The Seattle expansion team unveiled their team name and logo, and now the battle of the border can begin between the Vancouver Canucks and the Kraken.
From the deepest depths of the coldest waters in the Pacific, the mythical sea monster of Seattle has awoken. The Kraken has officially been revealed as the name of the NHL’s 32nd team, but fear nothing as the Vancouver Canucks will be quick to remind everyone who the ocean’s apex predator really is: The Killer Whale.
It won’t be until the 2021-22 season that hockey fans witness the powerful orca sink its teeth into this fowl beast, but trust me when I say that the city of Vancouver is thrilled to not only welcome the Kraken to the NHL but to also have their first real rivalry of close proximity.
Don’t get me wrong, the Canucks most certainly have had their handful of bitter rivals over the decades (Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, LA Kings), but they’ve never had something like this.
Vancouver has always been the second fiddle to each rivalry they’ve ever been apart of, never truly being another team’s most hated rival. To name a few, there’s the battle of Alberta, the battle of Pennsylvania, the California triple threat, and now there is the battle of the border! It’s going to be epic.
This is the kind of rivalry that this hockey-crazy city has been dying for. It’s only a two-hour drive between cities, and these home-and-home clashes are going to be absolutely bananas.
What this can do for the Canucks as a hockey team is going to blow your mind. Canucks fans are passionate, they are dedicated, and they live and die for this game. Do you think you’ve seen a real hockey rivalry Canucks fans? Just wait until you feast your eyes on the battle of the border, wait until Elias Pettersson lights the lamp inside of Climate Pledge Arena.
The earth needs to make a couple of turns around the sun before this rivalry is a true reality, but be excited Canucks fans, because the preparation for war begins now.