Seattle Kraken

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Seattle Kraken
2021–22 Seattle Kraken season
Seattle Kraken official logo.svg
ConferenceWestern
DivisionPacific
Founded2021
HistorySeattle Kraken
2021–present
Home arenaClimate Pledge Arena
CitySeattle, Washington
WCP-Uniform-SEA.png
ColorsDeep sea blue, ice blue, boundless blue, shadow blue, red alert[1][2][3]
         
MediaRoot Sports Northwest
Sports Radio 950 KJR
Owner(s)Seattle Hockey Partners
General managerRon Francis
Head coachDave Hakstol
CaptainVacant
Minor league affiliatesCharlotte Checkers (AHL)
Palm Springs (AHL in 2022–23)
Stanley Cups0
Conference championships0
Presidents' Trophy0
Division championships0
Official websitenhl.com/kraken

The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken will compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, beginning with the league's 2021–22 season. They will play their home games at Climate Pledge Arena.

In December 2018, the NHL approved a proposal by Seattle Hockey Partners to grant an expansion franchise to the city of Seattle. In July 2020, the Kraken's name and branding were revealed.[4] The Kraken will be the first professional hockey team to play in Seattle since the Seattle Totems of the Western Hockey League played their last game in 1975, and the first Seattle hockey team to compete for the Stanley Cup since the Seattle Metropolitans, who won the cup in 1917 and folded in 1924.

Establishment[]

Further information: Ice hockey in Seattle

The NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve Seattle's expansion team on December 4, 2018. Seattle will begin play in the 2021–22 season as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference; therefore the Arizona Coyotes will shift from the Pacific Division to the Central Division to balance out the four divisions at eight teams each. An expansion draft was held on July 21, 2021, in a similar manner to a previous expansion draft held in 2017 for the Vegas Golden Knights, who were themselves exempt from the 2021 expansion draft.[5][6][7]

On July 23, 2020, the franchise announced their team name, the Seattle Kraken, as well as their team colors, branding, and home jersey.[8]

On April 30, 2021, the franchise paid the final installment of the $650 million expansion fee, officially making the Seattle Kraken the 32nd team of the NHL.[9][10]

Team information[]

Arena[]

The Kraken Community Iceplex in Northgate serves as the team's training facility

The team will play home games at Climate Pledge Arena.[11][12] The arena, at Seattle Center, is a $930 million redevelopment of the former KeyArena and Seattle Center Coliseum. Amazon.com bought the naming rights to Climate Pledge Arena and chose to name the venue after its environmental goals.[13]

The team's primary practice facility, named the Kraken Community Iceplex, is located at the redeveloped Northgate Mall and is scheduled to open in September 2021. The facility has three rinks and will be open to the public.[14]

The Kraken's three home preseason games prior to the 2021–22 season will be held at Spokane Arena, Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, and the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent, which are all home to Western Hockey League (WHL) teams. Tickets will be sold by the host WHL teams.[15]

Broadcasting[]

Everett Fitzhugh will serve as the team's radio play-by-play announcer. Fitzhugh had previously done play-by-play for the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones. He will be the first full-time play-by-play announcer of African-American heritage in NHL history.[16][17] Games will be broadcast on 950 KJR with some games on 96.5 KJAQ.[18][19]

Kraken games will be broadcast regionally on Root Sports Northwest for the team's first five seasons. Former Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes broadcaster John Forslund will serve as the team's television play-by-play announcer.[17][20] J. T. Brown will be the television analyst.[21]

Minor league affiliates[]

The team's yet-to-be-named minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL) will be based in Palm Desert, California.[22] Due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and delays in building their new arena, the affiliate will not begin play until the 2022–23 season.[23]

The Charlotte Checkers, the primary AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, will also serve as the AHL affiliate for the Kraken during the 2021–22 season due to the delay in the Kraken's AHL team. The Checkers, an independently owned AHL team, had been the affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes while the Kraken's general manager Ron Francis was working for the Hurricanes.[24]

Players and personnel[]

Current roster[]

