What. A. Weekend. The Seattle Kraken knocked off the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights in the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic on Monday in a core-memory-making event for everyone involved (except Vegas and its fans).
The pageantry, the hoopla, the flying fish, heck, even the weather… It all exceeded our expectations, and the game itself was fantastic.
“It’s honestly one of the greatest sporting events that I’ve been involved in or participated in, for sure,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “In terms of sporting events, it was pretty awesome. The field, and just the energy at the stadium throughout the hockey game… We got off to a good start, so that continued to fuel it, but just the spectacle and the feel for the event itself was outstanding.”
While this one felt very different than a standard home game, Seattle stuck to its same formula that has helped it reach nine straight games with standings points (7-0-2), five straight wins, and a record above .500 for the first time this season (15-14-9).
Here are our Three Takeaways from an unforgettable 3-0 Kraken win over the Golden Knights at the Winter Classic.
Takeaway #1: The Joey Show turns up
Joey Daccord took a big step toward cementing himself as one of the fan favorite athletes for the entire Seattle sports scene Monday. He has been on fire throughout this streak, and on one of hockey’s biggest stages, he pitched his second shutout of the nine-game span with 35 saves.
It was the first shutout in the history of the Winter Classic and earned Daccord the new “Cocoa Cup” MVP trophy.
“It’s just a special day for everybody,” Daccord said. “For our team, for the city, for hockey, that was an incredible day, and I’m just so grateful to be a part of it. It’s really special, and it’s a huge win for our group. That’s a good team over there. It’s a big two points, and at the same time, it was something that I’ll never forget and probably one of the coolest days of my whole life.”
Daccord’s performance helped make it one of the coolest days of a lot of people’s lives. For all the pomp and circumstance, if he had come out and had a dud of a game, the memories of the day would have faded quickly for the fans that shelled out big bucks for a chance to watch a hockey game outside from hundreds of feet away.
For his efforts, those fans regaled Daccord with chants of “Joey! Joey! Joey!” on several occasions throughout the day, and the goalie leaned into it after the game, hamming it up for the crowd as he headed for the Mariners Kraken dugout.
“He loves the fans, and he likes to put on a show,” said Matty Beniers. “And he did [today], he put up a shutout. He’s awesome. He deserves all the chants and all the glory he gets.”
For the second time in this nine-game stretch, Daccord briefly looked like he might have a chance for an empty-net goalie goal. Vegas had pulled Logan Thompson with more than three minutes left, and with a three-goal lead, the risk for Daccord to try for it was minimal.
Before a reporter could finish asking if Daccord wanted to try for the empty net, Joey interrupted and said, “Yes.” Then he elaborated, “I would have shot, but right before it got to me, it just bounced… I was going to try to catch it, place it, and shoot it. I was definitely shooting, but it just bounced away from me, so I didn’t get the chance there.”
Even Hakstol was pulling for him to fire one toward Vegas’s net.
“I thought Joey was going to settle one down there with just under a minute to go and try to shoot at the other end,” Hakstol said. “He couldn’t get it settled, so maybe that was one of the only disappointments for the crowd today.”
Imagine if he had scored a goalie goal right after doing THIS to Jack Eichel!
Takeaway #2: Stick to the formula
We’ve said it time and again over the three-season existence of the Kraken, but this formula works; solid goaltending, good team structure, and opportunistic goal scoring.
The Kraken jumped out to an early lead after Eeli Tolvanen made an outstanding tip out of midair on a Vince Dunn point shot, and you could see the confidence on the Kraken players, even from farther away than normal. They had jump and swagger after that and tilted the ice for several stretches in each period.
Thought Daccord bailed out his mates a couple times, Seattle did a great job of thwarting most prime scoring opportunities for the Golden Knights. And when the Kraken had chances to strike offensively, Tolvanen, Will Borgen, and Yanni Gourde came through with clutch goals.
Hakstol had interesting insight about the identity of this season’s team compared to last season and what it is doing now to string these wins together.
“This team is different [than last season],” Hakstol said. “In order to gain some traction and push the right direction here, we’ve had to do it with a defensive mindset and a real grinding type of mindset. We haven’t been able to score our way to wins. We were able to do that at times last year. We became very confident in that type of mindset.”
This new identity and this old formula is working.
It’s yet another example of how this coaching staff has been able to identify issues with the team, make mid-season adjustments, and turn things around. Here, they’ve changed the whole mantra of the group, and the result has been undeniably positive.
