Yup...it's official!  The 32nd NHL team will be the Seattle Kraken.  

https://www.nhl.com/news/seattle-kraken-nickname-for-nhl-expansion-team/c-317588092

 

Can't say that I'm a fan of the nickname but I guess it could have been worse.  I love how they (the team officials) talk about Seattle and its maritime history... they do realize the Kraken isn't a real thing, right?  LOL

Edited January 10, 20215 yr by Sauce

Every powerplay can start with...
 

 

Is this going to end up being a dated name like the Toronto Raptors?

Looks like the ROM makers will have to get KRAKEN on the logo and colors!

1 hour ago, The Dopefish said:

Looks like the ROM makers will have to get KRAKEN on the logo and colors!

You mean for the team that has no players, no draftees and won't start play until 2021-22?

Edited July 23, 20206 yr by Sauce

Wouldn't have been my first choice but I like it.

And everyone from Detroit settle down, it's spelled with a, 'K'.

If any of the modders can make the logo and take a screenshot of the start menu with Seattle, it would make great social media fodder.

14 minutes ago, Sauce said:

You mean for the team that has no players, no draftees and won't start play until 2021-22?

Exactly!

1 hour ago, The Dopefish said:

Looks like the ROM makers will have to get KRAKEN on the logo and colors!

I look forward to seeing Rob Barr welcoming people to their arena: The Krak House

I agree it's not the best name but IMO it's better than the Golden Knights.

roster projections based on current contracts and whatnot:

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/expansion-plan-projecting-seattles-selections-at-the-2021-expansion-draft

 

45 minutes ago, smozoma said:

I look forward to seeing Rob Barr welcoming people to their arena: The Krak House

Their fans will be known as, "Krackheads."

1 hour ago, kingraph said:

If any of the modders can make the logo and take a screenshot of the start menu with Seattle, it would make great social media fodder.

I just threw this together but unfortunately, don't have time right now to "clean it up" the way I'd like to...I'm sure others can do better but for starters...

 

 

Edited July 23, 20206 yr by Sauce

could be worse, least it taps into Seattle's maritime vibe.  I liked the totems uni concepts I saw, I guess that name is too native related to be used in todays climate. 

1 hour ago, Sauce said:

I just threw this together but unfortunately, don't have time right now to "clean it up" the way I'd like to...I'm sure others can do better but for starters...

 

 

I love the kraken name!  Thanks for doing this @Sauce  I social media’d that out there. 

12 minutes ago, RonnieFranchise10 said:

could be worse, least it taps into Seattle's maritime vibe.  I liked the totems uni concepts I saw, I guess that name is too native related to be used in todays climate. 

Totally coincidentally I learned a bit about Seattle totem poles last week from something that flashed on screen momentarily in a Bruce Lee documentary. It makes sense that they would avoid that direction:

Totem poles are not native to the area. The totem pole that started the totem pole symbol for Seattle was actually stolen from an Alaskan island in 1899.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_Square_totem_pole

Quote

The original totem pole was carved in 1790 and raised in the Tlingit village on Tongass Island, Alaska to honor the Tlingit woman Chief-of-All-Women. The totem pole was later stolen by Seattle businessmen on an expedition to Alaska and subsequently gifted to the City of Seattle in 1899, where it was raised in Pioneer Square and became a source of civic pride.

...

"The Indians were all away fishing, except for one who stayed in his house and looked scared to death. We picked out the best looking totem pole... I took a couple of sailors ashore and we chopped it down—just like you'd chop down a tree. It was too big to roll down the beach, so we sawed it in two."

...

The Coast Salish, who are native to Seattle and the Pacific Northwest Coast, did not traditionally carve totem poles and the Pioneer Square totem pole was the first totem pole in Seattle.^[20] Totem poles have since become a symbol of Seattle and are used in tourism campaigns, while native Salish art has not been featured as prominently.

 

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!! 

lol

 

All Cracker Barrel restaurants should be renamed to Kracken Barrel.

 

Just noticed that the anchor logo has the Space Needle in the design. It's a nice touch.

@Sauce  sent you a pm. Kindly respond today if possible

37 minutes ago, halifax said:

@Sauce  sent you a pm. Kindly respond today if possible

No worries... I replied. 

In case anyone is interested in playing as the Seattle Kraken, I have added them to my 2020 Playoff rom (NHL94 2020 vPO).  If not, well, that's fine too.   You can play as them in an exi as well as the playoff mode.
 

