After much teasing, the Seattle Kraken officially unveiled their new third jerseys on Thursday: a black kit featuring a glow-in-the-dark version of the team’s primary logo as its main crest, glow-in-the-dark nameplates and numbers, and a lot of stripes up the sleeves and on the socks.
“When we set out to design a third jersey, we wanted to create something a bit more menacing and intense,” said Kraken vice president of brand Aaron Wiggan in a press release. “We drew our inspiration from the eerie shadows of the deep Pacific Northwest waters. The result is the franchise’s first all-black kit that includes an Ice Blue, glow-in-the-dark outline on the crest – a nod to the incredible bioluminescence found in these waters. We’re extremely proud of how it turned out, and we can’t wait to see our players and fans in this new look.”
Added Kraken captain Jordan Eberle: “This is an exciting new look for our team, and the jersey is phenomenal. The glow-in-the-dark element is really unique, and it’s such an eye-catching look. I love the inspiration behind it and all the details that went into the design. We hope it will add to the incredible atmosphere at Climate Pledge Arena.”
I’ve always been a sucker for black uniforms (I loved the all-black San Jose “stealth” jerseys, for example), so while I personally predicted these new jerseys would be red—since “Red Alert” was the only existing color in the Kraken’s palette that hadn’t yet been used as a primary—I was pleasantly surprised to see that the teaser videos’ references to “the abyss” were hinting at black uniforms.
I do like that, and the “bioluminescence”-inspired logo will pop nicely, especially when the lights go down in the arena for the pre-game show. What I’m not sold on yet, without seeing the kits in person, is the extra striping up the sleeves and socks (though the Kraken have said the stripes are a nod to sonar, which I admit is a neat touch). I recall giving the New York Rangers a hard time for their navy blue third jerseys that had a gazillion stripes on the sleeves because of how busy they looked. Seattle’s jerseys don’t have nearly as many stripes as those Rangers thirds, but that detail is the one that gave me pause.
Holistically, though, I think it’s a unique look, and it will be fun to see the Kraken don black. I also think there are opportunities for Game Ops to make the show at Climate Pledge Arena even more eerie on nights when the arena transforms from “The Deep” to “The Abyss.”
Seattle will wear the new uniforms for 12 home games this season, starting Nov. 1 against the aforementioned Rangers. Here’s the full list of when they will wear the new kits:
- Nov. 1 vs. New York Rangers
- Nov. 5 vs. San Jose
- Nov. 26 vs. Dallas
- Dec. 4 at Edmonton
- Dec. 8 vs. Minnesota
- Dec. 29 vs. Vancouver
- Jan. 6 vs. Boston
- Jan. 23 vs. Anaheim
- Jan. 25 vs. New Jersey
- March 4 vs. St. Louis
- March 12 vs. Colorado
- April 9 vs. Vegas
Preorder for the jerseys for Kraken season ticket members starts Friday and runs through Sept. 10. Presales for the public start Sept. 11.
What say you, Kraken fans? Do you like these new third jerseys?
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.