I went to a hockey match the other night and a rock concert broke out.
I finally got around to attending my first Seattle Kraken game last week.
And yes, it’s a bit like going to a rock concert — or perhaps a jazz funk fusion concert.
I avoided going to a Kraken game the first few weeks of the season, both because of COVID and because the ticket prices were ridiculously high — literally $500 a seat were the cheapest I could find the first few weeks of the year.
Since then the tickets have dropped down to a more reasonable level. It’s still pricey, but no more expensive than say a ticket to a concert that is headlined by someone other than Adele. And the prices are likely to drop even more as the novelty of Seattle finally having an NHL franchise wears off.
It was a fun night. The Kraken team isn’t terribly good yet. The Kraken isn’t the worst team in the National Hockey League, but it’s close. The team is likely a few years away from actually being good.
But the game I went to the guys didn’t play too badly. They lost 4-2 to the Nashville Predators, one of the top teams in the NHL. The Predators were simply much faster than the Kraken and their passing was much more crisp. The Kraken had a tendency to dump and chase, then forecheck in the offensive zone, which less-skilled teams do to try and keep the game close.
But, hey, Seattle has major league sports now between the Seahawks and the Mariners and that’s what matters. I know everyone around here wants to get the Sonics back and the Kraken certainly did its share to help, building a loud, bright new palace with private money for the Sonics to move into one day.
For now, they go to great lengths to give everyone a good time. Loud music, lots of lasers, a pair of giant video screens. A live DJ and a live funk band that was actually really good. The music is curated by KEXP. They definitely put on a show, which I’m sure they have to because the product on the ice probably isn’t going to compete for a Stanley Cup for a while.
And that’s OK. I didn’t go expecting anything else. I went for a good time. It was my first NHL game in probably 10 years — I went to a Colorado Avalanche game the day I became a Canadian citizen again at the consulate in Denver.
The new Climate Pledge arena is amazing. Not as huge as the arena in Las Vegas, but the acoustics are a huge improvement over the old Key Arena. The absolute worst-sounding concerts I’ve ever heard were at Key Arena.
I sat up in the rafters in the cheap seats and still had a great view of the ice. It still felt intimate. They designed it well.
And it’s a very family-friendly atmosphere. I remember years ago as a kid going to Fresno Falcons minor league hockey games and the games got taken over by gangs and bikers and there were fights in the stands and people screaming f-bombs all game. Not a place to take kids or families. And not surprisingly, the Falcons long ago went out of business.
At Kraken games, you will see a lot of kids, all decked out in Kraken jerseys. And wearing cute, poofy Kraken wool beanies. In fact, the Kraken beanies appeared to be very popular with women, too. Half the women in the arena seemed to be wearing them.
And in the end, people didn’t seem to be disappointed in the end result. None of the kids pouted because of the final score.
The first few years of a hockey franchise are critical. Many, many teams in the history of the NHL have been forced to move within the first five or six years of a team’s formation, so it’s really important to build that fan base and show people a fun time. The Kraken franchise is doing just that.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at plabossiere@ peninsuladailynews.com.
