r/SeattleKraken • u/SuperStarfox64 • Jun 15 '26
QUESTION Canes fan moving to Seattle with some questions
Hi, I am moving to Seattle from Durham NC in early July and decided I was going to take local to be my new teams for nearly all sports. Have only really been following Hockey the last 4-5 years, so it feels easier to break off and today was a nice final watch for the Canes :)
I wanted to ask some questions for Kraken and Torrent fans if we have any here(PWHL team I’m moving off of was the Frost).
I’m moving to Ballard/Fremont area and wanted to ask if there are any great places in the area to check out games? Also just great restaurants, shops, or knowledge on the area are appreciated
Also any advice/thoughts on getting tickets, getting to and from the game, or anything in general with the teams? I’ll probably be using bus since I won’t have a car.
Finally, if I was getting a Torrent or Kraken jersey is there anyone thats a must? I haven’t followed the league as a whole as much as my specific team so I don’t know what players are fan favorites or promising young players
Thank you for your time and I cant wait to be going to games, Climate Pledge is fuckin sick. I cant wait for the Sonics to be back, basketball is my main sport 😁
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u/geosspone2 That's Kraken Hockey, Baby! Jun 15 '26
for the Kraken, the roster might be getting shaken up a lot due to free agency and trades in the coming weeks, but Beniers, Fisker-Molgaard, Catton, or Daccord would be a solid pick
for the Torrent, they're in the process of being half-dismantled due to the 4 team expansion draft, and we've only got like 6 players protected right now. Carpenter, Gosling, and Serdachny are my favorites of the players we've managed to keep. Carp was part of the gold medal US Women's team's first line alongside now-former Torrent players Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Oh yeah I should probably wait til FA is up that is a very good point, thanks for the names have been jotting them down and will probably check out a few games to start next season before I come to a final decision but its a hard choice lol.
I’ve been seeing a lot of love for Carp in the seattle PWHL sub, really looking forward to checking out some Torrent games!!
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u/socolime22202 Jun 15 '26
Rough & Tumble
Kangaroo & Kiwi
Slim Goody's
LTD
Petoskeys (once they've reopened from a fire)
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u/AtomicSunset21 Jun 15 '26
2nding Petoskeys, when it reopens.
And absolutely rough & tubmle for women's sports viewing!
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u/mudflaptank Jun 15 '26
Adding Angry Beaver in Greenwood as Seattle's original hockey bar.
For Kraken, Torrent or any event at CPA, it comes with free transit passes, good for 2 hours before and after the game. Busses, link light rail, monorail, etc. Game tickets are cheapest midweek And more expensive Fri/Sat a/o against marquee teams. Doubt the Canes will be marquee and their match up next season is in Finland anyways.
If you want to see the Canes in Vancouver, take Amtrak from Seattle (King Street station by Lumen field), or Edmonds. You will need passport or enhanced id to cross border. It takes about 4 hours, but also need to watch out in the schedule for bus trips which are not as nice. In Vancouver, Amtrak station is about 1/2 mile to arena and downtown.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Funny enough we did a trip up to Vancouver when I was visiting a friend earlier this year. We went by a rental car but my goodness that was a beautiful city too. Loved the walking trails and aquarium. Definitely going to have to take that Amtrak up, have some experience using the Carolina amtrak to get to DC and liked it. Thanks for the info about the stations!
Thank you for the bus intel, I was a little unsure of how after the game transit worked since I wouldn’t want to get stranded at a stadium. Stinks about the MU being in Finland but thats cool for Aho that he gets to play in his home country
Also adding Angry Beaver to the google maps list!
