
He noted the addition of Andrew Cristall and how it was a lot of fun with the core group they had. As far as what he took to the Kraken from his time with the Chiefs, Catton said it was nice having a coach like Brad Lauer.
“He’s coached in the NHL and coached lots of NHL players, so I think having the ability to pick his mind and kind of talk to him and obviously playing in the Western League, every night was a good matchup,” Catton said. “I learned a lot and try to carry as much as I could over.”
Catton was set to face a fellow former WHLer Thursday night in former Portland Winterhawks goaltender Joel Hofer. The two never played against each other, but Catton knew what the challenge would be in front of him.
Going into Thursday night’s matchup, Hofer had 12 wins on the season with four shutouts and a 2.94 GAA along with a .895 save percentage.
“Hofer’s a great goalie,” Catton said. “I’ve heard lots from guys who are older than me that he’s a tough opponent, so I’m looking forward to it tonight.”
The Kraken are currently in the second wild card spot in the NHL’s Western Conference with a record of 27-21-9.
“We know how important these games are,” Catton said.
He mentioned the Olympic which every team had and that it’s time to go and that it’s going to be a big stretch where they have to win hockey games.
“I think we’re ready,” Catton said.
Northwest Sports Desk 