How Kraken Have Impacted T-Birds, Silvertips

Junior Hockey Thriving In Washington, Says WHL Commissioner Ron Robison

When Seattle was announced as the 32nd member club of the NHL, two legitimate questions were asked around the league. The first was whether Puget Sound sports fans would take to hockey.

The answer was, they already did. Not just the century-plus history of minor pro hockey, dating back to the Metropolitans of the 1910s. Before the Kraken and continuing to this day, Western Washington vigorously supports two major junior teams, the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips.

With the relocation this summer of the Winnipeg Ice to Wenatchee, Washington State now boasts five teams in the Western Hockey League. In addition to the Wenatchee Wild, T-Birds and 'Tips, the Tri-City Americans and Spokane Chiefs also call the Evergreen State home.

One new Kraken and two 2023 draft picks have Washington WHL connections. Free agent Kailer Yamamoto played 230 games for his hometown Spokane Chiefs between 2014-18. Defensemen Lukas Dragicevic (2nd round) plays for Tri-City, and Kaden Hammell (fifth round) for Everett.

Three Kraken and three prospects also come out of the WHL, but not with Washington-based teams. Alumni who skated at some point with the 2022-23 Kraken are Jordan Eberle, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Cale Fleury. The prospects are Kole Lind, Jagger Firkus, and Caden Price.

A second area of concern centered on how NHL hockey would affect the box office for the Silvertips and Thunderbirds. As the Seattle Times wrote in 2019, "Questions loom about both franchises' future, given the National Hockey League expansion team's pending debut."

The Times noted Everett averaged 5,614 fans per game in 2018-19, while Seattle averaged 4,771 for home games in Kent.

We now know that the NHL product on display at Climate Pledge Arena has not damaged the fan base of either area WHL team.

For the just-completed '22-'23 season, the Silvertips attracted an average gate of 5,840, up slightly from '18-'19. Seattle averaged 4,343 fans, about 300 per game fewer than four years earlier. But aided by a WHL championship, T-Birds attendance rose more than 1,100 per game from the previous season.

For further perspective on the effect of NHL hockey in the region, I put the question to WHL commissioner Ron Robison in the video below.