Takeaway #3: An unforgettable day
I wanted to use this last Takeaway to share some of my favorite moments from the day. First, getting to the stadium in time to see the Kraken arrive in their fishmonger garb and the Golden Knights get off the bus in head-to-toe Elvis costumes was a heckuva start.
But then some incredible touches were put on the event to make it uniquely Seattle, with the most shining example being Sir Mix-a-Lot playing Jump On It with altered lyrics like, “What’s up, Kraken, what’s up?” while the players walked through a tunnel of real salmon being yeeted over their heads.
Oh, and I also got a good kick out of Will Borgen—one of the heroes of the day with his Borgy Blast™️ goal in the second period—returning to his stall after the game to talk to media with two beers in his hands, only to have a Kraken PR representative sneak in behind him and rip them away.
Aside from the “Drop the puck” thing getting botched at the beginning and Joey not scoring a goalie goal, the day could not have gone better for the NHL, the city of Seattle, the Kraken organization, its fans, and… most importantly… yours truly. I had never been to a Winter Classic before, so I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, but it could not have been a better experience.
Thanks for following along with all of our coverage of the Winter Classic across this website, our social media channels, and our podcast. I truly hope you enjoyed consuming it as much as we enjoyed creating it.
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.
More details about the festivities surrounding the Winter Classic came to light Thursday, as the NHL announced a free two-day fan festival that will be held Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 in the north lot at Lumen Field. The event will be open to the public and will be family friendly.
The Enterprise NHL Fan Village will be open starting at the conclusion of the Seattle Seahawks game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Dec. 31 (approximately 4:30 p.m.) and will run until 8 p.m. that day. If the Seahawks game gets flexed to a different time due to TV coverage, then the event will not be held that day and will instead be held only on Jan. 1, before and after the Winter Classic Game. On Jan. 1, the village will be open from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The festival will feature a variety of games and interactive activities put on by NHL partners like AWS, Discover, Fanatics, Upper Deck, and more. Fans can also take photos with the Stanley Cup, which will be on display.
A full list of the activities can be found below, but here are a few that sounded particularly interesting to us. First, AWS’s “immersive tabletop experience” that will let fans place hockey pucks on a digital hockey rink, and that will bring hockey plays and stats to life. This is a demo of the NHL’s Edge player tracking technology.
Another that sticks out is Ticketmaster’s “Bullseye Battle” shooting competition, along with Upper Deck offering personalized trading cards and an AI photo opportunity from Discover that will let fans place their own faces on Winter Classic collectibles.
As promised, here is the full list of activities that will be held at the Enterprise NHL Fan Village:
AWS: “AWS Interactive Ice” offers a unique immersive tabletop experience allowing fans to place electronically enabled hockey pucks on hotspots across our digital hockey rink to bring hockey plays and statistics to life. The activation highlights and explores the tech that enables deeper insights into the game utilizing NHL Edge IQ powered by AWS stats.
CAT: Hockey fans visiting the Enterprise NHL Fan Village can win Cat branded prizes, take photos with Cat equipment and learn about Cat services.
Discover: The Discover ‘Starting Lineup’ Experience will feature an immersive footprint including an AI photo opportunity allowing fans to place their face on a custom digital Discover collectible, NHL Winter Classic memorabilia for fans to explore, branded premium distribution and special guests throughout the weekend. The centerpiece of the ‘Starting Lineup’ experience is Discover’s oversized Air Hockey Table where fans can take on their friends and family.
Fanatics: Visit the Official Merchandise trailer for a great selection of 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic jerseys, apparel, headwear, and souvenirs.
Great Clips: Fans who think they have what it takes to make the leaderboard must come by Hardest Shot presented by Great Clips to test their slapshot! Great Clips, Official Hair Salon of the NHL.
Honda: Honda, the official automotive partner of the NHL in the U.S., will have the All-New Prologue – Honda’s first All-Electric SUV – on display at the Enterprise NHL Fan Village! Fans can stop by Honda to show off their hockey skills in the Goalie Power Play game and get a chance to win fun prizes.
Jersey Mike’s: Jersey Mike’s will bring an interactive gaming experience to hockey fans, featuring sub sandwich sampling, digital air hockey, augmented reality photo opportunities, sweepstakes and more. This on-site activation allows fans to interact with the brand in a meaningful way.
Navy Federal Credit Union: Fans can visit the Navy Federal Credit Union hockey activation to test their range and accuracy at the Hockey Shot Challenge and for a chance to look like the pros while taking a picture in the Hockey Player Photo Opportunity!
