Kraken core look to ‘build tradition’ in Winter Classic | NHL.com (2024)

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SEATTLE -- Jordan Eberle used to walk by pictures of legends when he played for the Edmonton Oilers and New York Islanders.

Now he strolls by pictures of himself and his Seattle Kraken teammates.

"How you build tradition is you walk by the history every day and you see the Cups on the wall, the names," Eberle said. "That's how you do it, you win. That's what we need to continue to do here."

In Edmonton, where Eberle played from 2010-17, it was Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Paul Coffey, Grant Fuhr, Jarri Kurri and Glenn Anderson. In New York, Eberle's home from 2017-21, it was Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Bryan Trottier, Billy Smith, Bob Nystrom and Clark Gillies.

And pictures of Stanley Cup championship teams too; four in New York from 1980-83, five in Edmonton from 1984-90.

It's a little different in Seattle since the Kraken arrived as an expansion team in 2021-22.

Here Eberle sees himself, Jared McCann, Yanni Gourde, Philipp Grubauer, Matty Beniers and others adorning the walls at Kraken Community Iceplex. Here he walks by a cool-looking logo that is not synonymous with success. There are only two team pictures so far. He's in both. The Stanley Cup is in neither.

"Being there from Day One, you're building a foundation for the people who will come after you," Eberle said. "Once you start winning, you start gaining some respect in the League. That's what we did last year. We started building some tradition and a fan base, showing the city of Seattle what the playoffs are all about. You build a franchise day by day. You can't look forward and say, 'In three years we're going to have a Winter Classic.'"

But that's exactly what has happened, along with Stanley Cup Playoff games at Climate Pledge Arena last season.

The eyes of the hockey world will be fixed on Seattle on New Year's Day, when the Kraken will host the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners, in the only NHL game on Jan. 1.

"Where we're at now is a city and a fanbase that deserves to be on the national stage," Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. "Everybody had some glimpses of that last year during the playoffs. Everybody felt that excitement and some of that passion that's here in the city. The Winter Classic is a real cool and special opportunity. We have the opportunity now to showcase the city of Seattle."

That means something to the players, the coaches, the front office staff and everyone who has been with the Kraken since Day One.

Eberle, forward Brandon Tanev and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak were in Seattle at Gas Works Park on the north shore of Lake Union on July 21, 2021, to celebrate the Kraken's 30 selections in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft with 4,000 fans in attendance.

They were at the Mariners game at T-Mobile Park the next night to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before a game against the Oakland Athletics.

"The rink wasn't finished yet, but you saw the support, the fanbase, the people that showed out for the show," Oleksiak said. "We had a beautiful summer day here in Seattle and you could see the city and it was like, 'Wow, there's a lot of potential here, a lot of support.'"

See Day 5 of the rink build in T-Mobile Park

That they'll be back in that ballpark to play a hockey game less than three years later on the NHL's biggest regular-season stage is both hard to comprehend and not surprising all at the same time.

"Coming in as a new franchise there's a lot of uncertainties," Oleksiak said. "You don't know how people are going to respond. But we're fortunate. We've got a lot of good people behind us and we're doing things the right way. It's definitely an earned opportunity here."

Eberle said he noticed a difference in how the community both felt about the Kraken and treated the team when he returned to Seattle before training camp this year.

The Kraken were coming off a run to the Western Conference Second Round last season. They won in six games against the Colorado Avalanche, who at the time were the defending Stanley Cup champions, before losing in seven games to the Dallas Stars.

"Getting recognized in the street all of a sudden," Eberle said. "People wearing Kraken gear all over. People talking about us, about how excited they are for the season. That's something I didn't feel year one. People were excited for a team and that they had one, but once we gave them a chance to experience playoff hockey, that's where it changed. You start to gain a fan base and people that really get behind us. I think we have that. It all comes with winning."

That's what the Golden Knights did. They went to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season. They were an instant hit, and their popularity has grown since. They've made the playoffs five times, culminating with the Stanley Cup championship last season.

"There's regular season hockey and there's playoff hockey, and those that have been around hockey understand the difference between those two," Tanev said. "Showing everybody here, the fans, the city, what playoff hockey is all about and how it takes another step, another level, it was great for our group to get that done so quickly."

It was as important to keep building the brand and growing the sport here too, forward Jared McCann said.

"I really do feel we needed it early," he said. "If you go through a stretch where you don't make the playoffs and the team is not doing very well, people start to lose interest. That happens a lot, so for us to get a playoff series victory in our first time in the playoffs is pretty amazing. We want to get back there. We have a group of guys that are really hungry to get back there. We had a taste of it. We want more."

The Kraken have a climb to get there this season after digging themselves a hole with their play in the first half. They come out of the NHL holiday break with a record of 12-14-9, but are 4-0-2 in their past six games. But that'll be the small story about them on Jan. 1, when the two points on the line will matter only after the puck is dropped.

The main story is and will continue to be about a team in its third season in a new NHL market being big enough to get approximately 50,000 people to ring in the new year at a hockey game played in a baseball stadium in front of a national television audience.

That means something to the people whose pictures are hanging on the walls here at Kraken Community Iceplex. They're making the history, building the traditions and setting the standard that future Kraken players will learn about, follow and appreciate.

Soon there will be framed images of them competing in the Winter Classic too, a signature moment in the team's young life.

"It's an opportunity for guys who might have not been in that certain spotlight to come in and really push the envelope to grow the game as much as we can, to help build the organization to what we want it to be," Tanev said. "It's an opportunity for guys who might not have had a lot of other opportunities. It's really cool. We all came into this all hoping to do the same thing, to build the organization and get it to be as good as we can as fast as we can."