‘Surreal’ Winter Classic showcases Seattle’s passion for hockey

SEATTLE -- The NHL knew Seattle could be a hockey town. That’s why the League awarded the city an expansion franchise Dec. 4, 2018.

Now everyone else knows too.

The Seattle Kraken showcased the market in the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park on Monday. In their third season, they drew a sellout crowd of 47,313 for a 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights and a quintessentially Seattle spectacle.

The place was packed with Kraken gear. The fans chanted “Joey!” for Joey Daccord, who made 35 saves in the first shutout in Winter Classic history, and they boomed “Let’s go Kraken!” after goals by Eeli Tolvanen, Will Borgen and Yanni Gourde as Nirvana’s “Lithium” blared on the loudspeakers.

“You really know this city’s a hockey town now,” said Gourde, a member of the Kraken since the beginning. “Yeah, it was just great exposure tonight to show the world how much Seattle’s a hockey town. They were loud. The atmosphere was electric. It was a lot of fun.”

Fun. That’s what this was supposed to be, and that’s what it was, from the teams’ arrivals to the stadium, to their entrances to the ice, to the entertainment, to the field design.

“Honestly,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said, “one of the greatest sporting events that I’ve been involved in.”

It has become a Winter Classic tradition for the teams to dress up for their arrivals to the stadium. The Kraken looked like they were stepping off a fishing boat, wearing rubber boots and orange overalls, clutching fish and coffee. The Golden Knights looked like Elvis impersonators with wigs, glasses and rhinestone suits. The fans were all shook up.

When the teams walked out for the game, the Golden Knights went first. The fans booed. Then Seattle’s Sir Mix-a-Lot performed “Jump on It” and released the Kraken.

Fire shot into the air. Fishmongers from Pike Place Market tossed fish to each other ahead of -- and even in between -- the players.

It was part of the nautical theme honoring Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. The teams stood on piers. A ship sank in center field, capsized by the Kraken’s tentacles. There were boats and buoys and ropes and nets and more.

“Surreal,” Kraken forward Jared McCann said.

Nikhil Bagga, a 14-year-old singer, songwriter and guitarist from Seattle, performed the U.S. national anthem on the guitar as if he were the late Seattle legend Jimi Hendrix. Two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Search and Rescue flew over the stadium, each with a person repelling underneath, one with an American flag.

“They did an awesome job, everyone setting this game up,” Kraken forward Matty Beniers said. “We had fun with it. That flyover, we were just talking about it giving you chills. The national anthem’s going. They’re doing a flyover before you get on the ice. You’re like, ‘Holy cow, this is cool.’”

Tolvanen got the crowd going by giving the Kraken a 1-0 lead at 4:50 of the first period. Seattle’s Heart revved up the fans further during the first intermission with “Barracuda” and “Magic Man.”

Borgen made it 2-0 at 2:19 of the second period, and during the second intermission, the fans roared for “A Tribute to Seattle Sports.” Several Seattle legends were introduced, each in a Kraken Winter Classic jersey. There was former Sonics coach Lenny Wilkens, former Seahawks receiver Steve Largent, former Mariners slugger Jay Buhner and more.

No one got a bigger ovation than former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch, who happens to be a Kraken minority owner. The Kraken went into beastmode in the third period when Gourde made it 3-0 at 2:10 and Daccord made 15 saves, including a huge glove save on Golden Knights center Jack Eichel.

“It’s such a different feel from a regular arena,” Hakstol said. “It’s got a massive feel to it. And obviously as the home team, playing in our home city, to have the opportunity to do this in this ballpark in front of our home fans and get the result that everybody wanted makes it pretty special.”

After finishing 30th in the NHL in their inaugural season, the Kraken made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time last season. They upset the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the Western Conference First Round and took the Dallas Stars to seven games in the second round.

Now they have defeated the defending champion Golden Knights in an outdoor game in front of their home fans. They’ve won five straight games and are on a nine-game point streak (7-0-2), a franchise record. They’re one point out of the second wild card in the West.

“It was a special day for everybody – for our team, for the city, for hockey,” Daccord said. “Today was an incredible day and just so grateful to be a part of it. … It was something that I’ll never forget and probably one of the coolest days of my whole life.”