By Tim Clinton
The Seattle Kraken have some big shoes to fill. Fortunately for them, they were left over 100 years ago.
It was the Seattle Metropolitans who set a high standard for the current Kraken National Hockey League franchise that occupies Climate Pledge Arena, winning the Stanley Cup championship for the city way back in 1917.
The Metropolitans stayed in town from 1915 until they folded in 1924.
They called the Seattle Ice Arena located at 5th and University downtown home and closed up shop when the 2,500-seat facility could not be replaced.
The Metropolitans won Pacific Coast Hockey Association regular season titles in 1917, 1919, 1920, 1922 and 1924 and snagged playoff championships in 1917, 1919 and 1920 under head coach Pete Muldoon. They tied for the Stanley Cup in 1919 and lost it in five games in 1920.
Seattle went 112-96-2 over its nine seasons of existence as the Metropolitans.
But the city fell silent in top tier hockey until the Kraken arrived in the fall of 2021, although it did still boast minor league teams like the Seattle Totems and the Seattle Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are still around in nearby Kent.
As for the Kraken, they did get off to a decent start by qualifying for the National Hockey League playoffs in their second season.
Playing in the spring of 2023, Seattle found itself facing the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round.
The Kraken bumped off the Avalanche in a seven-game series before losing their second round series to the Dallas Stars, four games to three.
They were the first team to take its first ever playoff series over a defending Stanley Cup champion in National Hockey League history.
Seattle posted a record of 46-28-8 for 100 points that year and finished fourth in the Pacific Division. The Kraken outscored their opponents by a 289-256 margin.
But the team has failed to live up to that standard in the two seasons since, including in 2024-25.
The Kraken took sixth in the Pacific Division in the 2023-24 season, posting a record of 34-35-13.