NHL Seattle CEO shares Kraken naming process, vision for team

SEATTLE - Seattle now has the Kraken. It’s a name widely debated, but the one selected after 215,000 votes, 1200 names considered and two years of personal discussions with fans.

“Today we woke up super excited to do this without any trepidation to do this,” team CEO Tod Leiweke said. “This is the right mark, this is the right time, this is the right place to do it.’ Onward through the storm.”

Leiwekes shares the history of naming the teaming and concept behind the logo. A storm, which was depicted in the team’s announcement video, is a nod to Seattle’s maritime history.

The Giant Pacific Octopus logo design is a nod to a real animal which legend says inhabits the ruins of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge after its collapse.

The team said on Thursday that the Kraken embodies power and aggression along with a curiosity with what lies beneath.

“The game presentation we can have with this brand – you don’t see it, but you know it’s there. And it scares the living be-jezzus out of you,” Leiweke said. “When our players skate on that ice that Opening Night wearing this crest, it’s gonna be an incredible harmonic convergence of passion and purpose in bringing the cup back to Seattle.”

A Stanley Cup that hasn’t been won since 1917 when the Seattle Metropolitans donned an “S” on their jerseys as they will with the Kraken, was also revealed today for a specific reason, according to Leiweke.

“Some said don’t (release the jerseys today),” he said. “But we felt that was really the ‘Aha!’ moment of this brand. And when you see it on that mock player on the ice, it’s really cool and you’ve got to have that conviction. If you don’t believe, how will you get others to believe?”

It’s a conviction Leiweke has had while overseeing the successful launch of the Sounders MLS franchise and his long tenure with the Seahawks where he hired Pete Carroll.

“You know, the 12th Man and the Flag Pole – I remember when we put that in and people were like ‘Huh?’ Leiweke recalled.

“And I remember the first time somebody raised that flag and it was polite applause but it was not overwhelming applause. Well, it became part of the tradition. The Sounders? Phenomenal. And we had a chance to start something from scratch where we really let the fans build that brand.”

“So, it’s the continuing education of ‘Trust your fans. Bottle their passion in your brand. And you can’t go wrong,'" said Leiweke.