Playoffs Calling...

As the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs unfolded with dramatic flourish this week, the fun and furious action will get even better this weekend. That's because Kraken play-by-play announcer and future Hockey Hall of Famer John Forslund will begin calling nationally televised games for Turner Sports.

He's in Boston Friday for Game 3 of the Carolina Hurricanes-Boston Bruins first-round Eastern Conference series, then makes his way to Tampa Bay for Game 4 of Toronto Maple Leafs-Tampa Bay Lightning Sunday in another Eastern Conference first-round showdown.
Both games start at 4 p.m. for your late-afternoon hockey supply with Friday on TNT and Sunday airing on TBS. Forslund will pair with Keith Jones in the booth Friday and Eddie Olczyk Sunday.
Here's the best link
to know where to find postseason games, since the schedule will adjust with two networks, Turner Sports and ESPN, having rights to games. Look for our regular "Forslund Focus" updates to notify Kraken fans when their fave play-by-play broadcaster brings his enthusiasm, hockey IQ and Stanley Cup-tested sense of humor to big games ahead.
When asked for his favorite reason why he loves the NHL postseason, Forslund, as per his own high standards, cut right to it.
"The emotion of it all, both fan bases are so connected to their teams," Forslund said. "You can feel it, the attachment of fans in the arena and with the camera back in the opposing city to get a feel what's going on there.
"It leads to tremendous energy in the building and for the players, shift to shift, moment to moment. Anything can happen. You understand the commitment of the players, the need to bounce back from a loss, play through injuries."

Forslund, who by rough math is nearing 3,000 NHL games called, has long contended the Stanley Cup is "the hardest trophy to compete for a win." Four rounds of best-of-seven series or 16 wins is one reason, especially if there is high-level tension between teams (such as Carolina goaltenders getting physically roughed up by veteran Boston forwards).
Dispensing with 3-on-3 overtimes and shootouts is another reason, plus playing every other night in the early rounds. Overtime goes until one team scores. Pittsburgh beat the New York Rangers in triple overtime Tuesday (effectively playing two games in one) and returned to the rink for a game 43 hours later.
"Fans understand they are on a journey with their team, too," Forslund said. "It's an every-other-night occasion on the ice but a constant thought-process during every playoff series. Fans even have their own superstitions, eat the same foods, wear the same [presumably lucky] clothes, take the same route to the arena... and who are we to say that it doesn't matter what the fans do?"
As for the specific games he will call this week, Forslund has studied the first two games of each series and can tap into his experience as the Hurricanes' play-by-play man before coming to Seattle, plus calling national games for NBC involving the two-time defending Lightning, along with Boston and Toronto, too.
"The main point of the Boston-Carolina series is, if you're Boston, is your A+ game good enough to beat Carolina? The Hurricanes use defensive quickness that can be overlooked at times [a style of play for which Seattle GM Ron Francis supplied many foundational players to the current roster in the GM role in Carolina]. After six periods of play, there is nothing to say Boston can take the series.
"With the goalie change [ex-NCAA star Jeremy Swayman starts Game 3], maybe they are hoping to win a game or two. But hope by itself never works. The Hurricanes are superior during 5-on-5 play."
Toronto won the opening game of its series with Tampa Bay by the lopsided score of 5-1. The Lightning responded with a 5-1 built-up lead of their own in Game 2, but the Maple Leafs did score two late as per their ability to come back via a potent group of scoring forwards.
"I think this series could go deep [to six or seven games]," Forslund said. "Tampa Bay found it in Game 2. There is no conclusion from the first two games. You know Toronto has the ability to come back. I see this series as completely level."
Back to those fan bases Forslund mentioned earlier. Original Six franchise Toronto hasn't won a Cup since 1967 while TBL followers are yearning for a three-peat. You have to imagine the emotions of Maple Leafs fans will be mountain-high or valley-low by late Friday night.
"In this series, the best offensive players have to do the job," Forslund said. "[Auston] Matthews for Toronto and [Nikita Kucherov] for Tampa Bay. They both need to score to help their team get to the next round.
"The one difference in this series is the Lightning have a defenseman [Victor Hedman] who can control the game from that position [clearly the case in the Game 2 win by analytics or 'eye test']. Toronto has no one on the back end who can do that. Hedman plays high-20 minutes every night and controls play and the puck in every facet of the game."