Amid everything else going on in the world of sports right now, it’s easy to forget that there’s still an NHL team waiting in the wings without a name. The 32nd NHL team won’t take to the ice until next fall (October, in theory), but the team’s social accounts hinted that some big new will be coming tomorrow.
The team’s Twitter account changed both their header and profile photo to a picture of the Pacific Ocean and posted this one minute promotional video, explaining that at 9 a.m. PT tomorrow, the franchise “comes to life.”
07.23.2020 – 9:00am PT
The 32nd franchise comes to life. pic.twitter.com/4J8k0UTEn3
— NHL Seattle (@NHLSeattle_) July 23, 2020
The video is pretty simple: a fishing boat pulls a goal light out of the ocean and a boat horn sounds off like a goal horn. It’s probably thirty seconds longer than necessary — unless there are clues about the announcement in the imagery.
While there are other decisions to be made, it seems likely that this is going to be an announcement of at least the team’s name, if not also an accompanying color scheme and logo. In the video, there are several shots highlighting orange, yellow and sea-foam green.
Kraken has been the internet’s team name of choice since it was announced that Seattle was bidding for an NHL team. The mythical sea monster is loosely tied to the team’s owner, Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films. Sockeyes has also been a favorite among fans, winning a bracket voted on by readers at the Seattle Times. The Times also noted that Seattle NHL CEO Tod Leiweke previously said the team was likely to announce the team’s name, logo and uniform colors at the same time.
The last addition to the league was another Pacific Division team, the Vegas Golden Knights. The NHL created an expansion draft that would allow the Golden Knights to be more competitive out of the gate than previous expansions to the league. As a result, Sharks fans have been treated to a new and interesting rival at the right time, as the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks found themselves rebuilding.
The new Seattle team will be hoping to shake up the division themselves. That apparently start tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. PT.
As many of you know, Fear the Fin is an independent site run by Sharks fans for Sharks fans. Help keep Fear the Fin independent by contributing to our