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Seattle NHL Brand Discussion


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What's the objection to the Kraken? Seattle Baseball team name is the Mariners, why not tie it in with them? The tales from sea going mariners (one of the reasons I have a fascination with Pirate lore and joined the Worlds Finest Navy) speak of large Kraken type squid and Ghost ships, etc! Or am I just being stupid? LOL

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On 12/25/2019 at 3:41 PM, Fitzy0220 said:

What's the objection to the Kraken? Seattle Baseball team name is the Mariners, why not tie it in with them? The tales from sea going mariners (one of the reasons I have a fascination with Pirate lore and joined the Worlds Finest Navy) speak of large Kraken type squid and Ghost ships, etc! Or am I just being stupid? LOL

It sounds minor-leaguey and not in a good way. That, and there are mariners in Seattle. There are no titanic ship-sinking Scandinavian cephalopods in Seattle. Decently-sized ones, maybe. None big enough to destroy a ship.

 

The Seattle team's brand should be locally-appropriate first. Hell, compare it to other professional Seattle sports franchises; the Seahawks (named for the osprey, a local bird with ties to water and fish, both of which are important to Seattle), Mariners (a name for sailors; tied to the waters surrounding Seattle), SuperSonics (named for Seattle's prominence in aircraft manufacturing, tied into the city) and Sounders (named for Puget Sound, which is the body of water Seattle rests on)...and then there'd be the Kraken (Scandinavian mythological giant squid found off the coasts of Norway and Greenland; thus has no local ties to Seattle itself).

 

With the Sockeye(s), you keep every team locally-appropriate; sockeye are traditionally very important to Natives of the Seattle region. And it works well for a professional franchise, despite seeming a little kitschy and kiddy. I mean, we literally have a team named the Penguins; why can't we also have a team named the Sockeyes?

 

Plus it keeps the trend of Seattle professional teams having an S in their name somewhere. "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Mariners, Dragons" works a lot better then "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Kraken, Mariners, Dragons" because with Sockeyes, every professional team has the same  "-s" sound at the end. It feels more unified that way, like how Pittsburgh's professional teams all use yellow, black and white.

 

Hell, add in the T-Birds and you get more of it; "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Thunderbirds, Mariners, Dragons".

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8 minutes ago, DastardlyRidleylash said:

It sounds minor-leaguey and not in a good way. That, and there are mariners in Seattle. There are no titanic ship-sinking Scandanavian cephalopods in Seattle. Decently-sized ones, maybe. None big enough to destroy a ship.

 

The Seattle team's brand should be locally-appropriate first. Hell, compare it to other professional Seattle sports franchises; the Seahawks (named for the osprey, a local bird with ties to water and fish, both of which are important to Seattle), Mariners (a name for sailors; tied to the waters surrounding Seattle), SuperSonics (named for Seattle's prominence in aircraft manufacturing, tied into the city) and Sounders (named for Puget Sound, which is the body of water Seattle rests on)...and then there'd be the Kraken (Scandanavian mythological giant squid found off the coasts of Norway and Greenland; thus has no local ties to Seattle itself).

 

With the Sockeye(s), you keep every team locally-appropriate; sockeye are traditionally very important to Natives of the Seattle region. And it works well for a professional franchise, despite seeming a little kitschy and kiddy. I mean, we literally have a team named the Penguins; why can't we also have a team named the Sockeyes?

 

Plus it keeps the trend of Seattle professional teams having an S in their name somewhere. "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Mariners, Dragons" works a lot better then "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Kraken, Mariners, Dragons" because with Sockeyes, every professional team has the same  "-s" sound at the end. It feels more unified that way, like how Pittsburgh's professional teams all use yellow, black and white.

 

Hell, add in the T-Birds and you get more of it; "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Thunderbirds, Mariners, Dragons".

Cool Thanks for the info! 

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8 hours ago, DastardlyRidleylash said:

It sounds minor-leaguey and not in a good way. That, and there are mariners in Seattle. There are no titanic ship-sinking Scandanavian cephalopods in Seattle. Decently-sized ones, maybe. None big enough to destroy a ship.

 

The Seattle team's brand should be locally-appropriate first. Hell, compare it to other professional Seattle sports franchises; the Seahawks (named for the osprey, a local bird with ties to water and fish, both of which are important to Seattle), Mariners (a name for sailors; tied to the waters surrounding Seattle), SuperSonics (named for Seattle's prominence in aircraft manufacturing, tied into the city) and Sounders (named for Puget Sound, which is the body of water Seattle rests on)...and then there'd be the Kraken (Scandanavian mythological giant squid found off the coasts of Norway and Greenland; thus has no local ties to Seattle itself).

 

With the Sockeye(s), you keep every team locally-appropriate; sockeye are traditionally very important to Natives of the Seattle region. And it works well for a professional franchise, despite seeming a little kitschy and kiddy. I mean, we literally have a team named the Penguins; why can't we also have a team named the Sockeyes?

 

Plus it keeps the trend of Seattle professional teams having an S in their name somewhere. "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Mariners, Dragons" works a lot better then "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Kraken, Mariners, Dragons" because with Sockeyes, every professional team has the same  "-s" sound at the end. It feels more unified that way, like how Pittsburgh's professional teams all use yellow, black and white.

 

Hell, add in the T-Birds and you get more of it; "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Thunderbirds, Mariners, Dragons".

 

 

 

Because penguins are cool. Everybody loves penguins. Sockeye salmon is mostly known as a fish fillet option at the grocery store. It would be like "Baltimore Blue Crabs". Why name a team after something most people only look at as a food option? Something more comparable to Pittsburgh Penguins would be Seattle Seals, or Seattle Sea Lions. 

