Seattle Kraken officially unveiled as the NHL's 32nd franchise

The NHL's 32nd franchise is officially here! The Seattle Kraken have officially revealed their team name with a live video streamed through their social media channels on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Check it out:

The team name is official and we can finally stop calling them the "Seattle NHL franchise". All the speculation is over and, quite frankly, the Seattle ownership group deserves an incredible amount of creit for keeping such a tight lid on the team's name this entire time. You may recall that the Vegas Golden Knights' name was more or less revealed in the weeks leading up to its botched unveiling. Las Vegas Knights, Vegas Black Knights, Vegas Golden Knights... these names were all known to the public before the name Vegas Golden Knights was officially revealed. In Seattle's case though... there were no official or unofficial leaks in the weeks and days leading up to today's announcement.

Sure, there was speculation that they might be the Seattle Sockeyes or some variation of historic names like the Seattle Thunderbirds, Seattle Totems or Seattle Metropolitans and Seattle Sockeyes was always an option, but never confirmed by anyone with any credibility in the business. Seattle's Oak View ownership group deserves a good deal of credit for keeping the name under wraps for so long.

In any case, the Kraken are here and they're here the stay. The newest NHL team hits the ice for the 2021-22 season when construction at their new arena in downtown Seattle is completed. Welcome to the NHL, Seattle Kraken!