Release the Kraken! NHL Seattle announces team name, logo after much anticipation

SEATTLE - After months and months of speculation, NHL Seattle has made it official: The Seattle Kraken will take the ice at Climate Pledge Arena in 2021. 

NHL Seattle officials announced the team name at a press conference Thursday morning. 

"This is a brand that will grow with its city. The Kraken is a mysterious beast that will continue to reveal itself over time," Heidi Dettmer, vice president of marketing for NHL Seattle, said. 

The team’s new logo, designed in partnership with adidas, draws inspiration from Seattle’s first professional hockey team—the Metropolitans—the first American club to win the Stanley Cup in 1917 with an iconic “S” emblazoned on the jersey. The signature “S” includes an ode to the eye and tentacles of the mighty Kraken.

The beveling within the logo design honors the maritime history of the region, NHL Seattle said in a news release. 

“The Kraken is a name born of the fans. It was suggested and championed by the fans,” said Tod Leiweke, CEO of the Seattle Kraken. “We embarked on one of the most thorough naming processes in sports to make sure we got it right, to find the name that rings true. We wanted the name to connect to the powerful pull of nature here in the Pacific Northwest and resonate with the fervor for hockey in our city and region. And I promise we are going to deliver the most compelling, entertaining and unifying game experience for every fan who enters Climate Pledge Arena.”

Fans can buy "Release the Kraken" merchandise on the team's online store. The team says 100 percent of net profits through August 21 will be donated to the following nonprofits: YouthCare, Community Passageways, and the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle.

Let's get Kraken!