Rising from the Deep: The Seattle Kraken, a Tenacious Push for Expansion, and the Emerald City's Sports Revival

Encompassing sports, civics, and regional identity, this is a multifaceted narrative of launching a franchise from the ground up.

In 2021, Seattle released the Kraken.

Evoking the aquatic mystique of Puget Sound while epitomizing colorful innovation, the Seattle Kraken, the National Hockey League's newest expansion franchise, entered its inaugural season backed by league-wide fanfare and with an eye toward the future of both the team and its city.

In true Seattle fashion, they would play their games on ice from recycled rainwater in front of sold-out crowds at the privately funded, all-electric, Amazon-sponsored Climate Pledge Arena. If an organic union of sports and civic identity was ever possible, this would seem to be it.

How did it go so right? What made the Emerald City the perfect setting for a new hockey franchise just years after it had failed to retain the NBA's SuperSonics? And could the same forces that propelled the Kraken into existence be redeployed to attract a basketball team once again?

Rising From the Deep traces the dynamic origins of the NHL's newest team, from the history of Seattle hockey in the early 20th century, to the winter sports void left by the bitter departure of the Sonics, to the the development of a team identity that captured the imagination of hockey fans everywhere.

Seattle Times investigative reporter Geoff Baker takes readers behind the scenes and back to the start with power brokers, players, and fans in this fascinating, hard-fought saga.

ISBN-13: 9781637270622

Media Type: Hardcover

Publisher: Triumph Books

Publication Date: 11-01-2022

Pages: 320

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

Geoff Baker covers Seattle Kraken hockey and is a sports enterprise and investigative reporter for The Seattle Times. Previously he has written for the Montreal Gazette and Toronto Star. Born and raised in Quebec, Baker has won Canada's National Newspaper Award three times and has won three Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) awards.

Table of Contents

Foreword Jerry Bruckheimer xi

Part 1 The Seeds of Loss and Rebirth

Chapter 1 Living in Purgatory 3

Chapter 2 A City in Transition 11

Chapter 3 Seattle Founded and Plundered 19

Chapter 4 Arrival of Tim Leiweke 25

Chapter 5 Feeding Time 33

Chapter 6 A Victory Lap Cut Short 40

Chapter 7 Seattle Symbolized by a Troll 47

Chapter 8 SuperSonics Want a Handout 54

Chapter 9 Real Estate Rules 60

Chapter 10 Hockey History in Seattle 67

Chapter 11 Driving over Miss Daisy 75

Part 2 Forcing the Arena Issue

Chapter 12 Tightening the Public Money Spigot 85

Chapter 13 The One That Got Away 92

Chapter 14 Seattle "Gamesmanship" in Arizona 99

Chapter 15 Overhauling KeyArena for NBA and NHL 107

Chapter 16 Don't Call Him "Ed" 114

Chapter 17 NHL Pushes for Seattle Expansion 121

Chapter 18 Two Reports, Two Different KeyArena Conclusions 130

Chapter 19 A Vote Forced on SoDo Arena's Future 138

Chapter 20 Always Count Your Votes 146

Part 3 Starting Fresh

Chapter 21 Fury Unleashed 157

Chapter 22 The Unshackling of KeyArena 164

Chapter 23 Big Bertha Bites the Dust 170

Chapter 24 Tim Leiweke Parts Ways with AEG 177

Chapter 25 Courting the Skeptical Fans 183

Chapter 26 The Battle for Seattle 190

Chapter 27 Peeing on the Parade 197

Chapter 28 A Hollywood Beginning 205

Chapter 29 Monorail for Dummies? 212

Chapter 30 Mayor Ed Murray Resigns 218

Part 4 Sprint to the Finish

Chapter 31 The View from 27 Stories Up 227

Chapter 32 How Fast Can You Count to 32,000? 235

Chapter 33 The Feather Massager 242

Chapter 34 Mayor Jenny Durkan Goes on the Power Play 249

Chapter 35 Georgia Bound 258

Chapter 36 When Dreams Become Real 264

Chapter 37 Building the Vision 269

Chapter 38 What's in a Name? 275

Chapter 39 Too Much Pandemic, Too Little Time 282

Chapter 40 Winning the Long Game 289

Epilogue: It's How You Play the Game 299

Acknowledgments 303

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