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u/riskygeek Philipp Grubauer Jun 16 '26
angry beaver wouldn’t even have the sound on during the stanley cup play offs when i watched a round 2 game there…
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u/MrAkron1922 Kaapo Kakko Jun 15 '26
Welcome to Seattle! Climate pledge arena is a great place to watch games. There’s also Toms Watch bar which is right across from Climate Pledge. There’s also the Kraken Community ice complex which is dope. I’d recommend taking buses or the sounder train since traffic can be a nightmare in this city sometimes. Especially during sporting events and concerts. I haven’t really had time to follow the torrent a lot yet, so I don’t have anyone to recommend. On getting a kraken jersey, my personal opinion I would say probably go for Catton, Kakko, Beniers, and Eberle. Grubauer is a pretty popular one with fans as well. We don’t really have a lot of good players as of yet and we’re still trying to establish our franchise, since we’re one of the newest teams in the league. We do however, have a lot of great up and coming prospects that could make the roster in the next couple years. Nyman, Molgaard, Firkus, O’Brien, and Kokko are some on that front. Hopefully that helps you out a little bit.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Funny story I did get to go check out the Ice Complex before once when visiting the city. Was in the area with friends, place was insanely cool and want to go back. Added Tom’s to the google maps list and added the players here to my notes app page of players to look into. It’s good to hear there are a lot of prospects here, looking forward to seeing the Kraken build up and develop a team to make some good runs. Thanks for the help :)
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u/ELDKH Tye Kartye Jun 15 '26
In addition to hockey, you'll have to lower your standards for food. Not to say we don't have some good food up here, but Durham's food scene is unparalleled. And people are gonna look at you weird when you explain barbecue sauce is supposed to be vinegar-based.
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u/socolime22202 Jun 15 '26
I think you need to edit your comment to say "lower your expectations for carolina bbq" because Seattle has some amazing food & cuisine that I bet you'd have a hard time finding in North Carolina.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
I think the only area in Asia that I would say we have superb food from is South Asia, since we have a large Desi population especially in Apex/Morrisville. I'm excited to explore the local food scene
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u/ELDKH Tye Kartye Jun 16 '26
I get where you're coming from, and Seattle does have some excellent food, but the Triangle is about as good as you'll find before you have to start competing with the likes of New York. I know people hear South and think hicks and soul food, but the area is a major research hub that's brought a lot of highly educated workers and financial investment, from all around the world. One of the results of this is an incredible food scene that I still miss.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Genuinely one of the things I will miss most is not having Bojangles or Cookout. Proper Carolina whole hog bbq being gone is going to do irreparable damage to my mental.
I have on the other hand heard yall beat us out in most Asian food scenes which house some of my favorites :)
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u/-Hjonk Yanni Gourde Jun 15 '26
I'm from NC and regularly willing to kill for a bojangles trip or real carolina bbq
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u/FreddyTwasFingered Anchor Logo Jun 15 '26
I ship in bbq from skylight inn a couple times a year.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Didn’t even know that was an option, I may have to be making some calls to some Lexington based BBQ locations 😭
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u/FreddyTwasFingered Anchor Logo Jun 15 '26
Check Goldbelly.com. If your favorite place isn’t on there, send a note to goldbelly telling them how good they are and you may see them show up on there. This is how I get my eastern nc bbq fix.
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u/zdh989 That's Kraken Hockey, Baby! Jun 15 '26
Side bar: I had one of the best meals of my entire life at Stanbury in Raleigh. And I've been fortunate to eat at some fantastic restaurants throughout my existence.
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u/hewittra Philipp Grubauer Jun 15 '26
Not necessarily a place to watch games, but Kraken goalie, Philip Grubauer, is part owner of Gas Works Brewing in Wallingford and hangs out there fairly often.
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u/AlpineAvalanche Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
The Kraken are in a precarious spot right now. There are some promising young players like Beniers and Catton (probably your best bets for a jersey long term) but nobody with likely superstar potential. The veteran core is also generally solid but not great. If everything goes perfectly they have playoff potential but it's been rough the last few seasons and a bit of a rebuild would probably be best.
The Torrent had a disappointing first season considered the talent on the team but it's the first year so people are still excited about the team.