 

Edited July 26, 20206 yr by Sauce

I don’t mind the name but I think the logo is pretty bad. With the placement of the eye, the whole thing looks like a snake. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think it could have been so much better. Someone made a mashup of the secondary anchor logo and the S together and it looks pretty good. 
 

The colour scheme is fine, but I like the idea of including that lime/neon green like the Seahawks. 

Edited August 1, 20206 yr by Bob Kudelski

I'm sort of the opposite Bob, in that I think the logo is pretty cool looking but I find the name to not be good at all. It's one of the weirdest names of a sports team I've ever heard. And the fact that no ones ever heard of it, that it's a mythical creature. I think they tried to be bold with this name and do something cool but unfortunately I think it may backfire.

The name itself is very easy to make memes about and I don't think this is a good thing. The other problem I have with it is that the name appears to have been taken from a Hollywood film Clash of the Titans and the producer of it is one of the co-owners of the franchise. So it just doesn't come off as organic or something about the city. Not only that, but the creature is said to be from the Atlantic Ocean not from the Pacific so that doesn't make sense for Seattle. I would have liked them to be named something real like Sea Lions or if that's too cheesy something else but based on something that's actually a thing in Seattle. At the end of the day, Seattle going the imaginative route like they did with a mythical creature may have worked if the actual name sounded better.

Don't get me wrong, the name sucks too, I just don't really care.  

I honestly can't wait to be a low-key "Krakhead..."

The Needle, Krakheads, the Krak House - I mean, you've gotta give it to Seattle, for their self-awareness.

 

 

I think Kraken might be one of those in-the-moment names that becomes nostalgically beloved for it's originality in many years, like the Anaheim Mighty Ducks & Toronto Raptors were for topical movies of their time. Albeit, Pirates of the Caribbean came out 10 years ago, the popularity of Kraken by fan suggestion had weight with the Seattle management and they went for it. Time will tell.

As a fan of tradition in sport, take my comments as you will, but I will start by saying that you can't always trust fan suggestions. One of the fan submissions for the North Stars was "Puckaroos" after all. And much like "Puckaroos", "Kraken" just feels like a silly minor league team name like Orlando Solar Bears or Macon Woopee. I may also be biased against non-"S"-pluralized names.

One of the comments that the local sports radio guys threw out there was that, "It'll be like all the other weird names. Remember how we all hated 'Golden Knights'? And now it's grown on us." Can't say I agree, more like; I still don't like the name, I just don't care enough to hate it. [Although with the announcement the AHL Henderson Silver Knights, I'm just waiting for Vegas to announce that their ECHL affiliate will be the Enterprise Bronze Knights.]

The other quote that I can't agree less with came from Jeff Marek. Defending the choice with "Tradition is just submitting to peer pressure from dead people.". Yeah Jeff, the Maple Leafs haven't changed their name in 94 years, they should really get on that. Don't want to be accused of being as old and dusty as the "Canadiens" do ya? And what kids knows who Dr. David Hart is anymore? They should rename the trophy to the "Capital One Wayne Gretzky Most Valuable Player Award".

...I'm going to stop before I get accused of shaking my fist at clouds. But I will say that a good team name is like a tattoo. You don't want to look in the mirror ten, twenty years from now and find yourself saying, "Yeah, I was pretty dumb back then."

While I'm not a big fan of the Kraken name, it was well documented that fans within the city of Seattle (maybe, Washington state too) had a big part in the naming.  There was a voting process that took place to obtain name ideas and, I believe, voting on the finalists.  That said, I have no real issue with it because it matters to those who will follow the team.  I would have liked to have seen them pick a name that is rooted in that geographical area or the residents, rather than something mythological, but to each their own...
As for the Golden Knights, it is a homage to owner Bill Foley's military alma matter and quite frankly, isn't the worst name out there.  As it pays respect to the military, I think it's a nice tribute.  I went to a Knights/Rangers game, at the T-Mobile Arena, and from what I heard/saw, the fans are cool with the name and certainly the branding and colors works well with that city.  Maybe it's a "well, we're stuck with the name so make the best of it" thing or maybe they like it?  I don't know...
But, like any team, the Kraken name is gonna have it critics who hate it, love it or are indifferent and life will go on. 

Edited January 10, 20215 yr by Sauce