Vegas Golden Knights learn identity of their latest Pacific Division foe

Vegas Golden Knights, meet the Seattle Kraken.

The identity of the 32nd NHL franchise has now been revealed and it is a team the Vegas Golden Knights will get to know incredibly well.

The hockey world has been waiting on tenterhooks to discover the name and the logo of the Seattle franchise since it was announced that the NHL would be establishing a market there back in 2018.

We have now been put out of our misery and the announcement didn’t disappoint.

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After releasing a really cool teaser video which featured a hockey goal light being plucked from the water, the long-awaited announcement was made the following day at the Climate Pledge Arena, the future home of the Kraken.

Announced in-front of all of the construction workers, which I thought was a pretty cool touch, the hockey world were introduced to the Kraken.

Release the Kraken!

First and foremost, I absolutely love the name and I think there’s a load of unique branding opportunities that come with the Kraken, as well as a ton of cool in-game presentation ideas.

Imagine other teams hitting the ice at the Climate Pledge Arena and hearing the boom of ‘Release the Kraken’ as Seattle comes out.

That will be pretty cool to see.

It will also be a real unique rallying cry for the fans of the Seattle franchise.

I also love the color scheme and the jerseys look sick with the home jersey combining a real nice blend of different blues, plus the red trim really completes it.

The road jerseys are also neat with a predominant white color scheme, with different blue shades and the red trim completing a slick look.

Then there’s the logo.

As with everything else the Seattle franchise has done so far, the logos were executed in an incredibly clever and well-thought out way.

The primary logo is a real sharp S with a dark tentacle hidden within, representing the dark deep waters of Puget Sound.

The striking red eye, or the eye of the Kraken as it is known, really makes the logo pop too and its one of the coolest logos in the NHL, in my humble opinion.

As is the secondary logo which is an anchor and it features a homage to the Seattle Space Needle, which is pretty cool.

“Abandon All Hope” appears to be the team’s rallying cry and I don’t think the braintrust behind this could have done a better job of the marketing and the branding of this franchise.

They’ve done a really nice job with the website too, and it is worth checking out the full breakdown of what went in to deciding the name, the logos, the color scheme and the jerseys.

It’s a really incredible feature.

Overall, the branding really represents the City of Seattle and they should be a huge addition to the National Hockey League.

Also, paying homage to the Seattle Metropolitans was a nice touch, and I love the fact that they are embracing the perils of the waters. It just makes the Kraken a unique franchise in a plethora of ways.

Plus, having already passed the Golden Knights in regards to becoming the NHL’s best-selling expansion identity launch ever, coupled with the sheer amount of season ticket holders on the waiting list, I think it is safe to assume that the Seattle Kraken will be a resounding success.

The next step for the Seattle franchise will be to select a team in the Expansion Draft ahead of entering the NHL in 2021-22, and it will be fascinating to see how they approach the construction of their roster.

Of course, a lot of comparisons will be made between the Kraken and the Golden Knights after Vegas absolutely hit a flurry of home runs out of the park during the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, building a team that reached the Stanley Cup in its inaugural year.

While General Managers may be on high alert as we approach the 2021 Expansion Draft, the fact that the salary cap will remain flat for at least the next couple of years may present the Seattle Kraken with a different opportunity to build a really strong roster.

And the Golden Knights and the Kraken will be intricately linked forever given that they will be pitting their wits against each other in the Pacific Division.

Those battles will be compelling to watch and I can’t wait to see the Seattle Kraken and their unique and outstanding jerseys up close and personal.

Bring on 2021-22!

You can follow the Seattle Kraken on Twitter and check out their website here.