Hope and Heartbreak
               
This will be the 4th and final season 72 season expectations installment. As a brief rundown of the first 3, Alexandros set a 50-point pace expectations and desire for 60-point season wile being top 5 team in the league and despite a rocky start both expectations and hope were reached finishing with 63 points in 66 games and the Kraken being the 5th best team in the regular season.
 
To put it simply I was very happy with what we were able to achieve during the regular season and I couldn’t be happier with the team this regular season we greatly improved on our previous season and only loosing 1 player going into next season up to 5 hitting TPE cap come next season it points to a bright future next season.
 
With the regular season out of the way though that means it was playoffs time for the Kraken and as the 5th seeded team, we needed to play our way in. our first match opponent for this was the 12th seeded Colorado Raptor, on paper an easy matchup but any series can be dangerous in playoff hockey. This series ended up going to 5 games with the Kraken winning 4 games to 1 after the Raptors managed to win out in game 3. This series went as expected but was closer than the Kraken would have wanted only winning by 1 or 2 goals in some cases but wins are wins and at the end of the day, we put them up and punched our card to round 2 in high spirits. For round 2 our matchup was against a tough 4th seeded Nevada Battleborn and none of us knew the ride we end up being once this series started.
 
 Game 1- This game started out strong for Kraken, 2 goals during the first period before an explosive 4 goal second period that ended up being finished with a 7-1 win for the Kraken. The Kraken had always been more of a defensive focused team so seeing the sheer scoring potential put us in good spirits but we kept our expectations conservative despite the win on home ice, every team can get lucky.
 
Game 2- As good of a start as we had in game 1, they had the good start in game 2 with a 3-1 start in the first period leading to some nail biting before the Kraken bite back at the Battleborn coming into the second period and putting up 3-1 for a tied 4-4 game going into the 3rd. early in the third this tied would be broken by the Battleborn to make the game 4-5 but in the final 11 minutes left we managed to sneak 2 goals in to lock in the 2-0 series lead. This game left the Kraken Locker room ecstatic and we felt unstoppable.
 
Game 3- This would be the Pinnacle of our hype and hope. An early lead going 4-1 in the first period. A lead would last the entire game and be expanded on as we finished it with a big 6-2 score. Despite coming in as the underdog against a higher seeded team we looked unbeatable going up 3-0 in the series with only 1 to go to make it to round 3. But alas after this is when our downward spiral would begin.
 
Game 4- They say when things go down, they go down hard, this rang true for the Kraken as despite a rather even start in the first 2 periods but the Battleborn came out swinging in the 3rd. they put us down scoring 4 in the 3rd to secure a 9-3 loss for us. Hopes were still high, we expected to beat us in at least one they were too good a team not to and we were still up 3-1 in the series after the 2nd stream.
 
Game 5 and 6- I am going to batch these 2 together as they were a bit of a blur for the locker room, we barely felt like we had time to process that we had lost these 2 as we didn’t believe we could. 2 poor 2 goal performances for the Kraken and 2 of the worst games of Alexandros career went by in an instant and we were going on to game 7.
 
Game 7- Game 7 between the Kraken and Battleborn was a damn roller coaster of emotions and game state. The Elation as we started the game 1-0, the fear as they took the lead back 2-1 to finish the first. The back-and-forth tug as we took the lead back 3-2 only for them to tie it right away only for us to take the lead back 4-3 before they flipped it on its head going 4-5 for them to finish the 2nd.the 3rd starts and everyone is uneasy, they score, but we get one back. Then an unspeakable horror settled over the locker room as with 20 seconds a go they ice it and then one to finish it sending us out with a whimper finishing the game 5-8 as a loss. Pain… sorrow…. Sadness…. Loss… a sure thing, ripped out of our hands 4 games in a row. We were devastated and in disbelief after that loss.
 
It is a somber affair in the Kraken locker room but I would like to say to each and every one of our players, our rookies, our managers, our coaches, our captains. You all played some of the best damn hockey of that entire season, many going point per game much of the playoffs and I am damn proud to have played this season and playoffs with you. It brings me nothing but hope for the future as next season we will only be better as we are only losing 1 player to callups and a wealth of sophomores and rookies to enter next season with. Hold your heads high Squids, this isn’t the end, no its the beginning of next seasons cup run as we will be the one of if not the strongest team and with a showing like this only just hitting our peak, we will come back stronger then ever!
 
Thank you to anyone who read through these and followed the Kraken and my season, I hope it was an enjoyable read and maybe I will do a set of them again next who knows. And one last final specific shoutout to @narb111 , I am sorry we weren’t able to achieve a cup for you in your final season with the kraken and we hope we gave you a memorable send off. Also congratulations on top scoring Kraken player in franchise history, it looks like the record will be in jeopardy next season but to have hit it at all is insane.
 
Signing off till next season, Sliceruser – Alexandros Mograine

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