Seattle = NHL

Seattle was selected today for an NHL expansion team, they will begin play in the 2021-22 season. The name and colors have yet to be selected, but if you follow me on Twitter you may have seen me post up in discussions about the name. Initially I liked the idea of reviving Seattle’s original hockey team name, Metropolitans, but I have come around to Steelhead or Kraken. Colors would be an easy choice if the team selects a water related name, blues and maybe some greens. 

The alignment hasn’t been decided either, but it is rumored that the Seattle team will be placed in the Pacific division and the Arizona Coyotes will be moved to the Central division.

Uni Watch ran a contest for uniform designs, and here are a couple that I like because of the color combinations,

Andrew Arena: Seattle Metropolitans

Michael Jarvie Jr. Here he used the name Greys (for Grey whales) but I could see this working for Steelhead too.

Jim Brester: Seattle Kraken

Nest stop…the NBA do the right thing and give Seattle an expansion team (Sonics reborn baby) and to balance the conferences, give Louisville an expansion team.

See, Seattle Can Win... Just Not As Often As Others

Last week following the Seattle Sounders won the MLS Cup I had written a post about Seattle championships and I just realized that I did not save it but here is the best shot at what was in my original write up.

Now that the Sounders have won the MLS Cup Championship a team from Seattle has won a championship in every professional sport except for the Seattle Mariners. This list does not include college teams, minor league teams, semi-pro teams or leagues that only the most die-hard fan would know about (sorry women's soccer, rugby, lacrosse, ultimate Frisbee and roller derby), only the leagues/teams that were accepted as "Professional" or top league at the time they won their championship.

The Seattle Mariners were a MLB expansion team in 1976 and in the team’s 40 seasons between 1977 and 2016 they have gone to the playoffs four times, making it to the ALCS three times but they have never made it to the World Series.

The Seattle Supersonics were an NBA expansion team in 1967 and in the 40 seasons between 1967 and 2007, when the team was stolen, they went to the playoffs 22 times. The team made it to the NBA Finals three times; 1978, 1979 and 1996, winning the NBA Championship in 1979.

The Seattle Storm were a WNBA expansion in team in 2000 and in the 17 seasons between 2000 through 2016 they went to the playoffs 12 times making it to the WNBA Finals twice, winning both times in 2004 and 2010.

The Seattle Seahawks were an NFL expansion team in 1976 and in the 40 seasons between 1976 and 2016 they have gone to the playoffs 15 times. They have gone to the Super Bowl three times, 2005, 2013 and 2014, winning the NFL Championship in 2013.

The Seattle Sounders were a MLS expansion team in 2007 and beginning their first season in 2009, this is not counting the team’s origin in the NASL in 1974 and USL time since. In the 8 seasons between 2009 and 2016 they went to the playoffs each season. They have gone to the MLS Cup Finals once, winning this year. In addition to this championship they have been US Open Cup Champions four times and they won the Supporters’ Shield once.

Now you are probably thinking “But Corky, how can a team from Seattle win the Stanley Cup? There isn’t even a professional hockey team there”

Well the answer is the Seattle Metropolitans, the first American hockey team to win the Stanley Cup in 1917, twelve years before the Boston Bruins won the Cup in the NHL.

The Seattle Metropolitans were an expansion team in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) in 1915 and in the team’s 9 seasons between 1915-16 through 1923-24 they went to the playoffs 7 times. They made it to the Stanly Cup Final three times in 1916-17, 1918-19 and 1919-20, winning in 1916-17 and tying in 1918-19 with the Montreal Canadians. The Stanley Cup in 1918-19 was suspended with Seattle and Montreal tied 2-2-1 due to the Spanish Flu outbreak.

I can also include MMA/UFC fighters

Randy Couture is from Everett and went to school in Lynwood, both about 20 minutes north of Seattle. In his 14 year MMA career he was the UFC Heavyweight Champion three times, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion twice, the UFC Interim UFC Light Heavyweight once, the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament Champion and is in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Benson Henderson grew up in Federal Way (Where I lived half my life), about 20 minutes south of Seattle. In his 10-year MMA career he has been the WEC Lightweight Champion once, the WEC Interim Lightweight Champion once, UFC Lightweight Champion once and he fought for both the Bellator Welterweight Championship and Bellator Lightweight Championship in the last 8 months, losing both times.

How about a couple of wrestlers from the Evergreen state?

Greg “The Hammer” Valentine was born in Seattle and in his 37-year career wrestling mostly in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF/WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) he won over 20 Heavyweight Championships, 16 Tag-Team Championships and a dozen or so various championships. He is also in 4 different Hall of Fames.

Daniel Bryan is from Aberdeen, about 2 hours west of Seattle and is also the birth place of Kurt Cobain. Bryan wrestled professionally for 17 years, which includes 6 years in the WWE, and he won a number of championships. In the WWE he won the World Heavyweight Championship once, WWE Heavyweight Championship three times, Intercontinental Championship once, US Championship once and Tag-Team Championship once.

Seattle may not compare to New York, Boston, Montreal, Chicago or LA when it comes to championships but when you consider that when Seattle teams have made it to their respective Championship game/series they have gone a decent .545% (6 out of 11 chances not counting the 1918-19 Stanley Cup that ended in a tie). Occasionally the Emerald City teams can put up the big win.

A Trip To The Emerald City Skyline

  A single card post tonight.

 

 

The Seahawks won so I am going with a 2015 Topps Allen & Ginters Keys To The City Space Needle. I spent 15 years and the Space Needle was one of the first tourist locations that I visited, even getting one of those penny souvenirs.

The Space Needle is actually part of a larger complex that was built for the 1962 World's Fair called Seattle Center which contains the Key Arena, where the Sonics played, along with International Fountain, EMP and the Pacific Science Center. It is a fun location to just people watch, you meet some interesting people. When I found out the card was in the set I had to get it as part of my Seattle collection.

The Return Of The Kings... Uh Sonics...

I know, another commentary, but this could be big news.

Some friends in Seattle, a couple of them have a connection to the sports world/reporting, are talking about a possible homecoming of sorts for the Sonics and rumor is that Chris Hansen, one of the investors helping to build an NBA/NHL arena in downtown Seattle, is finalizing a deal with the Maloof brothers to purchase the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle as the Seattle Supersonics.

Now this is coming from friends so I do not know if this is truth, rumor, speculation or pure hope but when looking in to the story it is true that Chris Hansen has approached the Maloofs to talk about a potential sale and Yahoo Sports is reporting that the team could be in Seattle for the 2013-14 NBA season where they will play in the Key Arena until the new NBA/NHL arena is completed.

I lived in Seattle during the Clay Bennett high jacking so I know what it is like to see a team leave and I feel for Sacramento fans. There is a slight difference here, Bennett came to town under the guise that he was keeping the team in Seattle and that he only moved because an arena deal could not be agreed upon. Which was proven false when his business emails were released showing his initial intent when he made the offer was to “Get out of town as soon as possible” whereas Hansen is making the offer with the understanding that the team will be moved to Seattle. 

I want the Sonics to return to Seattle but I was hoping it would be an expansion team (or a repurchase of the old Sonics and brought back), I didn’t want to see another city go through what we went through.