Seattle Kraken: Hockey 101 for Seattle sports fans
Jason Spezza, Ottawa vs. Patrice Bergeron, Boston. (Photo by Dan4th Nicholas, via Flickr)
The Opposite of Storm Basketball Jump Balls
At certain stoppages of play at Key Arena, a basketball would be thrown up between opposing players. In hockey, a similar faceoff is used after all stoppages where the puck is instead thrown down to the ice.
While the WNBA uses three officials on the court, NHL hockey has four on the ice. Two referees and two linesmen set up the teams on either side of the dot and can kick players out of the faceoff circle for violating rules. The visiting team puts their stick down first at center ice, but the defensive player goes first in the eight other faceoff zones.
💪 ⚓ 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐑𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍! ⚓ 💪
@NHLSeattle_ pic.twitter.com/lSpMOjTpOj
— Seattle Storm (@seattlestorm) July 23, 2020
The Same Season as the Sonics, When They Return
It’s hard to be a hockey and an NBA fan since their seasons run simultaneously from October through April. The postseasons for both sports, the playoffs, last until mid-June.
There are Annual NHL Awards in late June right before the NHL Draft. Hockey is a sport with a rich history and steeped in tradition. Some of the trophies date back to 1923 and honor after some of the NHL’s founding fathers and legendary heroes.
As in pro basketball, teenagers are an important part of the draft. The NHL select players as young as 17 or 18 in hockey while the basketball minimum is 19. An NHL front office might wheel and deal in July, but the on-ice action breaks until training camps start in September.