Seattle’s search for its NHL team name went deep, all the way down to the home of a mythical sea monster.
Welcome the Kraken, intended to convey ferocity, fantasy and no doubt a small fortune for the league and its newest club via sweaters and hat sales ahead of an on-ice debut in October of 2021.
To the applause of construction workers at the city’s renovated Climate Pledge Arena, the name of the 32nd franchise was announced Thursday, with Kraken a frontrunner from the day the franchise was officially granted for $650 million US late in 2018.
With an accompanying video of the Northwest Pacific’s stormy waters and the city skyline, the name and a stylized ‘S’, in the form of a serpent with a red eye, was unveiled by vice-president of marketing Heidi Dettmer. The team colours have three shades of blue ‘Deep Sea Navy, ‘Ice’ and ‘Shadowy’ with a dash of red and grey.
“As a child growing up here, my grandfathers would entertain my cousins and I with sea voyages and beasts of the deep,” Dettmer said. “As I got older, I learned the largest octopus on Earth lives right here in our waters and about the legend of King Octopus under Tacoma Narrows Bridge. And hockey has always been here, a sleeping giant ready to be awoken.”
Of course, team officials knew there’d be some ridicule about the monicker via social media, with CPA quickly dubbed the ‘Krak House’ and its fans ‘Krak Heads’. But also trending on Twitter was a clip of actor Liam Neeson as Zeus from 2010’s Clash Of The Titans, roaring ‘release the Kraken!’
Merchandise with that motto is already available, though proceeds from the first sales are going to local charities. Many expect that Neeson bit will be shown at the start of a game or during a Seattle power play. A Kraken was also featured in the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise, produced by Seattle owner Jerry Bruckheimer.
“I’m really excited about the name,” said Reggie, a cook at Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and bar near Pioneer Square. “It means a lot here in Seattle, because of the giant octopus under the bridge. I’m a hockey fan now and I can’t wait to get the sweater when it comes out. I hope the next stop for Seattle is (getting back) the NBA.”
The Kraken are set to start playing in October of 2021.
Amazon recently bought the naming rights to the rink and intends to feature several green initiatives, such as re-distributing rainwater around the building and in the ice-making process. The city averages 37.5 inches of precipitation a year, hardly any of it snow. Amazon intends to be a fully carbon-neutral company by 2040.
While the city’s sports colours are most famously the blue and green of the NFL’s Seahawks, a direct copy of that would’ve clashed with the Vancouver Canucks, who’ve used variances of those hues for more than 50 years. But at just under 200 kilometres to the north, Vancouver will become the Kraken’s closest and natural rivals.
A significant block of fans did oppose Kraken, whose story roots are actually on the other side of the world in Norse mythology.
Earlier this summer, CEO Tod Leiweke told the Seattle Times newspaper the team had looked at several logo designs, while dealing with a tangled net of trademark restrictions. Times’ readers chose Sockeyes during a 2019 survey, recognizing the red Pacific salmon, the name of many West Coast sports’ teams through the years. With Seattle also known as the ‘Emerald’ City, that was also in consideration.
In 1830, Alfred Tennyson had pumped up the legend with his sonnet to the beast:
‘Below the thunders of the upper deep;
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee.’
As the new team balances the league’s Eastern and Western conferences at 16 teams each, it’s worth noting the Pacific Coast Hockey Association’s Seattle Metropolitans won the 1917 Stanley Cup, which in those days was a challenge trophy. Two years later, while hosting a final against the newly created NHL and its champions, the Montreal Canadiens, the final series was cancelled by a world-wide pandemic. The Mets folded in 1924, but the Kraken took their symbolic ‘S’ in tribute.
Thursday’s announcement had been hoped for around the NHL all-star break, but COVID-19 and then civil unrest prompted by the death of George Floyd pushed it back.
Ron Francis is already the Seattle general manager and some scouts have been hired. Next step will be a head coach, at some point this calendar year, likely waiting until the 24-team NHL playoff tournament ends in case a big name becomes available.
Among the early field was Mike Babcock, fired in Toronto in November and a former WHL coach of the nearby Spokane Chiefs.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiT2h0dHBzOi8vdG9yb250b3N1bi5jb20vc3BvcnRzL2hvY2tleS9sZXRzLWdldC1rcmFrZW4tc2VhdHRsZS1uYW1lcy1uZXctbmhsLXRlYW3SAVNodHRwczovL3Rvcm9udG9zdW4uY29tL3Nwb3J0cy9ob2NrZXkvbGV0cy1nZXQta3Jha2VuLXNlYXR0bGUtbmFtZXMtbmV3LW5obC10ZWFtL2FtcA?oc=5
2020-07-23 19:53:00Z
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