NHL Welcomes 32nd Team That Finally Has a Name – The Seattle Kraken
NHL is finally happy to announce the name of its 32nd team, for which everyone was waiting for the past 19 months. There was always speculation about whether the team will go eccentric or traditional about the name, and here they are! On Thursday, July 23, NHL officially announced the launch of the Seattle Kraken-the 32nd team of the league.
Tod Leiweke, CEO of the brand new Seattle Kraken says that the name was championed and suggested by fans. They always wanted to select an option amongst sea creatures that are part of the Scandinavian folklore. However, during the process, the Seattle team struck out choices such as Sockeyes, Metropolitan, and Evergreens. The second of these would have been a great reference keeping in mind the hockey history of Seattle. Some of the fans were even pushing them to try and acquire the term Thunderbirds from the local junior team.
Amongst all of the suggestions, and ideas Krakens was a clear favorite and won by majority vote. Fans also rallied around the term ‘Krakens’ soon after the expansion franchise bagged an award back in December 2018. The enthusiasm is growing since then, and now even more when the new team is all ready to make its debut in the 2021-2022 season.
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The Seattle Krakens is gearing up for the season
The name is menacing and sounds edgy too. Besides, the franchise gets a clear brand as they move forward. Seattle’s Vice President of Marketing, Heidi Dettmer, the name sounds very noble and authentic. During the process, they checked on all their requirements and felt strongly about this one. So, they became confident that Krakens is the correct choice. She adds that the brand makes her fall in love with it. Besides, she is sure that all the fans will love it too.
Along with the nickname, the Seattle Krakens also unveiled the logo and the colors. They are using an almost black shade of dark blue, and a lighter shade of the same to complement. Unlike the trademark issues during the NHL team expansion in Las Vegas the last time, the Krakens should not have any problem now.
Let’s take a look into the history
Previously, the Golden Knights of Vegas got involved in issues with the US Army. Moreover, it took them several years to come out of the problem. Besides, a trademark issue is a complicated one and takes quite some time. The unveiling session for the Krakens was waiting for several months. However, they were delaying the same for various reasons. The first plan was to do it in 2019, hoping that the products will hit the market a little before the holiday season.
After that, January 2020’s NHL All-Star Break was a probable time for the unveiling. However, COVID-19 and global pandemic started soon, and everything went haywire. Besides, the epicenter area for COVID-19 initially was Seattle. Therefore, an unveiling event seemed to fade away for the moment. According to what Dettmer says, the team finalized the name only during the beginning of 2020. Since then, everyone has been quite busy in the process of finalizing and developing the logo. Plus, they are still having avid discussions about the jersey sponsor of the team, Adidas.
The Director of NHL relations with Adidas, Nic Corbett reveals that the primary Kraken logo is the image of their tentacle in the form of an ‘S.’ Besides, it is a nod to the Metropolitans of Seattle Logo. The Metropolitans were the first-ever American team to lift the Stanley Cup back in 1917. Therefore, the reference for keeping it close to the heart and noble came from there only.