New Amsterdam Vodka: Fans 21-plus can head to the Enterprise NHL Fan Village bar to get the Fan Village signature cocktail “Seattle Smash”, served in a Discover NHL Winter Classic souvenir cup! New Amsterdam Vodka, Official Vodka of the NHL.
NHL Fan Access™ App: As the official event app, NHL Fan Access™ features maps, schedules, the “Ask Stanley” virtual assistant, opportunities to win prizes, and much more. Fans are encouraged to download the app today!
NHL Network: NHL Network will give fans the chance to test their shooting skills with a target inflatable. NHL Network’s NHL Tonight will air extensive pre- and post-game coverage of the 2024 NHL Winter Classic.
S. Preston: At this year’s NHL Winter Classic artist S. Preston will be showcasing his NHL-licensed artwork which includes his limited-edition commemorative sketch for this year’s game. This sketch will be available for purchase on-site at the Enterprise NHL Fan Village.
Stanley Cup Display: Fans can take a photo with the most iconic trophy in professional sports during Enterprise NHL Fan Village operating hours.
Ticketmaster: Fans can show off their wrist shot by aiming for the bullseye at Bullseye Battle!
United by Hockey Mobile Museum: Returning for a second season, the United by Hockey exhibit is a unique interactive experience that celebrates the game’s trailblazers, changemakers and business leaders spanning across multiple underrepresented and multicultural demographics. The professionally curated history museum highlights a number of new features including a VR experience, United Voices podcast wall and adaptive hockey display and aims to raise awareness of and educate fans about diverse individuals within the game of hockey emphasizing that Hockey is for Everyone!
Upper Deck: Fans can get their own personalized NHL Winter Classic trading card from Upper Deck, the exclusive trading card partner of the NHL®. Upper Deck is also giving fans an opportunity to win fun prizes by playing exciting games such as Pack Wars, Box Hockey, and more. In addition, fans can collect a FREE NHL Winter Classic trading card set at UpperDeckEpack.com, the innovative platform that allows users to buy, open, collect and trade with hockey fans from around the world. For more information, fans should visit the Upper Deck booth.
Verizon: Fans can visit Accuracy Challenge presented by Verizon to test their shooting accuracy and see if they have an NHL-caliber shot.
Washington’s Lottery: Fans can practice like the pros and test their stick skills by shooting pucks into a stacked washer and dryer unit.
The full uniforms that will be worn by the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights in the Discover Winter Classic were OFFICIALLY unveiled Wednesday, and we like what we’ve seen… at least for Seattle.
While past uniform (and team name) rollouts have been kept under lock and key until the Kraken could unveil them in their own way, this one went a bit differently. After six days of perplexing “unofficial” rollouts featuring players from the Utah Jazz (why not?) and Dallas Cowboys (of course!) and media personalities of AEW Wrestling fame (obvi!), Seattle’s uniforms were finally displayed in all their glory at Kraken Community Iceplex on Wednesday.
The Kraken Winter Classic kits were revealed in conjunction with the team’s morning skate prior to their game against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.
Kraken Winter Classic jerseys
We had already gotten a good look at the fronts of the jerseys before Wednesday, but it is exciting to see Jordan Eberle, Jared McCann, and Oliver Bjorkstrand sporting them in their full equipment.
On the backs of the jerseys, large red numbers are overlaid on the “ice blue” and cream stripes that wrap around the center of the jerseys. Sometimes numbers on stripes can be hard to see from a distance, but we think there will be enough contrast to read them even from the stands on a gray afternoon at T-Mobile Park on New Year’s Day.
The jerseys have interesting details. The crest, numbers, and lettering are all a felted material with two-to-three layers of “red alert” and cream colors that create a classic look and feel. We especially like the crest, on which the negative-space tentacle on the team’s primary logo has been replaced with an askew and raised “Kraken” wordmark that has each letter individually stitched onto the larger ‘S’ emblem.
You can get a good look at the raised lettering and felted material here:
On the inner collar of the jersey, there’s an offset “1917” written in block letters, a nod to the Seattle Metropolitans team that inspired the jerseys and became the first U.S.-based team to win the Stanley Cup that year.
Helmet, gloves, pants, and socks
We are THRILLED to share that neither team will wear brown pants—a worn-out trend of past outdoor games—though it does appear the Golden Knights will be wearing brown leather gloves. We will let that one slide.
Seattle will stick with “deep sea blue” for their pants, helmets, and gloves, but the number stickers on their lids will be red, as will the lettering on their gloves. Both are a slight change from what the team wears normally, with the light-blue-on-navy look.
