‘We know how excited the city is’: Seattle Kraken home opener (finally) arrives
Twelve days and five games into their inaugural regular season, the Seattle Kraken are finally coming home.
Climate Pledge Arena is ready for the debut, the $1.15 billion renovation complete. On Saturday night — for the first time in franchise history — fans will file into the stands to watch the Kraken play at home. After enduring an extended road trip to start the season, one that spanned three time zones and left Seattle with a 1-3-1 record, the homecoming is much needed.
“I think all the guys are really jacked up about it,” said defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. “It’s been a lot of anticipation and not many guys really got a chance to see the rink. I want to get in there, feel the atmosphere. We know how excited the city is, so I think we’re excited to finally get out there.”
After Thursday’s practice at the Kraken Community Iceplex in Northgate, the team headed to Climate Pledge Arena for a tour. It was the first time most of the roster had been inside. The six players who came to Seattle for the entry draft got a sneak peek, but the renovation was far from complete at that point.
That means the arena will be just about as new to the Kraken as it is for fans.
“If we get lost tomorrow night, somebody will show us the way,” head coach Dave Hakstol said Friday with a laugh. “They’ll send out a search party for us. The biggest thing is — the building is unbelievable. It’s gonna be great (Saturday) night. Our facilities are second to none. It’s gonna be exciting and new on a lot of different levels, but we’ll settle in real quick into a game-day routine.”
The plan for Climate Pledge is to become the world’s first arena to earn net zero-carbon certification from the International Future Institute. There are 12,500 living plants and trees on site, and rainwater harvesting fills a 15,000-gallon on-site cistern to resurface the ice.
Fans arriving at the arena will be greeted with 28,175 square feet of digital signage — the most in the world for a sports and entertainment venue. And the arena is just as impressive behind the scenes, said Kraken captain Mark Giordano.
“Seeing the finished product now, it’s pretty cool,” said Giordano, who was one of the players to preview the unfinished arena this summer. “They’ve done every little detail. They haven’t left anything out. As a player, you know it’s on us to go out there and perform because we’ve been given every resource possible.”
After starting the season on the road, the Kraken are ready to take the ice in friendly confines in what promises to be an electric environment. Giordano said the key is to use all that extra energy in the right way.
“We’re getting to be a part of something that not many guys are gonna be able to say they have at the end of their career,” Giordano said. “It’s going to be a pretty special moment for us as players for our organization, for the city, for everyone involved.”
With five games complete, Seattle spent the last two practice days making system adjustments. Despite a difficult start to the season that featured just one win, Oleksiak said there were positive takeaways from the road swing.
“I think we competed hard,” Oleksiak said. “Despite was the score was in the game, the guys worked hard and played hard for each other and played a team game. Obviously there are details we need to work out there and there, but there’s a lot of hard work in the group and I just want to make sure we get a little better each game.”
