Players, coaches, Hollywood stars pumped for Kraken announcement

The Seattle Kraken are here and they are letting everyone know it.

The nickname of the newest NHL team was unveiled on Thursday and it has players, coaches and fans amped up for their arrival.

The team tweeted a picture of their dazzling new logo flying on a flag above Seattle's most famous landmark, the Space Needle.

The team also sent out a fantastically produced hype video.

The nickname, logos and color scheme had the league talking, and not just about what a Kraken is, exactly.

"It's like a sea monster, or something like that. It's great - the Seattle Sea Monsters," Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno said. "Pretty cool logo, pretty cool jerseys. Something different. I wasn't expecting those colors but I think it works and it's just great to see that we have a really good franchise, obviously, coming in and it's a great, great opportunity for a lot of players as well."

"I think it's a great name to be honest. It's pretty cool," Montreal Canadiens defenseman Marco Scandella said. "The Kraken's kind of like a mythical squid-like creature, right? I think it's cool, going to get a cool logo going. It's unique, so I'm all for it. I've got to see (the logo) first, but I like the name.

Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie is from nearby Everett, Washington.

"I guess being form Everett... I was hoping that they were gonna go with the Totems, the team I played with and my coach...that I grew up with, he has the Seattle Totems there so I was hoping maybe they were going to jump up to an NHL team. But Kraken's different," Oshie said. "I think more important than the name, I think it's very exciting for the people of Seattle and Washington, the Pacific Northwest, to get a hockey up there and have another team to cheer about."

Coyotes forwards Nick Schmaltz and Christian Fischer also said they are looking forward to the new team.

"It's pretty surprising. I didn't expect that," Schmaltz said. "I think we'll get used to it (the Kraken) as it goes. It's exciting to (add) another new team in the league and it just gives more people an opportunity to play in the league."

"I like the name" Fischer said. "I'm sure they're gonna have more than enough catchphrases to go along with that name. The jersey, with the anchor on the side, I think that's pretty cool. It's going to be huge for our game to grow. You know they're going to do it right with their new arena and that city itself, I mean even for away players it's a new city that you're going to play in and that's exciting for us."

Several coaches weighed in on the big news too.

"I think it's a great name. I like it. I like the names that have some type of reference either to the area or the people who own the team. It's unique," Vegas Golden Knights coach Pete DeBoer said. "Maybe a little unexpected when I heard it, but as it settled in, I'm a big fan. I think it's great that we have another franchise.... Great city, I think a long time coming."

"The Kraken name, I like it, I like it a lot. To be able to come out now and put a name to it, a logo and uniform, I think everything becomes more real. It's exciting. I can't wait to go play there," Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.

Calgary Flames coach Geoff Ward missed the initial rollout because he was in coaches meetings, but caught up on the excitement afterward.

"It's great that finally they were able to have their day with the announcement," Ward said. "Now it'll be fun to see how it proceeds. ... Now you move into those decisions about filling out your staff, filling out your coaching. Now the real fun part starts. Now that it's happened it'll be interesting to watch how they unfold the next little while."

Outside the NHL, there was plenty of excitement for the Kraken.

Actress Lana Condor, star of the Netflix series "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" appeared in a video to promote the team store, whose proceeds are going to help end youth homelessness.

Luke Willson of the Seattle Seahawks was pretty pumped about the new name.

Filmmaker Kevin Smith, a longtime New Jersey Devils fan, also shared his excitement.

Of course, Gritty got involved with a totally unbiased suggestion for the team's mascot.

Former NHL goalie Roberto Luongo did as he does, tweeting a joke.

The Carolina Hurricanes were in full on brag mode about how they guessed the name in advance.

And the Tampa Bay Lightning and NBA's Miami Heat wanted to welcome the Kraken to an exculsive club.

The Kraken hit the ice in 2021.