 

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29 minutes ago, daveindc said:

 

 

 

Because penguins are cool. Everybody loves penguins. Sockeye salmon is mostly known as a fish fillet option at the grocery store. It would be like "Baltimore Blue Crabs". Why name a team after something most people only look at as a food option? Something more comparable to Pittsburgh Penguins would be Seattle Seals, or Seattle Sea Lions. 

 

 

Hey, food options can sometimes make for great logos. Take the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League, for example.

 

Image result for southern maryland blue crabs

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1 hour ago, daveindc said:

 

 

 

Sockeye salmon is mostly known as a fish fillet option at the grocery store. It would be like "Baltimore Blue Crabs". Why name a team after something most people only look at as a food option? 

 


I guess they’d be in good company with conference rival Anaheim Ducks. I think of ducks as a food option at least as often as I think of sockeye salmon. 

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1 hour ago, Dolphins Dynasty said:

 

Hey, food options can sometimes make for great logos. Take the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the Atlantic League, for example.

 

Image result for southern maryland blue crabs

 

 

 

That's great for some Minor League or Independent League baseball team. Not so much for a NHL team. Imagine naming your professional hockey players something most people only think of as food you rip apart and devour. Same thing with sockeye salmon fillet.

 

Related image

 

 

 

 

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8 hours ago, daveindc said:

That's great for some Minor League or Independent League baseball team. Not so much for a NHL team. Imagine naming your professional hockey players something most people only think of as food you rip apart and devour. Same thing with sockeye salmon fillet.

Imagine naming your professional hockey franchise after a fat and flightless bird that waddles around and spends it's time defecating on other penguins. The Penguins did that and they're among the most beloved brands in the league.

 

Imagine making the most iconic brand element of your professional hockey franchise a maple leaf, something that can't even hurt anything, is most notable when it's dying and is food for basically any herbivorous animal in Canada. That's what the Leafs did, and they're one of the most beloved and iconic brands in all of sport.

 

Imagine naming your professional sports franchise something generic just because you don't want to even be given a little ribbing for choosing an identity your market would be proud to support. That's how you don't endear yourself to a fanbase without winning history.

Who the hell cares if people from New York City mock the team for being named for a fish or call them the Suckeyes? If the people in Seattle love it, that's a successful brand. The most important element of branding is, after all, getting locals attached to your brand.

 

And the fan-favourite name in Seattle has been the "Sockeyes".

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10 hours ago, daveindc said:

Because penguins are cool. Everybody loves penguins. Sockeye salmon is mostly known as a fish fillet option at the grocery store. It would be like "Baltimore Blue Crabs". Why name a team after something most people only look at as a food option? Something more comparable to Pittsburgh Penguins would be Seattle Seals, or Seattle Sea Lions. 

 

 

This can't really be all you known of salmon, right? That it's a fish people occasionally like to eat?

 

Spend 5 minutes in the Pacific Northwest -- hell, even on a layover at the airport -- and you'll recognize it's one of the defining symbols of the region, along with Mt. Rainier, the Space Needle and evergreens. As @DastardlyRidleylash pointed out earlier, this is a legitimate identifier unique to the region and with deep spiritual meaning to native populations. 

 

It's far less of a novelty than Penguins or Ducks or (heaven forbid) Kraken. 

 

 

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19 hours ago, DastardlyRidleylash said:

There are no titanic ship-sinking Scandanavian cephalopods in Seattle.


I’d guess that’s probably because they’re mythological, and you’d have a hard time finding one anywhere else, too. 🙂


There’s also this, for what it’s worth:

 

A New Generation Is Embracing Seattle’s Nordic History and Culture

 

The National Nordic Museum

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19 hours ago, DastardlyRidleylash said:

Plus it keeps the trend of Seattle professional teams having an S in their name somewhere. "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Mariners, Dragons" works a lot better then "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Kraken, Mariners, Dragons" because with Sockeyes, every professional team has the same  "-s" sound at the end. It feels more unified that way, like how Pittsburgh's professional teams all use yellow, black and white.

 

Hell, add in the T-Birds and you get more of it; "Seahawks, Sounders, Supersonics, Sockeyes, Thunderbirds, Mariners, Dragons".


This is not a theme. I bet there are two dozen cities that could make a similar or identical claim. It doesn’t hold anywhere near the same weight as the color unity of Pittsburgh’s teams.

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1 hour ago, DastardlyRidleylash said:

Imagine making the most iconic brand element of your professional hockey franchise a maple leaf, something that can't even hurt anything

 

Good point.  I was blasted for my jellyfish idea, but at least a jellyfish is deadly!

 

And Sockeyes has a double meaning because of the fighting in the sport.  I dig it.

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48 minutes ago, CaliforniaGlowin said:

Good point.  I was blasted for my jellyfish idea, but at least a jellyfish is deadly!

 

And Sockeyes has a double meaning because of the fighting in the sport.  I dig it.

 

I kinda think this is cool, too. However, I'd be really surprised if the team -- should they choose Sockeyes -- used any imagery referencing someone getting punched in the eye. Not that hockey isn't a violent sport that still celebrates the occasional fight, it just doesn't really seem like an image the league openly embraces anymore. 

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4 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

I kinda think this is cool, too. However, I'd be really surprised if the team -- should they choose Sockeyes -- used any imagery referencing someone getting punched in the eye. Not that hockey isn't a violent sport that still celebrates the occasional fight, it just doesn't really seem like an image the league openly embraces anymore. 

 

It is a bit like Thrashers (a name I really liked). It's a local animal with cultural significance in the region, and it's also connotative to the violent nature of the sport. They don't need to have any violent imagery in their logos for that to come through.

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