Wednesday’s Kraken Common Thread Opening Night event, held inside the majestic Summit “Spotlight” space at the Seattle Convention Center, was precisely what many attendees had dreamed about. The gathering celebrated the newest designs of the Kraken “S” and the secondary anchor mark, marking five years of unveiling Seattle jerseys reimagined by local artists.
Most of the creators were on hand to humbly but happily receive congratulations, compliments and callouts from speakers and guests. Damon Brown, the artist behind this season’s Black Hockey History Night, which features artwork displayed throughout Climate Pledge Arena’s video boards, smiled when asked to describe his process for creating the futuristic jersey that hung near the front entrance of the convention center.
“First, I wanted to understand the history of the Kraken and the history of Black athletes who are hockey players,” said Brown, who has collaborated with official team partner Brooks on a line of running shoes and designed drinkware for founding partner Starbucks. “I thought I might focus on a character to represent Black players who broke down barriers in the NHL, such as Willie O’Ree in 1958. Then I thought, ‘how about shifting to what hockey will look like for us in the future, for players of color, for fans and for the jerseys.’ I took it from there and started sketching what the [Kraken marks] might look like in decades ahead.”
The result is a kinetic, spirited “S” that appears capable of traveling to the reaches of outer galaxies with an anchor lofted high up in the atmosphere rather than dropping deep into the sea.
Dress Code: Favorite ‘Common Thread’ Jerseys
For Adrienne Kosewicz, Emily Bottles and Rai Adair, Wednesday’s festivities presented a chance to scope which artistic jerseys might be in their near future. When approached at their table by a reporter asking which jersey being worn was the most beautiful, all three cheerfully said theirs. For Kosewicz, it was a Philipp Grubauer 2022-23 Green Night jersey, one of four Grubauer jerseys she owns, along with one each to honor goaltenders Joey Daccord, Martin Jones and Alex Stezka (who signed to play in his homeland, Czechia’s top pro league this season). Her heritage is Czech, and her affinity for goaltenders started with Hall of Famer and Czech-born Dominik Hasek, when he shut out Canada, 1-0, in the 1998 Winter Olympics gold medal game.
Bottles sported the 2023-24 Lunar New Year jersey with favorite D-man Adam Larsson’s name on the back. She became a Kraken fan (“I loved the name from the first time I heard it”) in the second NHL season after moving from Pittsburgh. Her mother, Ramma Kasavage, flew in from Pittsburgh for a visit and to see the jerseys-as-art opening night. Mom was wearing the 2024-25 Hispanic Heritage jersey with forward Tye Kartye’s name across the back.
Adair, donning the 2023-24 Black Hockey History jersey with the name of one of that season’s fan favorites, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, was clearly aligned with Damon Brown’s futuristic jersey interpretation: “The Black Hockey History apparel goes fast. I have to get mine early; they sell out by first intermission on game night.”
Sandy Farewell, listening to the conversation wearing her 2024-25 Green Night jersey with “Buoy” (timeless choice) on the back, asked a question all wanted to know and still to be answered: “What is the PWHL team name going to be?” The table did agree “Kraken” was the perfect team name for the NHLers.