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Updated September 7, 2021[25][26]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
22 United States Mason Appleton C R 25 2021 Green Bay, Wisconsin
14 Canada Nathan Bastian RW R 23 2021 Kitchener, Ontario
30 Canada Antoine Bibeau G L 27 2021 Victoriaville, Quebec
43 United States Colin Blackwell C R 28 2021 North Andover, Massachusetts
3 United States Will Borgen D R 24 2021 Moorhead, Minnesota
58 United States Connor Carrick D R 27 2021 Orland Park, Illinois
27 Canada Dennis Cholowski D L 23 2021 Langley, British Columbia
35 United States Joey Daccord G L 25 2021 Boston, Massachusetts
- United States Ryan Donato C L 25 2021 Scituate, Massachusetts
72 Finland Joonas Donskoi RW R 29 2021 Raahe, Finland
60 Canada Chris Driedger G L 27 2021 Winnipeg, Manitoba
29 Canada Vince Dunn D L 24 2021 Mississauga, Ontario
7 Canada Jordan Eberle RW R 31 2021 Regina, Saskatchewan
8 Canada Cale Fleury D R 22 2021 Carlyle, Saskatchewan
4 Canada Haydn Fleury D L 25 2021 Carlyle, Saskatchewan
67 Canada Morgan Geekie C R 23 2021 Strathclair, Manitoba
5 Canada Mark Giordano D L 37 2021 Toronto, Ontario
37 Canada Yanni Gourde C L 29 2021 Saint-Narcisse, Quebec
31 Germany Philipp Grubauer G L 29 2021 Rosenheim, Germany
61 Canada Luke Henman C L 21 2021 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
19 Sweden Calle Jarnkrok RW R 29 2021 Gävle, Sweden
90 Sweden Marcus Johansson C L 30 2021 Landskrona, Sweden
6 Sweden Adam Larsson D R 28 2021 Skellefteå, Sweden
55 Canada Jeremy Lauzon D L 24 2021 Val-d'Or, Quebec
73 Canada Kole Lind RW L 22 2021 Swift Current, Saskatchewan
16 Canada Jared McCann C L 25 2021 Stratford, Ontario
23 Sweden Gustav Olofsson D L 26 2021 Boras, Sweden
24 Canada Jamie Oleksiak D L 28 2021 Toronto, Ontario
17 Canada Jaden Schwartz LW L 29 2021 Melfort, Saskatchewan
15 Canada Riley Sheahan C L 29 2021 St. Catharines, Ontario
28 Canada Carson Soucy D L 27 2021 Irma, Alberta
13 Canada Brandon Tanev LW L 29 2021 Toronto, Ontario
11 Denmark Alexander True C L 24 2021 Copenhagen, Denmark
18 Canada Carsen Twarynski LW L 23 2021 Calgary, Alberta
21 Sweden Alexander Wennberg C L 26 2021 Nacka, Sweden


Owners[]

The team is owned by Seattle Hockey Partners, an organization originally consisting of David Bonderman, Jerry Bruckheimer and Tod Leiweke.[27] Minority owners of the Kraken include Chris Ackerley, Ted Ackerley, Jay Deutsch, Mitch Garber, Adrian Hanauer, Andy Jassy, Len Potter, David Wright, and Jeff Wright. [28][29][30]

General managers[]

Head coaches[]

Assistant coaches[]

Team and league honors[]

Retired numbers[]

The team is not able to issue the jersey number 99 to any of its players as it has been retired league-wide in honor of Wayne Gretzky since 2000.[34]

References[]