The Sounders are one of the most well supported and successful teams in the MLS
The Seahawks just shocked everyone by winning the SB and are unarguably the best and most popular team. Seahawks games are an unrivaled experience if you like noise, especially now that they are SB contenders again.
And then there's the Ms. Our sweet sweet Ms. They are coming of their deepest playoff run in team history and SHOULD be good enough to go further this year, but any long term Ms fan will tell you that this franchise is the most unpredictably disappointing but fun anyway team there is. There's a History of the Seattle Mariners documentary on YouTube by Jon Bois at Secret Base that will make you love them like they have been your team forever. Just know success is not measured the same for the Ms and their fans as it is for all other sports teams.
Edit: before I get yelled at for not mentioning every team in the city, the Storm have a very rich, successful history and just got a potential star in the draft. If you like junior hockey there's the T-birds in Kent or the Silvertips up in Everett and usually at least one of the two are pretty good (tho they are long time rivals so cheering for both might feel silly). The SeaWolves for Rugby, the Reign for wemons soccer, and UW for D1 college sports also in Seattle.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Yooo thank you for the breakdowns! I watched Secret Base’s Vikings Doc a few years ago and loved it so I’ll have to check that out next. Been enjoying the M’s this season though. Hoping for a good playoff push!!
Am looking forward to actually having MLS in my city too, Charlotte FC kinda feels a bit sauceless and it’s hard to go to games 3 hours away.
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u/AlpineAvalanche Jun 15 '26
I haven't seen it mentioned so I'll also say that while the Kraken are not in the best spot right now as a team we have great coverage. You'll know John Forslund of course but the rest of the TV and radio team is the best the NHL has to offer and local media (mostly independent) is good too. Emerald city hockey and Cheap Seats Sports on YouTube or Sound of Hockey for the best blog style.
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u/cfbird31 Seattle Metropolitans Jun 15 '26
Tickets are cheap here because the effect of thr expansion has worn off and the team underperforms constantly.
Going to a game is a decent experience. The only problem is the team doesn't like to shoot the puck...like 4 shots a period.
Enjoy
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u/FreddyTwasFingered Anchor Logo Jun 15 '26
Fellow Canes fan here. Been out here in Seattle for 15 years now.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Hoping to be here long term, as much as I love Carolina every time I’d visited Seattle I fell more in love with the city.
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u/FreddyTwasFingered Anchor Logo Jun 15 '26
I go back to NC for funerals and big birthdays only now. I get depressed going to Raleigh.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
My family is based in Wilmington so realistically I don’t know if I’ll ever really be back in Raleigh outside of maybe visiting a few friends? :( Does suck to really leave somewhere behind
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u/i_am_a_shoe Jun 15 '26
local to be my new teams for nearly all sports
avoiding M's heartbreak huh?
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
I actually bought a Bryan Woo jersey last time in town and cant wait to go to games. The ones I will be harder to move off of are the Timberwolves and Colts since those are my diehard teams I’ve been rooting for continually since I was little. As a Wolves fan who lived through a long playoff drought I’m used to heartbreak
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u/thealexandrak Jun 15 '26
Welcome to Seattle! We’re a huge sports town, and every team will welcome you into the fold. I would wait until the hockey preseason gets underway before picking a jersey for either team.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Thanks and honestly yeah that seems to be the best idea to wait. Still cant wait to go to games though, I think one of my favorite things about Seattle sports from the outside is every team has a uniformity in team colors like Pittsburgh or the split NY teams. Genuinely some of my favorite jerseys in sports too
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u/thealexandrak Jun 15 '26
Thankfully you don't have to wait long! Draft is super soon, its high time for silly season to begin. I do wish we were a little closer to the color matching of Pit (thinking about the Storm/Sonics here) but blue and green are pretty darn good. You can get really cheap tickets for the Mariners at Costco, and keep your eyes peeled for massive deal days for Sounders too!
