Seattle’s NHL team name will arrive before end of 2019
May 31, 2019, 2:07 PM | Updated: 2:07 pm
Originally promising a team name by spring 2019, NHL Seattle CEO Tod Leiweke reiterated Friday that the team’s new name and colors will come “sometime before this calendar year ends.”
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Leiweke provided that information as part of an “Ask Me Anything” session on Facebook late Friday morning, fielding questions on everything from the team’s name, to the soon-to-be renovated KeyArena.
The plan as it stands right now is to unveil the name, logo, and official colors for Seattle’s NHL team by the end of 2019. Limited merchandise will also be available at that time, although jerseys won’t arrive until “some months” after the initial announcement.
“Our plan is to have a rollout that’s comprehensive, and merchandise will follow,” said Leiweke. “All that’s going to do is just add to the momentum that we want to create this franchise, so that on opening day, this feels like it’s really the greatest franchise in the world.”
“We love the NHL shield, but we’re ready to have Seattle on our chest,” he added.
Traffic, and a plan to do away with lines
Leiweke provided intriguing details on plans to deal with congestion in the Seattle Center neighborhood. Because of its location in an urban center, KeyArena poses unique issues in terms of dealing with traffic, as well as entry into the venue.
To that end, NHL Seattle is making “substantial investments in traffic,” going so far as to ensure that traffic lights on Mercer are specially sequenced on game days.
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The team even hired startup tech exec and former professional hockey player Todd Humphrey to come up with ways to keep lines inside KeyArena as short as possible.
“We’re working really hard to eliminate the idea of any wait times,” said Leiweke. “We don’t think people should miss parts of the game because of slow concession stands, long restroom lines, long security lines, we’re going to attack it.”
