Mark Giordano

Lore & Background

Giordano's path to Seattle was not a surprise to those who followed the game. A New Westminster kid who grew up watching hockey in the Pacific Northwest, he carried a quiet pride in his roots that resonated with Kraken fans even before he laced up his skates in Climate Pledge Arena. His arrival in the summer of 2022 was framed less as a signing and more as a homecoming: a BC boy finally playing for a BC team.

In New Jersey, Giordano had become the face of a franchise that refused to be outmuscled. As captain, he set the tone in every practice, every lineup meeting, every postgame interview. His style was never flashy—no highlight-reel dekes, no 30-goal seasons—but his positioning, his stickwork in the defensive zone, and his willingness to deliver a clean, hard check made him a cornerstone of the 2012 championship run and a constant thorn in opponents' sides for over a decade.

For the Kraken, that legacy mattered. In a league where new teams often struggle to find their identity in the first year, Giordano provided a ready-made standard. Veterans and rookies alike measured their effort against his. His presence in the room, his voice in the huddle, his refusal to let a single shift go unchallenged—these became part of the Kraken's founding mythology, the idea that this team would be built on grit as much as talent.

In Their Own Story

The lights at Climate Pledge Arena hummed to life on a Tuesday night in November, the kind of crisp Pacific Northwest evening where the smell of pine and cold air seeped through the arena walls. Giordano stood at the blue line, stick planted, breathing steady. Across the ice, a young forward from the opposing team skated in with the puck, eyes locked forward, looking for an opening. Giordano didn't chase. He simply shifted his weight, angled his body, and let the man run into the wall of him. The puck skittered loose. A Kraken winger was already there. The crowd's roar rolled through the rafters, and Giordano just nodded once, already turning, already looking for the next battle. Twenty years of hockey, and the next shift was the only one that mattered.

Reader's Guide

Mark Giordano joined the Seattle Kraken as a free agent ahead of the franchise's 2022–23 inaugural season. A 39-year-old defenseman entering what would be his final NHL campaign, he was brought in specifically for his leadership, defensive reliability, and competitive edge.

With Seattle, Giordano served as a veteran presence in the locker room and on the ice, pairing with younger defensemen and setting the standard for effort and positioning. His role was less about individual production and more about culture: how to prepare, how to compete in the neutral zone, how to carry a team through a 82-game grind.

His personal background is deeply West Coast. Born in New Westminster, BC, he grew up in the same region as the Kraken, giving his Seattle tenure an almost symbolic quality. His career arc—15th overall pick in 2003, years of building in New Jersey, a Stanley Cup in 2012, a stint in Calgary, and finally Seattle—reads like a long road back home.

His impact on Kraken culture was immediate and felt. In a franchise with no prior identity, Giordano embodied the competitive, physical, team-first ethos the organization wanted to project. For fans, he was proof that the Kraken would not be a soft, rebuild-for-years team; they would compete from the opening puck drop.

Did You Know?

• Giordano is a New Westminster, BC native, making his Seattle tenure a genuine Pacific Northwest homecoming.
• He was widely regarded as one of the NHL's premier faceoff defensemen, a skill that made him invaluable in high-pressure situations.
• He was a key member of the 2012 New Jersey Devils Stanley Cup team, one of the most memorable championship runs of the modern era.
• He served as captain of the New Jersey Devils for several seasons, a role that cemented his reputation as a locker-room leader.