Release the Seattle Kraken: Newest NHL expansion team has a name

Seattle’s NHL team finally has a name. Welcome to the league, Seattle Kraken!

Hockey in Seattle, Washington is not a brand new idea. Back in 1915, the Seattle Metropolitans were an expansion team in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). From 1966 to 1975, the Seattle Totems were part of two leagues, the PCHA which became the Western Hockey Association (WHA) and ended as a member of the Central Hockey League. Back in December of 2018, the NHL awarded Seattle as the 32nd NHL franchise. And after a few years of speculation, the team officially announced their name – the Seattle Kraken.

The teal-tinted Seattle Kraken will start playing hockey when the 2021-22 campaign kicks off, playing out of Amazon’s Climate Pledge Arena.

What inspired this name? This is a city built by the sea and what better name to have than a giant, mythological, magnificent ocean beast to represent the newest team in the NHL. Seattle is also one of the four teams that doesn’t have an “s” at the end of its team name, joining the Minnesota Wild, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Colorado Avalanche.

While the Kraken allows for a creative jersey concept, the team decided to go a different, more unique route.

The letter S pays homage to the city, and after listening to the men and women speak about the franchise at the grounds of the new arena, it seems that the community is the life of this newest franchise.

So Seattle, you have a name. You have an arena. Now we wait for the eventful and historic expansion draft scheduled for the summer of 2021.

And if their inaugural season goes anything like we saw in Vegas, with the Golden Knights making it to the Stanley Cup Finals back in 2018, this is going to be one exciting team to follow. Until then, ride the wave and get ready to release the Kraken in 2021.