Paying homage to forgotten heroes 

In the Kraken’s second season, the NHL ran a league-wide program called “The Reverse Retro,” in which each team played a series of games wearing special uniforms inspired by historic teams from their city’s past. The Kraken took to the ice in uniforms inspired by the Seattle Ironmen. Essential to Seattle’s pro hockey history were the Ironmen, who kept hockey alive in the Pacific Northwest through the hardships of WWII and early post-war years. Playing only eight PCHL seasons, they compiled a record of 491-239-211, and were known as “The Bad Men of the Pacific Coast.” With a fearsome reputation as a hard nosed team who played shoulder–to–the-task hockey, many of these players doubled as mill workers for Isaacson Steel, which supported the war effort as a vital supplier of iron products for West Coast Naval wartime shipyards.

To celebrate the Ironmen, we developed artwork inspired by WWII-era artwork and poster printing, a sub-campaign, and a series of 4 screen-printed posters, which were given away to the first 10,000 fans at each game. The artwork and typography were used across the arena for all in-game graphics, creating a unique, branded experience for fans.