What I like about The Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken is a professional ice hockey team that play in the NHL (National Hockey League). They play in the Pacific Division and made their first debut in the 2021-2022 NHL season. The Seattle Kraken is the first professional ice hockey team to compete in the NHL since the Seattle Metropolitans who won the cup in 1917. Today, I will be talking about how the team came to be, the lore behind their logo, my opinion on the new team and their logo and their unique arena (The Climate Pledge Arena)
How The Team Came To Be:
The initial concept for an NHL expansion team in Seattle was first proposed by the Seattle Hockey Partners. The idea was approved in December of 2018 by the NHL. Quick note: An expansion team is a team that is from a new city. On February 13, 2018, the Oak View Group filed an application to the NHL for a request to make a new expansion team and paid a hefty U.S 10 Million application fee. On December 4th 2018, the NHL Board Of Governors unanimously voted to approve the Oak View Groups decision and started to plan for the new upcoming team.
Hidden Lore Behind The Logo:
The lair of the largest octopus on Planet Earth resides right on the banks of Seattle. According to Tacoma legend, they inhabit the ruins of a collapsed bridge called "Galloping Gertie". National Geographic notes that the biggest on record is 30 ft wide and over 600 lbs. There are two easter eggs hidden in the Kraken’s logo, all homages to the legendary beast that roams the waters.
The Tentacle. If you look closely enough, you can make out a single tentacle curving upwards.
The Eye. In the top right, you can see a glowing red eye. In old Tacoma legend, the giant octopus had glowing red eyes that you could see from miles away.
What I Think Of The Krakens:
I think that making a new expansion team in Seattle was a good choice since there is no major NHL team in the Washington area. I also feel that Seattle hockey fans have been aching to get a new team in the NHL since the Seattle Metropolitans. My only concern is that the NHL is saying that it will not make anymore expansion teams in the near future, so no more opportunity for me to write anymore of these blog posts. (XD) But other than that, I think that the new team is off to a great start, they have Mark Giordano and Vince Dunn who are both exceptionally skilled defensemen. (But I still hope for the Canucks to win their long deserved Stanley Cup)
What Do I Think Of the Krakens Logo?
There are three logos that stand out to me the best, the Canucks logo, the Hartford Whalers (Now defunct) and the Kraken logo. As I stated in the earlier paragraph, the Krakens logo is simple, precise, unique and it portrays the Kraken. The colors fit well together with the exception of the strong red color contrast of the eye. Since the logo was designed in partnership with Adidas, I can see why they did such a good job as Adidas has always made incredible logos.
The Climate Pledge Arena:
Out of all of the NHL arenas, Seattle has taken the crown for the best, most unique arena. This magnificent work of art took over ONE BILLION dollars (from private investors) to build, is 800,000 square feet big and can hold up to 18,000 people (not as good as Rogers Arena but it will do :D) . Furthermore, this arena is heavily centered on the idea of a green/eco-friendly arena. For example, the arena uses/produces no fossil fuels as they use electricity as an alternate energy source. In addition to that, they are the first NHL team and arena to pledge to fully eliminate single use plastics during their opening in October 2021. Generally, NHL arenas use a lot of water, as drinks make up a large portion of the things consumed in the arena and the ice needed for skating also needs a lot of water. But the Climate Pledge Arena is a different story. The arena has proposed the “Rain To Rink” system as a way to sustainably gather water for the ice. The water from the rain is going to collect and fall down from the roof into a 15,000 gallon cistern.
Conclusion:
Overall, I think that this new NHL team from Seattle is a very exciting concept as it is very close to another major hockey city which is Vancouver. (where I live) I hope to see lots of special events and collaborations with the Vancouver Canucks and because I am quite the logo enthusiast, I really like the Krakens logo. Thanks for reading this week's article!
-Trevor
-CITATIONS-
Citations:
Wikimedia Foundation. (2021, October 8). Seattle kraken. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Kraken.
Introducing your Seattle kraken. Seattle Kraken. (n.d.). Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.seattlekrakenhockey.com/.
Kaplan, E. (2020, July 23). How Seattle's NHL team became the Kraken. ESPN. Retrieved October 9, 2021, from https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29520108/how-seattle-nhl-team-became-kraken.
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