Bobservations: Beyond the Games

With three games postponed this week, the Kraken are using a week of practices to "get our thought process clear and straight," says Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol.
Thursday's announcement about veteran forward Jaden Schwartz missing four to six weeks recovering from hand surgery indicates eight days between games will allow Hakstol and his coaching staff to figure out how to fill a significant hole in the group of 12 forwards, already chunked by season-ending knee surgery for fellow forward Brandon Tanev.

While the team searches for the optimal line combinations before next week's road trip, a slowdown in the news flow about sticks and pucks affords a bit of time to think and reflect about hearts and everyday heroes as the inaugural season skates into 2022.
Most of us know and have retold the charming,
feel-good New Year's Day story
of Kraken fan Nadia Popovici meeting with Vancouver Canucks assistant equipment manager Brian "Red" Hamilton in a VIP "green room" at Climate Pledge Arena last Saturday. The 22-year-old medical school student-to-be discovered what she thought was a cancerous mole on the back of Hamilton's neck during the Kraken's Oct. 23 home opener.
Hamilton and the Canucks posted a letter asking for help to figure out who it was among Seattle faithful who "extended and saved my life," said the red-haired, fair-skinned equipment manager in a Zoom video press conference just two hours after the virtual APB and Popovici's identity was sleuthed by Kraken colleagues in our communications and sales groups.
Pretty amazing head start for Popovici, who aspires to be a primary care physician, in large part because she sees herself at skilled at one-on-one interactions. Can confirm that's true, as one reporter of many who talked to Popovici in recent days. Our "interview" was much more conversation than Q-and-A.
Such meaningful and remarkable conversations in this role as Kraken editor in chief continue to humble, enrich and expand the privilege of reporting and telling stories about this unique NHL franchise. The Dec. 30 home game against Calgary is another case in point.

During first intermission, in a team suite, retired U.S. Army Special Forces Sergeant Major Dave Bligh was talking about his friend, Mohammad Mahis, who was attending his first hockey game in the U.S.
Mahis was on hand with his wife and four daughters, ages 7, 6, 3 and one-and-a-half. Just over four months ago, Mahis was desperate to get his family out of Afghanistan once President Joe Biden announced an Aug. 31 deadline to withdraw American troops from the war-torn country.
Fearing for his life and his wife and those gorgeous girls, Mahis reached out to Bligh, a Washingtonian who just re-started civilian life in September as a student teacher at North Thurston High School in Lacey.
Bligh completed a master's degree in American history in 2021 and is doing graduate work in social studies teacher education at St. Martin's University in Lacey. Put me down for auditing a future course he teaches.
The mayhem in Afghanistan was palpable for Mahis and so many others. Media outlets were bursting with images of huge crowds attempting to push their way through the Kabul airport's Abbey Gate, waving papers and seeking any plane seat or space they could muster.
Mahis, who worked as an interpreter with Bligh in 2010, reached out to the sergeant major via Facebook Messenger and the WhatsApp app for any assistance in boarding a flight with his family and his brother.
Bligh immediately touched base with members of special forces both here in the States and abroad. With lots of virtual communications, arrangements were made to get the Mahis family through the challenging Kabul checkpoints and onto one of the military flights bound for America.
None of us missed the tragic news of Aug. 26, when a late-afternoon suicide bombing rocked the Abbey Gate, killing 13 U.S. service members and some 200 people (most Afghans) overall, plus injuring scores more, including 18 Americans.
"It's surreal," said Bligh in the team suite when asked about how he felt watching the game with the Mahis family along with the Lightfoots, an Olympia host family who have opened their home to the Afghan family (with Bligh's help) as Mohammad figures out a path of employment and living arrangements.

"On the day we were trying to get Mohammad and the family out of the country, they were going through the [Abbey] gate about two hours before where the suicide vest went off. If you would have told me back then we would all be here watching a Kraken game together ... not sure I would have believed it."
The Bligh, Mahis and Lightfoot families were introduced and honored during a television timeout of the second period. A standing ovation ensued after a brief telling of the story.
Bligh paused while we both looked at three Mahis daughters sitting close together, smiling, on a sofa. The three-year-old was beaming the entire intermission. Mahis was nearby, holding the 18-month-old in his arms. Bligh nodded toward his friend and the newest born.
"The Taliban was shooting when the family came through the airport," said Bligh. "The baby lost her hearing for while ... it's better now."
"I'm so happy for my kids," said Mahis. "They don't know everything that is going on in the game, but are so happy and having fun."
Mahis explained he had watched one hockey game before the Flames-Kraken matchup. In 2017, the Canadian embassy in Afghanistan and the Conservation Organization for Afghan Mountain Areas team built an outdoor rink at high altitude. A Canadian squad played a group from Denmark, but Mahis added "nothing like this!"
"For myself, I worked five to six years for the U.S. Army," said Mahis. "I understand the culture a bit. For my wife and family, it is all new things. It's exciting. I'm so thankful."