Both ESPN and TNT announced their National Television schedules for the NHL yesterday, and the Kraken look to be a significant part of both schedules.
It starts bright and early with Game 1; as the Kraken’s away game against Vegas at 7:30pm on October 10th will be broadcast live on ESPN, presumably with much of the pageantry of Vegas’ celebration cut down for time (thank god) as they share a decidedly okay slate of games: with the Preds and Lightning starting things off and Pens/Hawks coming on after. The Kraken in general seem to have been picked up on the lion’s share of ESPN games, as 7 of their 13 games will be broadcast on that network, and only one will be on ABC. It’s a little bit of a shame, I kind of liked ABC’s broadcast of hockey last year.
Obviously, the big event Seattle will be taking part in is the Winter Classic on New Year’s Day, but it really seems like unlike last season, the networks are really trying to make this look like a reasonable slate of games and critically not against Football, which ESPN bafflingly chose to run as counterprogramming.
Here’s the Kraken’s National schedule in it’s entirety, and important dates as prescribed by TNT and ESPN:
| Date | Opponent | Network | HOME/AWAY | Significant Event |
| 10/10 | Vegas Golden Knights | ESPN | AWAY | NHL Opening Night |
| 10/17 | Colorado Avalanche | ESPN | HOME | Kraken Home Opener |
| 12/7 | New Jersey Devils | ESPN | HOME | |
| 12/20 | Los Angeles Kings | TNT | AWAY | |
| 1/1 | Vegas Golden Knights | TNT | HOME | NHL Winter Classic @ T-Mobile Park |
| 1/24 | Chicago Blackhawks | TNT | HOME | |
| 2/10 | Philadelphia Flyers | ESPN+ | AWAY | Streamed Game |
| 2/19 | Detroit Red Wings | ESPN | HOME | |
| 3/21 | Vegas Golden Knights | ESPN | AWAY | |
| 4/3 | Los Angeles Kings | TNT | AWAY | |
| 4/13 | Dallas Stars | ABC | AWAY | |
| 4/14 | St. Louis Blues | TNT | AWAY | Matinee Game |
| 4/17 | Minnesota Wild | ESPN | AWAY | Final Regular Season Game |
As of right now, it’s unknown if the Kraken will have simulcasts with ROOT Sports Northwest, but one would assume several of these dates could.
Overall, a decent slate of games, definitely not looking forward to that Blues game towards the end of the season because that’ll likely be set at a gruesome eastern time zone idea of Matinee, and nearly every Vegas game they play this year will be in front of a live audience. This ought to be fun!
Unless you’re one of the very many who’ve cut the cord. In which case uh….
Yo ho. 🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
Which games are you most excited to see? Let us know in the comments!
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