NHL awards Seattle an expansion franchise (2018)

On December 4, 2018, the National Hockey League approved an expansion franchise for Seattle to begin play in the 2021–22 season. The expansion team, later named the Seattle Kraken, plays its home games at Climate Pledge Arena after a major renovation of the former Seattle Center Coliseum. The approval marked the NHL's official return to Seattle after nearly a century since the city's first professional hockey teams.