SEATTLE — The Seattle Kraken hit the ice Thursday night at Climate Pledge Arena for the 2025-2026 season home opener.

Pre-game festivities began early with a fan plaza party at 2 p.m., and a ‘Blue Carpet’ was rolled out for players to walk down into the rink.

The Kraken are hosting the Anaheim Ducks, and the first puck will drop at 7 p.m.

“Our fans are just incredibly dedicated to the team, to the organization, and dedicated to being on this journey with us,” said Kyle Boyd, senior director of fan development for the Kraken.

Boyd told KOMO News it’s been a long five months for Seattle hockey fans patiently waiting for the Kraken to return to the ice.

“Oh, I’m so hype,” Paulina Rendon continued, “I’ve been waiting for this for months and months, and I just barely could sleep last night, I was so excited.”

Rendon was just one of many fans lined up outside the arena in the early afternoon.

“The fans are out in full force in the middle of the day,” Boyd exclaimed.

The season opener face-off with the Anaheim Ducks will be one young fan’s first-ever Kraken game.

“I’m excited to see them warm up and hopefully get a warm-up puck,” said Easton Daly, while holding a homemade sign.

Daly told KOMO News he got to leave school early for the special occasion.

Other fans consider themselves seasoned professionals, having attended many home Kraken games over the past four seasons.

“The entertainment in there is just ecstatic. I mean, the atmosphere in there is just crazy, the fans going crazy every goal, every big play that happens,” said Spencer Hansen.

Despite the late game start time, many fans showed up to the arena early to claim the best view possible for watching their favorite players walk down the ‘Blue Carpet.’

“We’ve been here since like 12 p.m.,” said Hunter Tam with a group of friends.

There are some new experiences fans can look forward to for this season. The biggest being a new, all-black third jersey for the first time in Kraken history.

“We’ve had our home and our away, and this jersey is kind of ‘made to menace’ so it’s black, has an incredible glow in the dark feature,” Boyd said. “Our fans are incredibly excited about it.”

When the team wears its new third jerseys in the rink, there will also be fun fan experiences at Climate Pledge. Boyd said the first ‘third jersey night’ will be on Nov. 1.

If you can’t make it to the home opener Thursday night, the Kraken will host the Vegas Golden Knights at home on Saturday, Oct. 11.