The Secret Element Of New 3rd Kraken Jersey Revealed! (Maybe)

Seattle Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke recently left fans with a tantalizing mystery. No, not his “This is going to be one of the most active and busy offseasons in our short history” comment. The other comment – about the Kraken unveiling a new 3rd jersey next season.

Knowing the value of a good promotional tease, Leiweke didn’t offer any specifics. He even announced he would move the sample 3rd jersey from his office to an undisclosed location to evade prying eyes. But in a podcast, Chris Smith of Icethetics revealed a teeny-tiny clue.

“It looks like the Kraken are looking to make a splash. I’m told the new look borrows a specific design element from the Vegas Golden Knights second reverse retro. I’ll let you speculate on what that element could be.”

Okay, I’ll bite. The otherwise unremarkable Golden Knights jersey Smith is referencing had one unique feature: the wordmark glowed in the dark (screengrab at right).

Imagine when all the lights are turned down at Climate Pledge Arena, and what’s visible are glow-in-the-dark tentacles on Kraken jerseys. Just a guess based on the barest crumb of a clue.

It Takes A Villeneuve

Feisty Seattle Kraken prospect Nathan Villeneuve may not have won his first pro fight, but he won a ton of respect from his new teammates and coaches.

Called up to the Coachella Valley Firebirds on April 9 for his AHL debut, Villeneuve saw Luke Henman getting cross-checked twice after a whistle. Villeneuve skated in, grabbing San Jose Barracudas tough guy Scott Sabourin by the shoulders and riding him to the boards.

The fists flew – mostly Sabourin’s fists. Not only was Villeneuve, 6-0, 194, giving up four inches and 13 pounds to Sabourin, the Kraken prospect at age 18 is 14 years younger than his grizzled opponent. Which made his sticking up for a teammate all the more impressive.

Villeneuve isn’t just a brawler. With the OHL Sudbury Wolves this year, he combined 120 penalty minutes with 34 goals, including five game-winners. A day before his callup, the Kraken had signed their 2024 2nd round draft choice to a three-year, entry level contract. A wise investment in hockey sandpaper.

Bylsma Doesn’t Whine, But He Does ‘Wine’

Here’s something that wasn’t part of Seattle Kraken coach Dan Bylsma’s exit interview.

Bylsma was among hockey types contacted for a Canadian Press story about unwinding after emotion-filled nights at the rink.

“We don’t come down immediately,” he said of his post-game routine. “There’s always some good and there’s always some bad that you’ve got to unpack.

“For me, it doesn’t happen for a long time. I typically watch two periods of hockey over again, and typically have (wine) nearby.”

Penny For Her Thoughts

A couple of leftovers from one of the Kraken’s most impressive wins of the season, a 2-1 victory over the L.A. Kings on Apr. 7 – starting with a couple of friends in the front row at Crypto.com Arena. That’s Penny Oleksiak in the Kraken cap, along with pal Hanna.

“Magic Penny,” in addition to winning seven Olympics swimming medals for Canada, is sister to Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. Courtesy of NHL Instagram, let’s listen in.

Nearby Fan: “How do you like the ‘Big Rig?'”
Penny: “He loves that nickname.”
Hanna: “Are you the ‘Little Rig?'”

Penny: “Fun Fact. Seattle is the first team in the NHL with a female assistant coach (Jessica Campbell), right there in the white suit.”
Hannah: “She looks like a badass.”

Penny: “Score a friggin’ goal, please!”

Brandon Montour fulfills the request.
Penny: “Woooo!”
Singing and dancing ensue (image at left).

One Stick To A Customer, Quinton

If anyone tries to claim Quinton Byfield, from the same game, scored the goal of the year – some already have – tell them, “Okay, except for the one or possibly two infractions he committed first.”

Byfield showed amazing hand-eye coordination, first knocking a shot down with one hand on his stick, then sweeping the puck in with one hand on his stick. In the image at left, Byfield has the puck on his stick, moments before scoring.

It’s what Byfield was doing with his other hand that referees missed – but Todd Lewis and Josh Smith didn’t on their most recent Scouting The Refs podcast.

Lewis: “I will give Quinton Byfield marks for creativity and innovation. It was a remarkable goal. But Byfield takes one had off of his stick and grabs Shane Wright’s stick.”

Preceding the earlier image, it’s clear Byfield has a grip on Shane’s stick. If someone had spun him around, Byfield probably would have lifted off.

Smith: “As impressive as it is, it should not be legal. You’ve got a minor penalty for holding the stick before anything else happens. Whether you want to give him a penalty for playing with two sticks, which is also against the rules. You can’t hold one stick and score a goal with the other stick.”

Until this game, I didn’t think so, either.