The St. Louis Blues finally know the name of their newest conference opponent. They will face the Seattle Kraken in 2021-22
St. Louis sports fans feel like they have been waiting ages to get the name, logo and colors of their new MLS team. However, their wait is nothing compared to fans of the St. Louis Blues newest Western Conference foe.
We have known that there would be a team in Seattle for nearly two years – 20 months as of writing this. Even with the pandemic being an excuse recently, it’s been long enough.
Finally, the Blues and Seattle fans and the rest of the NHL know what was long expected. Seattle will unleash the Kraken.
Honestly, this name made the most sense.
There were more popular names among Seattle residents, such as Sockeyes or Totems. Totems likely sets you up for a naming battle down the road, given the current climate. Sockeyes is fine as a name, but do you really want a fish as your mascot? Nobody takes the Marlins seriously and they’ve won championships (secretly I like their original logo)
There was a large group that wanted the team named the Metropolitans again. You run into more confusion though.
If you shorten it to Mets, the New York Mets might come after you for trademark infringement. Also, just from an NHL standpoint, it might be odd to have a division called the Metropolitan Division and then a team called the Metropolitans playing in the Pacific Division.
Kraken also makes sense from a national standpoint. While you always want to make your local fans happy, Kraken is more likely to garner national interest.
If nothing else, it gives fans like myself that much more reason to break out the GIFs. I have enough fun using Jaws memes and GIFs against the San Jose Sharks and Wile E. Coyote GIFs playing the Arizona Coyotes. Just imagine what we can do with the Kraken.
The logo is what it is. It’s not flashy, but it fits.
It’s just an S for Seattle, with a slight tentacle-like flourish to it.
BREAKING:
— Tim Booth (@ByTimBooth) July 23, 2020
The NHL's 32nd team has a name:
The SEATTLE KRAKEN pic.twitter.com/0o3BuKETKi
I would assume there are going to be secondary logos for the shoulders (they later revealed anchors) or maybe even away jerseys. Heck, they might go crazy and have a third logo in their first year. Sell all the merch you can!
In all seriousness, there isn’t much to dislike about what they’ve revealed so far unless you were just against the name Kraken from the start.
The Blues will get to feast on the Kraken in 2021-22. Also, don’t forget that the expansion draft is not until 2021, so it has no bearing on Alex Pietrangelo being a free agent this year or leaving Jake Allen exposed.
2021 people. Let’s get on the same page.