Morning Flurries: What’s a Kraken?

The NHL’s 32nd active franchise has been in the works for what seems like a decade now (and only partially because the year 2020 has gone on for a staggeringly long time).

On Thursday, though, the Seattle-based expansion club finally gave the hockey community exactly what they’ve been begging for since the team was announced in December of 2018 — a name for the newest Pacific Division contender.

In a brilliantly-crafted series of marketing maneuvers, the Seattle Kraken unveiled their name, logos, and color scheme on July 23rd, masterfully introducing a franchise theme steeped in cultural significance and peppy staying power.

First, a look at the logo:

The main logo has a sea serpent-esque vibe to it, but pays tribute to the NHL’s long-defunct Seattle Metropolitans. The original team, founded in 1915 and playing for nearly a decade before folding in 1924, was the first American team to win a Stanley Cup in 1917 — and boasted a logo with the similar serpentine S-shape to it (albeit with starkly different colors).

The secondary logo is already in the running as one of the coolest logos in professional sports, artfully combining an anchor to pay homage to the maritime culture in Seattle with the iconic Space Needle pointing skyward in the middle of the team’s home city.

Add in an incredibly cool new jersey, and there’s a whole lot to like about the league’s newest franchise:

Of course, it’s more than just the logos and maritime-esque color scheme that make it easy to appreciate Colorado’s newest competition. The team unveiled their new store during the rollout of their branding on Thursday, and confirmed that they won’t exactly be turning a profit from the sale of their new threads for a little bit. Instead, all proceeds from the team store — for jerseys, tees, hats and more — will go to charity:

If you want to learn more about the newest franchise’s history, logo, colors, and upcoming reveals, just head over to their Twitter account — where the marketing team is already doing an absolutely killer job.

Finally, we’ll end on a hilarious note for sports fans — and proof that Anthony Fauci spent more time in medical school than he did participating in team sports:

Dr. Fauci, who has been at the forefront of the United States’ attempt to combat covid-19, is an avid marathon runner and clearly a brilliant mind when it comes to epidemiology and science.

Baseball, though...