from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times,

In completely random surveys of my sports obsessed pals and colleagues, most are hard-pressed to name more than a Kraken player or two, if that. Brandon Tanev is somewhat the exception, what with his flowing hair and the eye-bulging face he made taking his team headshot. Combined with his hardworking approach and unexpected goal scoring, you can see why he’d stand out.

And goalie Philipp Grubauer’s name elicits a “Gruuuuu!” reaction from the home crowd when he stops a puck, so it’s probably a matter of time before even casual fans pick up on that. Not that they could pick him out of a lineup, but it’s a start.

One acquaintance, who owns season tickets to the Kraken and other local teams, bumped into Amy and me at a weekend event, and we mentioned her not knowing the players.

“Oh, you’ve got to come to a game,” he said. “It’s completely different once you’re inside the arena.”

Which is very true but misses the point. You have to give non-hockey-fanatic casual fans a reason to go to the arena in the first place. And judging by the empty seats I’ve increasingly seen among the sold-out 17,151 nightly attendance and the falling Kraken ticket prices on online resale exchanges, that hasn’t been quite as automatic as many expected.

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