Bristol Bay Native Corporation score partnership with NHL’s Kraken

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - When the NHL’s newest expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, opens their arena to fans this upcoming season the Bristol Bay Native Corporation will be a part of the festivities. The two organizations announced this new partnership Tuesday at the Dempsey-Anderson Ice Arena in Anchorage.

“This is a pretty historic moment for an Alaskan-owned company to be a partner of a major professional sports program,” said Jason Metrokin, president and CEO of BBNC.

As the Kraken prepare for their first NHL season, they are attempting to draw in fans, not only from the Pacific Northwest but from Alaska as well.

“If we do our job right we’re going to have lots of fans across the great state of Alaska and we’ll have kids dreaming of maybe being on that roster someday,” said Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke.

The two sides of this partnership are hopeful it will be a mutually beneficial pairing. For BBNC that will include a marketplace and representation throughout the team’s brand new Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.

“This partnership will also allow us to share and promote all the great things about Bristol Bay to NHL fans, concertgoers and more in the Pacific Northwest,” Metrokin said.

The club is clearly making moves to own the region, including a concerted effort to excite Alaska’s fervent hockey fan base.

“I can promise you this, for a special game we are going to honor Alaskan hockey and those 300 seats are going to be filled with people from across this great state,” Leiweke said.

The inaugural season for the Kraken will begin this coming October, the NHL Draft precedes that beginning July 23.

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