OH-FISH-ally a Hockey Town

If you ask NHL fans what makes playoff hockey so special, you often hear "you'll understand when you see it." Kraken fans coming to Climate Pledge Arena (CPA) for the first post-season games in franchise history have definitely come to learn exactly what that means.
John Barr became a hockey fan after experiencing playoff hockey. He was an integral part of the grass-roots movement that helped bring the Kraken to life, and now he's loved seeing so many Seattle fans take the same journey he did.

"I enjoyed seeing the Kraken play 81 regular season games at Climate Pledge Arena over the last two seasons, but nothing compared to those first two playoff games," Barr said. "From walking around outside leading up to the game and around the concourse before the game, you could tell playoff hockey inside the arena would be different. And it was. The energy from the fans in the arena to the player's hits on the ice, it was something I have never experienced before."
The energy comes in so many different forms. From the outside, CPA's windows are alternately wrapped in floor-to-ceiling images of Adam Larsson, Yanni Gourde, Jordan Eberle and more Kraken players.

When you walk into CPA, you are at ground level and digital imagery transforms the interior into a playoff-soaked visual experience. From there you descend into The Deep with most of the arena built below your level of entry. For playoff games, every step towards your seat nestles you more and more into a new kind of energy coming from not just the building but the 17,000-plus people filling it, as well.
Shouts of "Go Kraken!" replace any usual greeting you'd hear. And every fan is wearing at least one piece of Kraken gear to show their love for the hometown team.
Ashley Church and James Ribe have been avid Kraken fans since the team's inception. They traveled to Colorado for the first two games of the season and their team pride had only deepened after watching the Kraken earn their first post-season win in franchise history.
"I don't think I fully absorbed the meaning of why we were at that game until the first goal," Church said. "When Eeli Tolvanen scored, I jumped up and yelled 'We're in the playoffs! We just scored a goal in the playoffs!' It felt like the Kraken went from being our sneaky, quiet loveable local team to competing in the big leagues."

Seeing what the Avalanche had done on and off the ice, the two were sure to be in their seats for the games at CPA.
Ribe praised the Kraken gameday experience that wove this Kraken historic season into a video of Seattle sports history and projected player images onto the ice as well as all the other elements designed to bring the hype.
But it was the people that made the real difference for the two.
"The (Kraken) crowd energy - not just noise, Seattle was much louder the whole way through - felt fairly similar for the games where the home team won, but Seattle's crowd was much more dedicated," Ribe said.

Kraken fans stood to urge their team on waving ice-blue rally towels with what seemed to be limitless energy. Chants of "Yanni! Yanni! Yanni!" rang out after a key battle by Gourde in Game 3, and after Cale Makar injured Jared McCann in Game 4, fans relentlessly booed the Colorado defender every time he touched the puck. "They understood the assignment," Barr said proudly.
"The buzz in Seattle is wild this post-season," Church said. "We're so invested in every pass, shot, and hit. It's loud and everyone is engaged. We're there for the team and each other. We cheer for our team."

And the post-season experience is bringing in newer fans too. Amanda Rench and her husband, Don, are season ticket holders. Amanda had casually followed hockey throughout her life, but as the two took note of the movement to bring the NHL to the Pacific Northwest, they became more and more invested and rotate the use of their seats among themselves and their two teenage children.
Game 4 fell on the same night as Amanda and Don's nineteenth wedding anniversary. An overtime win was the perfect gift.
"It was amazing to be there in person," Amanda said. "I didn't know how special it was going to be, but having experienced it, I will be very sad if we miss it again.

"The arena was SO LOUD! You could feel the anticipation and stress in the arena. The crowd was just waiting for a reason to cheer and yell. My favorite part of the game was hearing the entire arena do all the chants together. Everyone was more invested in the game. Everyone was paying attention and cheering as loud as they could."
Just as the Kraken players have made this one of the most competitive series of this playoff season on the ice, the fans are doing all they can to make this one of the most enjoyable off of it. And they are loving every second.
"Game 4 was a signature moment for this franchise and I will be sharing that story for years," Barr said. "When Eberle scored that (game-winning) goal in Game 4, I just hugged everyone, regardless of if I knew them or not. It was an experience that is rare in life and I feel fortunate to have lived through it."