In late 2018, it was announced that the National Hockey League (NHL) had approved an expansion team for Seattle. Seattle would have its first top-level professional hockey team in over 45 years. The Seattle Kraken are set to debut during the 2021-2022 season of the NHL, playing in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference.
The Kraken’s home ice will be Climate Pledge Arena, on the site of the iconic Key Arena. It will be twice as big, covering 800,000 square feet. This new arena is the first official sports team venue to boast a zero carbon agenda. But sustainability comes at a hefty price, and the Climate Pledge Arena cost $930 million to build.
The Climate Pledge group advocates for the most sustainable arena ever. It’s the first arena to be 100% single-use plastic-free. Not only this, but they plan to collect the site’s rainwater and convert it into ice in order to conserve water. They also have adopted a zero waste policy which will be demonstrated through infographics throughout the arena. These will show audience members what to compost and what to recycle within the facility and at their homes too, all according to the arena’s official website.
Climate Pledge Arena will be completely finished and ready for use in summer 2021, just in time for the new season. In December 2017, the Seattle City Council approved renovations for Key Arena. The original plan was for production to start in 2018 and for the arena to be completely finished by 2020. They quickly realized they were not going to be able to meet these expectations and realized they had to regroup.
The team name, colors, branding, and home jerseys were announced in July to an overall positive response from fans. However, there was still a mixed bag of opinions on the new merch; hockey fans were just happy to see their sport finally being appreciated. The fans, however, can all agree on the new arena. Ryan Jansen, a Junior at Roosevelt who plays hockey mentioned, “I think the environmentally friendly area is going to be awesome! I am so proud of Seattle for choosing to do that!” when asked what she thought about the new arena.
So what does the addition of this team do for the future of hockey in Seattle? When asked that same question, Jansen stated that “The hockey culture in Seattle isn’t really big to begin with so I think this will teach a lot of people about hockey and help grow the hockey culture.” Like she said, Seattle and hockey haven’t come together in the past, and seeing that Seattle hasn’t had a top-tier professional team in decades, maybe this is how hockey will begin to finally grow into something bigger and have a larger impact on sports overall in Seattle.
The Seattle Kraken will be revolutionary for hockey and will introduce the sport to many people. It may even encourage more kids to pick it up as a hobby or start playing competitively. So get ready for the Kraken to crack-into your homes come fall 2021.
