The Seattle Who?

Forward Thinking

I may be in a minority on this, but I’m excited about the 2021 expansion. I like new things. In recent times, I’ve found myself more looking forward to the new Seattle team than the potential end to the 2019/20 season. The former seems much more tangible.

We have precious little information about the new team, leading to speculation from every corner. Especially when it comes to the name and mascot. Many suggestions have been thrown around, some more reasonable than others. And since we’re all pretty tired of the will-they-won’t-they drama, why not throw a few of my own ideas out there?

The In-Bounds

• The Grey Wolves

It’s basic, I know. But so are the Panthers and the Penguins. Grey wolves can be found in Olympic National Park outside Seattle. The wolf is a symbol of strength, intensity, and teamwork. I also love wolves, so that gives this one a leg up for me personally.

• The Lynx

Canada Lynx is another species found in Olympic National Park. This animal choice is a little more superficial, as lynx aren’t known to hunt overly big prey or work together much at all. They’re very striking in appearance while still upholding a predatory aura. One issue with this could be that Minnesota’s WNBA team has the same name.

• The Olympics

No, they haven’t ever hosted the Olympics. What the Olympics references is Mount Olympus, within the Olympic Mountain Range in Olympic National Park. The National Park is just across the Puget Sound from Seattle. The name would also be a nod to the state’s capital, Olympia.

The name intones power, skill, and is unique in comparison to the rest of the league.

The one pitfall to this name is the International Olympic Committee has it trademarked. I still think it’s cool though. 

• The Chiefs

Hold your fire, everyone. Hear me out. The city of Seattle was named from an Anglicized translation of Chief Si’ahl of the Suquamish and Duwamish tribes, the latter having inhabited that area for 8,000+ years. Of course, by embracing the history of the city, the team would need to develop a close relationship with those tribes in order to celebrate the heritage rather than appropriate it. This wouldn’t be the easy route to take, but it could definitely be cool to incorporate that aspect of Seattle’s history into a brand new team.

• The Sierras

And now back to the basics. Sierra in Spanish translates to mountain range (or “saw” but I’m ignoring that one for now). If there’s one thing the state of Washington has in spades, it’s mountains. You can see the Olympic Range from Seattle, making its skyline recognizable and breathtaking. This one would also give pretty free reign for mascots, too.

The Out-There

• The Sno Men

Storytime. My college roommate was from just outside Seattle, a smaller city called Snohomish in Snohomish County. It would definitely work better if the team was going to Snohomish instead of Seattle, but it would also be funny to have this weird nod to their neighboring cities. Punny, and all, you know?

The Previous Suggestions

• The Kraken

This was one of the first names I saw come up when the expansion was first announced in 2018. While at first, I wasn’t a huge fan, there are artists out there who came up with some really nice looking logo concepts that have sucked me in. Pun intended. I love the incorporation of green (for the Emerald City), the water around them, and the Space Needle in these designs. It’s different from the other team logos out there, which is another plus.

Some of the pushback that the Kraken has gotten is that it has more significance to Scandinavia than Seattle. Statistically, there’s a fairly high percentage of Scandinavians living in Seattle, plus there’s a high percentage of Scandinavians playing in the NHL, so that’s not really a concern for me.

• The Sasquatch

Definitely not as likely as the Kraken when it comes to the front office, but it really made me smile. I also came across designs that caught my eye. This would definitely be the most fun name and mascot in the NHL. It’s a reference to the many sightings of Bigfoot reported in the PNW, including Washington. It’s a funny mascot without being wimpy. I wouldn’t be mad about it.

The Obvious Choice

• The Rain City Bitch Pigeons

It came from a nickname for the Seahawks and I couldn’t love it more. Maybe it was the concept art someone made for them, or maybe it was their Twitter page. It doesn’t matter, in the end. Whatever they end up naming the team, the Bitch Pigeons will always be my Seattle team.

The Colors

No one is going to be happy with whatever colors are chosen. Blue and green are the obvious choice because of the Seahawks and the Mariners (to an extent), but their instant rivals in Vancouver already have the same color scheme. So what other options are there?

I like the idea of staying with green, because Washington is the Evergreen State and Seattle is the Emerald City, so green is definite. As for the second color, I think it’s time for an NHL team to go back to the ’90s. It’s about time a team has purple in their color scheme. But that’s just me.

Conclusions

I have many opinions, but ultimately I’m just excited to see what happens. I was disappointed with Vegas not picking something cooler or anything related to gambling, but I think the only way Seattle could disappoint me would be by naming them the Metropolitans (boring, been there and done that). Rumor has it they’ve already picked a name and mascot. What do you all think it will be? Have any other names I should consider? Leave a comment or tweet me. 

-Heidi Thomas (@DamselOnDrums)