'Let Me Introduce Hockey'

Hockey weaves its way into the family dynamic by many routes. For Vikrant Makhnotra and his loved ones, the first stitch started on a trip to visit his brother- and sister-in-law in Vancouver, BC.
"Everyone was talking about the Canucks and ice hockey," Makhnotra said. "They were super excited about the sport, everywhere we went. I wanted to learn about it."

Makhnotra and his wife, Shamili, were even more impressed with the prospect of raising a family amidst the mountains and waters of the Pacific Northwest. They moved from his hospitality job in Kansas City to Seattle in 2005, after re-locating in the U.S. in 1999 once he finished his education. He was employed by a major hotel chain, plus worked suite hospitality roles during Seahawks home games starting in 2006.

The pandemic forced layoffs at the hotel chain. Makhnotra says "luckily" he had contacts with Delaware North, the company that provides a range of food and beverages at Climate Pledge Arena. He now works events at the city's brand-new sparkling jewel, managing the Smartsheet suite situated at event level with one glass wall that allows fans to see Kraken players walk to and from the ice.
"I grew up playing sports in India," says Makhnotra, who lived in New Delhi and left for school in London when he was 15. "We played at our neighborhood playground, cricket and soccer and field hockey. I played cricket and soccer in college in England, too.
"Cricket is the major sport, but fans there also follow the top soccer clubs [especially in the UK and Spain]. People are very knowledgeable sports fans in India. We played field hockey on artificial turf whenever we could. But ice hockey, wow, it is so fast."

Viewing Kraken players and games so vividly and up close this season, Makhnotra started thinking differently about activities for his and Shamili's two young sons. An invitation for all arena staff to attend a family skate and gathering at Kraken Community Iceplex in the Northgate neighborhood kicked those thoughts into high gear.
"I don't see a lot of Indian players in ice hockey," Makhnotra said. "A lot of Indian families put their kids into math classes and swimming and baseball. With me working with the Kraken, my idea was, 'Let me introduce hockey to them' [Devik, 7, and Heetvik, 3]."
Fittingly, as we begin Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Makhnotra boys have advanced and improved in their learn-to-skate classes they started three months ago. Learning the proper techniques of skating is the first building block of exceling and having fun in hockey. Long-time fans and skaters know three is just about the ideal age to begin skating, but seven-year-old Devik has picked up the skill rapidly.
"Both took it as a challenge to get better, especially Devik," Makhnotra said. "He is making big strides. He was getting good by his third class."
Devik was inspired by the family skate and Iceplex gathering earlier this year, even though he didn't know how to skate at the time and couldn't fully participate. Now, "he wants to be the best skater he can," Makhnotra said.

In a universal story, three-year-old Heetvik, wasn't sold on steel blades and a frozen surface at first. Any number of NHL players, including Hockey Hall of Famers, admit to crying or complaining or both their first times on the ice before subsequent visits convinced them skating was an entry point to a new world of joy and opportunity.
To Heetvik's credit, he didn't whine or wince. He simply took to "eating ice" as per Makhnotra.
"Absolutely, he was eating ice for five or six classes," says Makhnotra, lightly. "The instructors were so patient with him. Now he is loving class and moving up in [skill level]."
While the boys continue to improve on the rink, the Makhnotras have become Kraken fans and the family hockey weave will only get stronger when it's time for Heetvik and Devik to join learn-to-play-hockey programing at the Iceplex. Mom, Dad and the boys began to watch road games together, tuning into ROOT SPORTS Northwest telecasts to learn the players and game from the announcer-analyst pairing of John Forslund and JT Brown.
"It started with a puck I brought home for my older son," Makhnotra said. "We started showing the boys the away games. It's so fast and fun. We all love it."