The NHL may have banned Pride-themed warm-up jerseys, but that did not stop the Seattle Kraken from releasing their own transgender jersey this week.
One of the newest NHL franchises, the Kraken jumped out of the gate with wokeness in 2021 by naming their home rink Climate Pledge Arena, as a “rallying call” for companies and organizations to “commit to net-zero carbon by 2040, a decade ahead of the Paris Agreement.”
‘I hope that people can, like, see the logo and, like, feel some trans joy and queer joy, too!’
The NHL struggled with backlash over Pride Night jerseys in 2023, with select Russian and Canadian players refusing to wear the sexuality-themed attire. The league eventually banned all themed warm-up jerseys, but launched a Player Inclusion Coalition just a week later.
With the league being no stranger to leftist ideology, the Kraken have found a work-around for 2026 despite gender- and sex-based events seeing significantly less support in the United States. The team released a transgender unicorn jersey this week, announcing they would auction off the bizarre design online for their Pride Night.
RELATED: NHL reverses ban on rainbow Pride stick tape; LGBTQ group calls it ‘a win for us all’
The team included transgender and gay Pride flags on their post announcing the jersey, and the artist who designed the unicorn clarified the transgender inspiration.
Tattoo artist Vegas Vecchio was profiled by the hockey organization and, after immediately announcing her “they/them pronouns,” rattled off strange rantings about being “exposed” to “queerness.”
“Being able to be in Seattle surrounded by the queer community and being exposed to the queerness I never got to experience growing up, it inspires my work a lot,” she explained.
“I ended up doing the unicorn; it seems like such a classic queer symbol,” she continued. “And I was like, ‘If anyone is going to do a unicorn, it’s going to be me.’ I hope that people can, like, see the logo and, like, feel some trans joy and queer joy, too!”
The artist also noted that people would describe her artwork as “very gay.”
RELATED: NHL bans Pride warm-up jerseys — and all specialty jerseys — calling them a ‘distraction.’ Pro-LGBTQ group is not happy.
Photo by Caean Couto/NHLI via Getty Images
Fans revolted in the comments on the Kraken’s post on X, with several asking if the jersey was actually meant as a joke.
“Hardcore stupidity. Are you going to start doing straight jerseys also?” another X user wrote.
“That’s not a Kraken. No matter how it identifies,” another fan joked about the logo.
Alongside dozens of less-than-safe-for-work memes, one fan called the jerseys a “humiliation ritual” for the players. However, Kraken players did not seem bothered by the design.
Canadian players Ryan Winterton, Brandon Montour, and Tye Kartye all went along with the controversial photo shoot, while German goalie Philipp Grubauer made a public statement on the topic at the same time.
“It’s so important to create a safe and inclusive space within the hockey community,” he said in a team post. “As a proud ally of the LGBTQ+ community, I’ll continue to stand by your side.”
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