The Kraken will wear socks that are a continuation of the repeating barber-pole pattern in their jerseys.
Golden Knights Winter Classic uniforms
We’ve only seen the full kit of the Golden Knights in the below infographic after the jersey was “leaked” on the aforementioned AEW channel.
We initially hated the Vegas jerseys, but seeing them on a player and as part of the full kit, we hate them less. They feature a more muted gold color, and a big, strange ‘V’ on the chest.
What do you think?
Jersey releases are always polarizing. Some people love them, and some people hate them, no matter the team and look.
Kraken coach Dave Hakstol seemed to like them. “I think they’re cool, they’re good,” Hakstol said. “They’ve got a real cool old-school vibe, and all the feedback and reviews that I’ve heard from all different ages has been awesome.”
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
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.
Let’s go outside, shall we? The news was made official Monday that the next Winter Classic will be played at T-Mobile Park between the Seattle Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights on New Year’s Day, 2024.
“Outdoor hockey is at the essence of our game and the way many of our players grew up playing,” said Kraken general manager Ron Francis via press release. “We are thrilled to have the chance to showcase this in Seattle.”
Putting it in Seattle and featuring the league’s two newest teams will certainly bring a fresh look to the tentpole event. The Winter Classic has garnered big-time national interest since Pittsburgh and Buffalo first played an unforgettable game at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Jan. 1, 2008. But the NHL has reached a point where all of its more “historic” U.S.-based franchises have played in the Winter Classic multiple times, and the most compelling and historic venues across the nation have been used.
In fact, the announcement came just prior to the 2023 Discover Winter Classic, being played between the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins. Those teams have now combined to appear in the event six times, while the venue being used—Fenway Park—already hosted the outdoor game in 2010.
A fresh look is needed, and Seattle is the perfect next stop.
“We are honored that the NHL has selected the Kraken, in just our second season, to host this amazing event at the home of our friends, the Mariners,” said Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke. “Over 40,000 fans will witness the beauty and grace of our wonderful game in a venue that showcases the Puget Sound surrounded by the Cascade and Olympic Mountains.”
It’s an enormous get for the Kraken franchise, which—in 2023-24—will be playing in just its third season. This will surely expand interest in the team both locally and nationally and give it a huge stage to show off the exciting brand the organization has worked so hard to build.
The venue
While it would be more visually stunning to host the 2024 Winter Classic at the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium, T-Mobile Park was always the only viable option for the event in Seattle. Rain is one of the worst things that can happen for an outdoor hockey game, and it so happens the Puget Sound area gets plenty of it in the winter. That effectively ruled out Husky Stadium and Lumen Field, which do not have retractable roofs.
But T-Mobile Park, with its umbrella-style retractable roof, can close and shield the playing surface from precipitation, while staying open on the sides to still give those in attendance the feel of being at an outdoor game.
The beloved stadium, home of the Seattle Mariners, remains one of the more scenic ballparks in Major League Baseball. It will provide a unique backdrop for one of hockey’s largest annual spectacles.
Jersey prediction
When Seattle launched its Reverse Retro jerseys earlier this season, we heard from a credible source within the Kraken organization that the team was intentionally holding off on creating a Seattle Metropolitans-themed jersey. The source told us they wanted to keep that in their back pocket for a larger event, specifically calling out the Winter Classic.
So, although nothing is set in stone on this piece, feel free to start designing your Metropolitans concepts now.
Our reaction
This is incredible news for the Kraken and for the NHL. The Winter Classic has been a windfall for the league and every team that has gotten to participate over its 14-year history, and 2024 will be no different.
Vegas is also the perfect opponent choice. There seems to be a rivalry brewing between the Golden Knights—the team that burst onto the scene in 2017-18 and ran all the way to the Stanley Cup Final—and the Kraken, who have been answering constant questions about why they haven’t had a similar start to their franchise history. Both teams will benefit from being on this picturesque and widely watched stage.
And selfishly, we can’t wait to experience the pageantry that comes with an event like this, right here in our own backyard. The Winter Classic has become a staple for hockey fans around the world, and all eyes will be on Seattle when 2024 comes around.
As Boston’s players arrived at Fenway Park Monday, they turned heads by walking in wearing old-timey Red Sox uniforms. Previously, we’ve seen costume themes from “Peaky Blinders”-type outfits to beach garb in below-zero temps. Images like that are what make the event so special, and our wheels are already turning for how Kraken players will dress when they arrive to T-Mobile Park in early 2024.
