First Franchise Game vs Vancouver (Oct 13, 2021)

Lore & Background

The build-up to October 13, 2021, was years in the making. Seattle had been a hockey market in all but name for decades, and the Kraken's arrival as an expansion franchise finally gave the city a team to rally behind. The inaugural season opened with a matchup that felt almost scripted: the closest neighbor, the Vancouver Canucks, across the water. The Pacific Northwest rivalry was not a product of decades of grudges but of geography, pride, and the simple fact that two cities on the same coast now had NHL clubs wearing their colors.

Climate Pledge Arena was a sold-out cauldron that night. The Kraken's dark teal and light teal jerseys cut through the arena lights as the crowd—many wearing Kraken gear for the very first time—erupted at every shift, every save, every shot on goal. The Canucks, as the established side, brought the experience and the composure, and they took the win. But the energy in the building was unmistakable: this was a city that had found its team, and the rivalry with Vancouver was now real, personal, and permanent.

In the broader arc of Kraken history, that first game set the template. Every subsequent season, every rivalry series, every playoff push traces back to that October night when the puck dropped for the first time in Seattle and the Kraken became, in the truest sense, a franchise.

In Their Own Story

The Zamboni had just finished its last pass, and the ice gleamed like a sheet of dark glass under the arena lights. The crowd noise was a low, constant hum—thousands of people breathing together, waiting. A player in dark teal skated out alone, stick dragging, the blade carving a thin white line across the surface. He stopped at center ice, looked up into the stands, and let out a breath that fogged in the cold. The Canucks were already in their warm-up, a familiar rhythm of shoulder checks and slap shots echoing off the boards. The puck sat in the center circle, black and round and heavy with meaning. The referee dropped his stick. The crowd inhaled as one. And then the Kraken's first NHL game was real.

Reader's Guide

The Kraken's inaugural game on October 13, 2021, is the foundational record of the franchise. It established the team's first competitive result, its first home crowd experience, and the opening chapter of the Pacific Northwest rivalry with Vancouver. The game was played at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken's purpose-built home in Seattle, during the 2021-22 season—their first as the NHL's 32nd expansion team.

The matchup against Vancouver was not arbitrary. As the nearest NHL club to Seattle, the Canucks represented the most natural and immediate rival, and the league's scheduling placed them at the top of the inaugural card. The result was a Vancouver victory, but the significance of the night transcended the scoreboard. It marked the first time Kraken jerseys were worn in an NHL contest, the first time the Kraken logo was displayed on the ice, and the first time a Seattle crowd witnessed a top-flight hockey game in their own arena.

For record-keeping purposes, this game anchors the franchise's all-time series against Vancouver, the inaugural-season win-loss record, and the home-stand history at Climate Pledge Arena. Every subsequent Kraken-Canucks meeting is measured against this first encounter.

Did You Know?

• The Seattle Kraken became the NHL's 32nd franchise, ending a long period in which Seattle had no top-flight hockey team of its own.
• The Pacific Northwest rivalry with Vancouver was born on this very night, making the Kraken-Canucks series one of the youngest rivalries in the league.
• Climate Pledge Arena was the Kraken's purpose-built home, designed to be a carbon-neutral arena and one of the most modern venues in professional sports.
• The 2021-22 season was the Kraken's first and only inaugural season, making every record from that year a franchise first by definition.