SEATTLE — The Kraken announced Friday that they will play preseason home games at Western Hockey League arenas in Spokane, Everett and Kent, but team officials said construction on Climate Pledge Arena will be finished in time for the mid-October start of the NHL regular season.
Kraken officials were spotted discreetly touring the Angel of the Winds arena in Everett this week during a home game for the WNBA’s Storm. In a statement Friday, Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said Climate Pledge Arena is on track for a mid-October regular-season home game, but he did not give a specific completion date for the renovation, which will cost more than $1 billion.
“We are so grateful to the men and women who have worked tirelessly to build Climate Pledge Arena in the most extraordinary of circumstances and thank Mortenson and all the subcontractors,” Leiweke said. “The arena is on track to host our first regular-season home game in mid-October, but we have made the decision to play our three inaugural preseason games at three outstanding local arenas. This gives us an opportunity to partner with the WHL teams, celebrate hockey across our region and grow this beautiful game. We couldn’t be more excited for these games and then to open Climate Pledge Arena.”
Season-ticket holders with preseason games included in their packages will be offered account credits. Tickets to the preseason games are being sold by the Seattle Thunderbirds, Everett Silvertips and Spokane Chiefs — the WHL teams that play at the arenas being used as alternate sites.
Tickets go on sale to the general public July 16 at noon on angelofthewindsarena.com for Everett, seattlethunderbirds.com for Kent and ticketswest.com for Spokane. The Kraken will donate a portion of ticket revenue to their One Roof Foundation philanthropic arm with a goal of raising more than $500,000 to expand youth access to hockey.
The team revealed its six-game preseason schedule, featuring an inaugural home contest Sept. 26 at Spokane Veterans Memorial Coliseum against the Vancouver Canucks.
Two other home games take place Oct. 1 in Everett against the Edmonton Oilers and then Oct. 2 at the accesso ShoWare Center in Kent vs. the Calgary Flames. The three road games are Sept. 28 at Edmonton, Sept. 29 at Calgary and Oct. 5 at Vancouver.
The regular season is tentatively set for Oct. 12, with the NHL expected to release the schedule within the next few weeks.
“We are looking forward to welcome the Seattle Kraken to the accesso ShoWare Center,” Thunderbirds president Colin Campbell said in the team’s release. “We are already partners with the Kraken and our organizations are committed to developing local hockey players and helping them succeed at the highest levels of the game. This is a unique opportunity for the next generation of Washington hockey talent and being able to host this game in our home arena is an honor.”
Silvertips chief operating officer Zoran Rajcic said: “It’s an amazing testimony to the growth of hockey in the Pacific Northwest that the Seattle Kraken have quickly unified the passion of our fan base and those of fellow WHL franchises for this incredible opportunity. ... From the moment the Kraken approached us with an opportunity to host NHL preseason hockey in our home, we felt it was a perfect match.”
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