  1. ^ Condor, Bob (July 25, 2020). "Color Guardians". NHLSeattle.com. Retrieved July 26, 2020.
  2. ^ "Seattle Kraken". SeattleKrakenHockey.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. July 23, 2020. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  3. ^ Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (July 23, 2020). "Seattle Kraken reveal nickname for NHL expansion team". NHL.com. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  4. ^ Condor, Bob (July 23, 2020). "Say It with Us: Release the Kraken!". NHL.com. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  5. ^ Rosen, Dan (December 4, 2018). "Seattle NHL expansion approved by Board of Governors". NHL.com. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  6. ^ Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (December 4, 2018). "Seattle expansion frequently asked questions". NHL.com. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  7. ^ Stolzenberg, Holger (December 20, 2020). "Seattle Kraken expansion draft set for July 21". MSN. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
  8. ^ Booth, Tim (July 23, 2020). "Release the Kraken: Seattle unveils name for NHL franchise". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
  9. ^ Cotsonika, Nicholas J. (April 30, 2021). "Kraken officially join NHL after final expansion payment". NHL.com. NHL Enterprises, L.P. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  10. ^ "Seattle Kraken officially become NHL's 32nd team after final expansion payment". Sportsnet. April 30, 2021. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  11. ^ "NHL Seattle expansion team to play at Climate Pledge Arena". NHL.com. June 25, 2020. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  12. ^ Condor, Bob (June 24, 2020). "Making the 'Climate Pledge'". NHLSeattle.com. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  13. ^ Long, Michael (June 26, 2020). "Amazon deal sees Seattle's NHL venue renamed Climate Pledge Arena". Sportspromedia.com. Retrieved March 27, 2021.
  14. ^ Baker, Geoff (June 30, 2021). "Seattle's NHL practice facility named Kraken Community Iceplex after partnership deal with Starbucks". The Seattle Times. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  15. ^ "Seattle Kraken announce preseason schedule". KING-TV. July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  16. ^ Douglas, William (August 7, 2020). "Kraken set to have first Black full-time NHL team play-by-play announcer". NHL.com. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  17. ^ Jump up to: a b Clark, Ryan S. "Seattle Kraken hire John Forslund and announce TV broadcast deal". The Athletic. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
  18. ^ "The Seattle Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena Announce Regional Partnership with iHeartMedia Seattle". PR Newswire. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  19. ^ Baker, Geoff (March 3, 2021). "Sports Radio KJR named Kraken flagship station". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  20. ^ McIntosh, Andrew (January 26, 2021). "NHL's Seattle Kraken signs multiyear TV broadcast rights deal". Puget Sound Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved January 30, 2021.
  21. ^ Wyshynski, Greg (June 21, 2021). "Brown to retire, join Kraken as television analyst". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  22. ^ "AHL expanding to Palm Springs in 2021-22". theahl.com. September 30, 2019. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  23. ^ Powers, Shad. "'We were worried': Hockey to remain in the Coachella Valley despite arena move". The Desert Sun. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  24. ^ Pelletier, Justin (July 2, 2021). "No longer affiliated with the Canes, the AHL's Checkers now have two NHL parent clubs". The Herald-Sun. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
  25. ^ "Seattle Kraken Roster". National Hockey League. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  26. ^ "Seattle Kraken Hockey Transactions". The Sports Network. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  27. ^ Barberio, Anthony (December 24, 2019). "Who Are the Owners of Seattle's Expansion NHL Team?". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  28. ^ "Amazon Web Services CEO Andy Jassy joins NHL ownership group aiming to bring pro hockey to Seattle". GeekWire. September 5, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  29. ^ Baker, Geoff (September 5, 2018). "NHL Seattle minority owners include Sounders owner Adrian Hanauer and family of former Sonics owner". The Seattle Times. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  30. ^ "For Seattle NHL owner Mitch Garber, it's always been sports first". The Seattle Times. June 7, 2019. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  31. ^ Quinn, Patrick (July 18, 2019). "NHL Seattle names Ron Francis as first general manager of hockey franchise". KOMO. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  32. ^ Condor, Bob (June 24, 2021). "Getting it 'Right'". NHL.com. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  33. ^ Jump up to: a b Conroy, Steve (July 6, 2021). "Jay Leach hired by Seattle Kraken". Boston Herald. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  34. ^ "Perfect setting: Gretzky's number retired before All-Star Game". CNN Sports Illustrated. Associated Press. February 6, 2000. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved June 9, 2014.

External links[]

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