SoundCheck - A Seattle Hockey Blog

 The Vancouver Police Department made 101 arrests during the riot. 85 people were arrested for breach of peace, eight for public intoxication and eight for breaking and entering, assault or theftWhen was the last time Seattle had a professional sports rival within 150 miles of them? Portland is technically 174 miles from Seattle. That would leave the Vancouver Grizzlies and Seattle SuperSonics. Neither team exist in their respective cities. I know people in Seattle consider the 49r's their rivals. Also there is a rivalry between University of Washington and Washington State football. However, the latter isn't a professional sports rivalry. The first question which arises is what makes a good hockey rivalry? Some well known hockey rivalries are Toronto-Ottawa, Los Angeles-Anaheim, Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, Calgary-Edmonton, and  Montreal-Boston. It seems that the commonality is geography, and some playoff history. Montreal and Boston having the largest space between the two o...

It's been announced that the draft rules for Seattle's future hockey team will be the same as the rules for Las Vegas. For review: Protected Lists * Clubs will have two options for players they wish to protect in the Expansion Draft: a) Seven forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender b) Eight skaters (forwards/defensemen) and one goaltender * All players who have currently effective and continuing "No Movement" clauses at the time of the Expansion Draft (and who to decline to waive such clauses) must be protected (and will be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits). * All first- and second-year professionals, as well as all unsigned draft choices, will be exempt from selection (and will not be counted toward their club's applicable protection limits). Player Exposure Requirements * All Clubs must meet the following minimum requirements regarding players exposed for selection in the Expansion Draft: i) One defenseman who is a) under c...

At December's NHL Board of Governors meetings, commissioner Gary Bettman authorized an ownership group to conduct a season-ticket drive in Seattle. The drive could start as early as February. The average ticket price for lower bowl would probably be about 150 with a 10% commitment of the value of the season ticket package.The money would be refunded if Seattle didn't get a team Vegas was able to get a team based on interest shown in their Season Ticket Sales.

According to Detroit Hockey "38 domains representing 13 different possible names were registered under the name of Christina Song.  Ms. Song, according to her LinkedIn profile, is General Counsel at Oak View Group, who won the bid to redevelop Seattle’s Key Arena on December 4.  The domains were registered via an email address for a lawyer at Gibson Dunn.  That firm assisted Oak View Group in the Key Arena bid process". Here are my thoughts Seattle Cougars - I'm not a fan of this one. The cougars are the Mascot of Washington State University, who are in Pullman. Being a University of Washington fan, I am less than thrilled by this possibility. Seattle Eagles -  Not a fan of this one either. First there is already the NFL team which is by that name. Seattle Sockeyes - I like the alliteration, but do you want to name your team after salmon when your closest rivals are represented by killer whales? Seattle Seals - Same as above. Seattle Sea Lions - A...

Since the Key Arena  has been funded it seems that Seattle getting a NHL team is a forgone conclusion. So the question I ask is, what should the team be called? Here are some ideas that I have brainstormed: Seattle Freeze This team comes from a famous trend in Seattle in which it is  especially difficult to make new friends (particularly for transplants from other cities) in the city of Seattle, Washington. Most Seattle people have heard of it, and the freeze idea plays nicely into the ice aspect of hockey. Seattle Rain Dodgers The Rain dodgers were apparently the name of the Washington Huskies before they decided that they didn't think Rain would do good to bring new students to the University of Washington. This was also before they decided that calling their women's sports teams the "Husky Women" was a bad idea. It's interesting because it calls back to the cities sports past, and refers to what Seattle is well known for (rain). Seattle Echo I have be...