The moment we’ve all been waiting for is only 15 hours away! Tomorrow, the NHL’s 32nd team will finally have an identity. At 5:00pm today, NHL Seattle released this teaser video to announce the release of the team name Tomorrow at 9:00am PT.
The video has an obvious nautical theme, with a goal light being pulled out of the water by a fishing boat. Is this a hint at the team’s name? It looks likely. Kraken and Sockeyes have been two of the most talked-about potential team names over the last few months. In October 2018, Sockeyes won as favorite name choice in a poll conducted by the Seattle times. While on January 29th, 2020, John Hoven of mayorsmanor.com indicated in a radio interview that he believed Kraken would be the team’s name, saying “From everything that I’ve heard, it looks like Seattle Kraken is going to be the name.”
Adding to the evidence for a sea-themed name are NHL Seattle’s changes to its twitter page, making the profile picture and background pictures of water.
So, what will the team name be? Kraken? Sockeyes? A surprise contender? Personally, Kraken seems the most likely. In addition to Hoven’s January report, Kraken has generated the most buzz among potential names and although it is polarizing, the organization hasn’t shied away from doing things differently so far. Two weeks ago, Seattle announced a naming rights partnership with Amazon for the “Climate Pledge Arena,” that included environmental measures not seen in any other NHL arena.
While Sockeyes or even Steelheads are definitely still possible, to me, Kraken seems to have the edge. In any case, tomorrow will be a historic day for hockey in Seattle.