Seattle was awarded an NHL team at the end of 2018 and then during the summer of 2020, the team name was announced. So while this was only the 11th regulation game in the team's history, we've been looking forward to visiting this arena for almost three years! We love Seattle and one of my best friends lives there, so he came to the game with us and it was his first NHL game ever!
On Thursday afternoon, we walked over to the arena to take some pics, and it was a bit underwhelming from the outside. It does have a cool story, though...the exterior of the arena had landmark status, so they kept the roof from the former KeyArena and excavated beneath it to expand the space. Pretty amazing! The arena itself is committed to social and environmental responsibility, with goals of water conservation, sustainability, the elimination of single use plastics, and zero carbon emissions.
I'll be honest - there were some things I really liked about the arena and other things I did not. The ice and seating areas were great and there were some awesome design features in the concourse areas. However, the layout of the concourse itself was strange, confusing, and disorienting. There was a decided lack of signs and we ran into several dead ends as we were walking around. And do NOT get me started on the cost of concessions!
The crowd was very high energy (and frankly, it seems like the entire city has Kraken fever!) and the whole place had a great vibe, which made for a fabulous fan experience! The Kraken ended up defeating the Sabres 5-2 and one of the Kraken players actually got a hat trick, which was exciting to see in person!
Overall, I'd probably rank it in my top ten NHL arenas, despite my gripes with the concourse layout and absurd concession prices. Its focus on social and environmental responsibility is beyond admirable, and the ice and seating areas were fantastic. I would definitely go back for other Kraken games in the future and will be rooting for the team over almost all others!
Make no mistake, though...Little Caesars Arena, home of the Detroit Red Wings, remains the best arena in the NHL!
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| the shirt I wore to the game |
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| my favorite hockey tweet from 2020 about the team's fan base name |
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| my favorite hockey tweet from 2021 about the expansion draft |
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| two 20oz sodas $17.64 are you kidding me |
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| this fan cam is hilarious |
Happy Tails to you!
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