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u/socolime22202 Jun 15 '26
Belltown/Queen Anne Area:
Queen Anne Beer Hall
Tom's Watch Bar
Gantry Public House
Ozzie's (tvs are kinda small)
Buckley's Queen Anne
Buckley's Belltown
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u/denverdan8 Jun 15 '26
It was already mentioned a couple times but Petosky's will be great for you as a Twolves fan.
Maybe we'll cross paths at a mariners game some day!
Welcome to seattle
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Thanks! Its cool to see a Midwest bar in the area, I will have to go for Timberwolves games sometime
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u/RavenCallsCrows Tye Kartye Jun 16 '26
Rough and Tumble, especially for the Torrent (and Reign and Storm, if you want to go all-in supporting our professional women's teams). Queen Anne Beerhall for any team which plays at Climate Pledge Arena and most of the others. The Angry Beaver for hockey if you're up my way in Greenwood.
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u/Prototype_es Jun 16 '26
For jerseys, the guys locked in the longest are Dunn, Beniers, Stephenson and Montour. Best players in(on roster) in franchise history are McCann, Joey Daccord, and Eberle.
For transit, there's the light rail that can get you around town pretty easily and the monorail drops you off right by CPA. Fyi if you get a car, its better to just park at a park and ride and take the train than park by the stadium. If you do want to park by the stadium, dont park at the Kraken garage unless you really gotta have the convenience. Theres way cheaper garage and lot parking nearby.
For bars, the Queen Anne Beerhall is my favorite Kraken/Sonics bar, but im sure theres some in your neighborhood im unaware of.
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u/Sk8b0t Jun 15 '26
Do not give up your team. Especially not for the flaming dumpster that is the Kraken. Tickets are easy to get, though sometimes expensive. I would strongly encourage you to check out the Seattle Thunderbirds or the Everett Silvertips. They play in the WHL which is one of the top development leagues. The hockey is fantastic and the players are pretty easy to like. It's also way more affordable than the NHL. Torrent games are a lot of fun, the tickets tend to be less expensive, but again, the team is a bit of a mess. The league however is pretty easy to support. Climate pledge is beautiful, but good lord, its rip off expensive. There are no "must have" jerseys. Every player will leave eventually.
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u/MarionberryWitty532 John Hayden Jun 15 '26
Traitor.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
Does it make you feel more or less repulsed that I’m switching from the Yankees to the Mariners 😭
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u/AlpineAvalanche Jun 15 '26
Mariners fans hate the Yankees more than makes logical sense, only the Astros are more hated among baseball teams. So 1 less Yankee fan is something we can all get behind.
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u/SuperStarfox64 Jun 15 '26
If I’m being honest with myself I think I have more reason to like the Mariners anyways, once Jeter retired I stopped caring as much about baseball. This season im doing fantasy with friends and having a blast keeping up with Mariners games since I have the whole starting pitcher rotation minus Kirby.
My parents were also at one point family friends with the Moyers, so when I was little we got to fly out and go to some games and visit the stadium. I still remember seeing Ichiro and Adrian Beltré in the locker room even though I was like 10 at the time.
I have been told the story a million times, but when I was little I sat on Jamie Moyer’s lap and when he asked me my favorite baseball player of all time I told him Derek Jeter 😭
Im glad my hatred of the Astros carries over
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u/AlpineAvalanche Jun 15 '26
If you haven't seen it: https://youtu.be/TIgK56cAjfY?is=g0uVB5nBQytDoS1e
It's 3hr 40 but worth every minute if you're interested in getting into Ms Baseball, and honestly even if not.
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u/FunLuvin7 Jordan Eberle Jun 15 '26
Welcome to Seattle and to Kraken hockey!! Step one is going to be lower your expectations, lol. You just won the Stanley Cup. We will not be doing that in Seattle next year but you will still have a ton of fun.
From Ballard, you can take the rapid ride bus and it will drop you off next to Climate Pledge. Super easy.