A Kraken Day To Remember

Kraken employee Rosemary Dinh admits that getting players and coaches to assemble annual gift baskets of “Favorite Things” on time for charity auctions to fans truly can be a team effort.

But Dinh, a social impact and foundation coordinator for the team’s One Roof Foundation (ORF), also knows the work is worth it as the gift basket Anchor Auction is highly popular and this year was included for the first time as a focal point of Kraken Day activities. That auction during Kraken Day and Saturday night’s home game against the Vancouver Canucks saw 22 baskets assembled by players, coaches and broadcast team members – with assistant coach Jessica Campbell, head coach Dan Bylsma, broadcasters Piper Shaw and Alison Lukan and forwards Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle compiling some of the most bid-on packages.

“I think a lot of people were very excited just to bid on something Jessica put together,” Dinh said of history making assistant Campbell’s basket, which contained a signed bedazzled Kraken jersey, Yves Saint Laurent perfume, Hillberg & Berk jewelry and a Salt & Stone cleansing set. “We had a lot of help from hockey operations staff and some of the player wives getting all the baskets together in time, especially with the season going on and games being played. But they did a great job, and when the auction goes well, it helps make Kraken Day all the better.”

Beyond the auction itself, the Kraken Day game night was really centered on celebrating the work of the One Roof Foundation, the charity wing of both the Kraken and Climate Pledge Arena. The foundation, since its 2021 creation, has raised more than $9 million for and donated to nonprofits focused on youth and family homelessness, environmental justice, racial equity, youth access to sports, food sovereignty, food security, and COVID relief.

More than 700 recipients have benefitted from ORF donations, 86 percent of them from BIPOC communities.

The foundation has also donated 10,000 hockey sticks to 231 Title 1 schools and trained 163 teachers in floor hockey. It also arranged more than 100 field trips for some 5,000 youth from Title 1 schools and nonprofits

ORF has helped build four sports courts and gotten three water stations purchased and installed in a local elementary school. And it purchased 24 air purifiers for other schools, donated 3,500 pounds of food to a local food hub, and cleaned 650 pounds of garbage from an impacted neighborhood.

Access to play is also a huge component of ORF, with 96 percent of financial assistance families giving an “excellent” rating to youth hockey programming at the Kraken Community Iceplex. Some of the ORF community hockey work was recognized during the Kraken Day game with the night’s Hero of the Deep being Susan Lee, senior director of education at Refugee Women’s Alliance. That group has partnered with ORF and the Kraken on an annual 32-week program teaching more than 60 preschoolers how to ice skate by bussing them to the Iceplex from three citywide locations.

Kraken Day also saw the season’s largest jackpot in the 50/50 raffle, pres. by Washington’s Lottery, build to $69,470, with half going to the night’s winner and the other half to the foundation. Saturday’s game also saw the raffle cross the $4 million mark for gross funds raised to benefit ORF since the draw’s inception at the start of the 2022-23 season.

There also were “Mystery Pucks” – player-signed pucks hidden in packaging to avoid identifying the signatory in advance – sold throughout the arena in limited quantities. And a Climate Pledge Gear for Good Kiosk where Climate Pledge and Common Thread specialty-themed merchandise was sold to benefit the foundation.

Corporate partner Amazon donated $10,000 to ORF for Kraken Day to support the foundation’s Environmental Justice pillar, while Alaska Airlines donated 100,000 miles. And the Kraken even topped off the night’s festivities by beating the regional rival Canucks by a 6-3 score.

“I think the increased visibility for the One Roof Foundation is really what we love to see overall,” Dinh said of Kraken Day events. “In the entire arena, there were random things going on and videos playing about the work we do. So, that was very important that all of it was able to occur on Kraken Day.”

Indeed, the origins of Kraken Day began when 32,000 season ticket deposits were sold in fewer than two days by the NHL Seattle group on March 2, 2018, ahead of the city being awarded the league’s 32nd franchise later that year. Given the timing of those numbers happening on a 3/2 date, the number “32” has huge significance in Kraken lore, and Kraken Day typically was held on March 2 to celebrate the team’s fans.

This year’s Kraken Day was shifted to March 1, given the team’s home game that date, affording a chance to highlight the ORF community work.

But to hear Dinh tell it, ORF work and success are largely due to fans and community partners supporting the foundation – meaning Kraken Day is still about thanking them for their continued support of the team and community.

“We wouldn’t be here and do the things we do without them,” she said.

Jacob Hall, a Kraken manager of social impact and development who runs the 50/50 raffle at every home game, said the growth of that particular event is largely due to fans embracing it. The 50/50 raffle has been a hockey constant for decades in arenas worldwide but not so much in this state.

“More than anything, it just has to do with fan familiarity,” Hall said. “This was new in the state of Washington. A lot of people had not heard of a 50/50 raffle. So, we were doing a lot of fan education.

“I think we go into a game now, and our volunteers are not having to do as much explaining about what we’re doing,” Hall added. “It’s more like ‘Here’s what the jackpot is’ and ‘Here’s where the money is going’ but not so much that baseline explaining of what a 50/50 raffle is.”

No one had to explain to players how to put gift baskets together for the Kraken Day auction, just remind them to get it done on time. Dinh had help coordinating that with Molli Putlak, a team services assistant within the Kraken’s hockey operations department.

“They’ve kind of learned what items and stuff people like to go for a lot,” Putlak said.

Kraken forward Eberle, with help from his wife, Lauren, donated a team-signed guitar with a hard case, his favorite books, and gift cards to Duke's and Midnight Cookies. McCann, helped by his wife, Valerie, donated a large cooler with dog treats and toys centering around his Corgi dog, Cheddar, as well as Star Wars-themed items such as an apron reading “May the fork be with you” and lightsaber chopsticks.

Head coach Bylsma gifted a fly-fishing experience with him while assistant coaches Dave Lowry, Bob Woods, and Steve Briere offered bidders an ice-time experience with them.

“They’re all really good about it, and their significant others are a big help,” Putlak said. “Because a lot of players don’t have much time to gather things together and stuff. So, their wives and girlfriends are important in getting it all done.”

And an important key to putting a bow around the entire lineup of Kraken Day events. A lineup, Dinh said, takes months of planning.

“A lot of work goes into it, but it matters because this is really what One Roof Foundation is all about,” she said. “We’re about giving back to the community. And we can’t do that without our fans and partners from the community. This day was really all about them.”