“Playing,” he wrote.
The 21-year-old forward was going to make his NHL debut in about 9½ hours, skating for the Seattle Kraken against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena.
He had gone from an undrafted free agent to the American Hockey League rookie scoring leader in the regular season, and now he was going to leap into the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
“Omg,” his mother responded. “Ok. Get us tickets.”
Each of Kartye’s parents was at work in Kingston, Ontario. His mother, Richelle, is the clinical nurse educator in the cardiac program at Kingston Health Sciences Centre. His father, Todd, is a chemistry teacher at Bayridge Secondary School.
[RELATED: Complete Avalanche vs. Kraken series coverage]
They were more than 1,600 miles away, but there was no way they were going to miss this.
“I was talking to Tye all morning,” his mother said. “I’m like, ‘Tye, are you (getting called) up? Let me know as soon as you hear.’ I said, ‘If you’re going to dress, we’re coming.’ And he’s like, ‘How?’ And I’m like, ‘I’ll find a way.'”
They did, and they got to see their son score his first NHL goal in a 3-2 win that gave Seattle a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. The Kraken can eliminate the defending champs in Game 6 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Friday (10 p.m. ET; TNT, SN, TVAS, ROOT-NW, ALT).
Kartye is an underdog story within an underdog story. The journey — his and his parents’ — will put a lump in your throat.
“A year ago, a year and a half ago, this was my wildest dream,” Kartye said, “so this day’s been pretty special.”
* * * * *
The Kraken invited Kartye to training camp before their inaugural season of 2021-22 and signed him to a three-year entry level contract March 1, 2022.
He had 79 points (45 goals, 34 assists) in 63 games for the Soo Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League in 2021-22, plus nine points (seven goals, two assists) in 10 playoff games.
After another training camp with the Kraken, he had 57 points (28 goals, 29 assists) in 72 games for the Coachella Valley Firebirds this season to lead AHL rookies in scoring. He has two goals in three playoff games for them.
It just so happened that he traveled with the Firebirds to Colorado Springs on Tuesday, because they were playing the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate, on Wednesday.
He ended up in Denver instead Wednesday because Kraken forward Jared McCann had been injured in Game 4 on Monday. He took McCann’s spot on the left wing with center Matty Beniers and right wing Jordan Eberle.
“He’s got a great shot,” Eberle said after the morning skate, foreshadowing the night to come. “He can finish. I think he’s a smart player. He’s a big body (5-foot-11, 202 pounds). Doesn’t look it, but he’s strong. He can win battles. When you have that depth within your organization and you’re able to bring guys up who can make an impact, that’s huge.”
As soon as Kartye’s mother found out he was playing, she told his father. Todd said he immediately asked the principal of the school if he could leave work early, saying, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ve got to go.”
Kartye’s parents sped about 2½ hours from Kingston to Toronto Pearson International Airport, while Richelle’s brother, Dave Stevenson, booked them a 5 p.m. ET flight to Denver. When they got to the airport, they got lucky. Security was smooth. They booked a hotel in downtown Denver while they waited to board.
They landed in Denver about 6:30 MT, about an hour before face-off. After taking a taxi to the hotel for a pit stop, they took an Uber to Ball Arena. They weren’t going to make it in time for Tye’s first shift, so Richelle’s brother held up his phone to the TV back in Kingston so they could watch it via FaceTime in the car.
They arrived about three minutes into the game and sat in Section 148, Row 12, Seats 3 and 4 behind the Kraken bench, where Seattle shot in the second period, the perfect spot for the magical moment.
Eberle carried the puck up ice on the right wing about midway through the second period, right in front of them. As Eberle carried it around the net, Kartye found a spot in the right circle, about lined up between his parents and the net.
“I thought, ‘He’s going to bury a one-timer if he gets a chance,'” Todd said.
Eberle passed the puck from left to right across the zone, and Kartye did just that. He fired a one-timer past Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev to give the Kraken a 2-1 lead at 9:59.
“I was just kind of driving the net, and I saw he had the puck and tried to get open, and obviously he made a pretty special pass there,” Kartye said.
Video: SEA@COL, Gm5: Kartye scores first NHL goal in Game 5
The feeling when the puck went into the net?
“Just happiness,” he said.
TV cameras caught Kartye’s parents celebrating in the stands — Todd in a Greyhounds hat, Richelle in a Firebirds hat and Kraken shirt.
“It was utter chaos in that moment in my mind, thinking the kid has come from so far, not being drafted, signing as a free agent, working his tail off so that he can produce, and when he finally got a chance, buried his chance,” Todd said. “I’m a very proud parent right now as the father of my son right now. Tremendous feeling.”
Richelle smiled.
“Tye has worked so hard to be here, and we are just so proud of him,” she said. “All of the effort and work he’s put into what he loves to do is finally paying off.”
* * * * *
Kartye did more than score. He had three hits in 8:42 of ice time and drew praise for his all-around effort.
“All game long, he was all over the place,” Kraken forward Yanni Gourde said. “He was in everyone’s grill. He was on the forecheck, on the backcheck. He was great in the ‘D’ zone. He finished every hit he had. He came up, and he played the big, big, big minutes. And great goal by him. Obviously to get your first NHL goal in the playoffs in Game 5, it’s pretty remarkable, and my hat’s off to him.”
Coach Dave Hakstol said Kartye didn’t seem wowed by the situation, and that’s why the Kraken felt comfortable playing him.
“It’s not about the goal that he scored tonight,” Hakstol said. “Like, that’s great instincts for him to be in that spot, to find that space, and a great play by ‘Ebs’ to get it to him. But he also has pretty good instincts in other areas, kind of the hard areas of the game, on the wall, getting out of the zone. Those areas, he’s got pretty good instincts, and he’s obviously worked to be comfortable in those situations. So good for him, happy for him, proud of him, and obviously he helped us get a win tonight.”
Afterward, Kartye sat on a podium in a press conference, trying to sum up a dream come true.
“It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “It was a whirlwind. But I’ve been working hard for a long time, and it feels pretty good.”
