SEATTLE — Many Seattle Kraken fans are traveling to Dallas to see their team take on the Stars in game five of the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round.
Others will attend a sold-out Thursday evening watch party happening at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
In order to get to know an important part of the Seattle Kraken fanbase - you need to get to know a portion of the Las Vegas Knights fanbase.
While NHL fans awaited the return of their beloved sport during the COVID-19 pandemic, one dedicated Knights fan decided to start a group for female fans only. This fan, is Stacey Nutini, and this group, is "Ladies of the Knight."
"It was designed to be a space where women could talk hockey and learn about hockey and form friendships without feeling dumb if they asked a question, which is what tends to happen in some of the open-gender groups," Nutini said.
The Vegas Knights franchise was founded in 2017, but the Ladies of the Knight is just nearing its three-year anniversary. Fans not only chat online and participate in threads - they also meet up at games and gather for watch parties where a charity would receive donations.
The Facebook group brought together women who loved hockey or were interested in hockey.
Nutini said it was also an opportunity to promote hockey-related small businesses and crafters in the Vegas area.
A Seattle launch
Ladies of the Knight has grown to nearly 13,000 members online. Its success in creating a safe space and sports community inspired Nutini to create a women-only fan group for all 32 NHL teams.
The 32nd franchise born into the NHL is of course the Seattle Kraken.
About two years ago, Ladies of the Kraken was launched.
"I think more women should check out the Kraken because it's very rewarding to be on the ground floor as a fan of a new team and watch them develop and grow," Nutini said. "Hockey [in general] and NHL is an amazing community of fans and lifelong friendships are formed when you find these connections with others through the interest of a sport. The NHL is not big and flashy with mega-high salaries like you see in NFL, NBA or even MLB, so hockey tends to get a little less attention in the grand scheme of things, but the players are down-to-earth, wonderful guys who deserve the support."
Women are checking out the Kraken as a team to root for. Ladies of the Kraken is nearing 6,000 online members.
There are six moderators on the Ladies of the Kraken (LOTK) Facebook page - Beth Diehl-Griego, Athene La Diosa, Meredith Lambert-Leggé, Bryann Robinson, Cortney Michalak, and Maile Zahand.
The group is comprised of women who are new to hockey altogether, and also some who have been following Washington state minor league teams and others who were following a different NHL team before moving to Seattle.
Michalak has been a longtime Pittsburgh Penguins fan, but she quickly got on board to root for the Kraken in the place she now calls home.
With trades happening often - NHL fans are able to follow some of their favorite players to other franchises.
For Michalak, it was a no-brainer to make her first Kraken jersey purchase a Brandon Tanev jersey. Tanev played for the Penguins before coming to Seattle.
"I never thought I would be sitting here talking to somebody about playoffs two years in," Michalak said. "Never thought that would be a thing. Or that we would have such an amazing fan base of women, following hockey, creating this amazing community that's so supportive coming over I thought all this would be a thing."
Michalak said she is proud to be a moderator on the page because a safe space for women to talk about sports was needed.
"We're not going to ever belittle someone or say it's a dumb question," Michalak said. "We are going to take the time to answer your question to the past for ability. People will give their opinions and it's really safe and as moderators, we really keep an eye on it, and we are not going to let other people talk down. We are going to reach out to an individual if something is said, that's inappropriate and we don't really tolerate that."
Fellow Ladies of the Kraken moderator Maile Zahand is new to the sport of hockey.
Thanks to the support of LOTK - Zahand said she feels more confident in her hockey knowledge. Plus, both her sons are now playing for the Junior Thunderbirds.
I love all the ladies I've met through this experience, and I have a good core Bestie friend from LOTK.
"I don't think we ever thought we would find a group of best friends from ladies of the Kraken and I found that for myself," Zahand said. "They are like my support group, especially during the playoffs when the stress level is so high and that you don't want to be in a public space depending on how it goes. Especially for that game seven, we held like a really small private group gathering. No matter which way it went, they got your back. That's been great."
When it comes to supporting her favorite players - Zahand said it's hard to choose just one.
"I have too many jerseys," Zahand said. "I think I have more than 15 jerseys in my closets I have a special place in my closet now for hockey jerseys, and the Coachella Firebirds since that's our AHL affiliate."
Like the Vegas women-only fans - LOTK also participates in fundraisers and volunteerism to support Kraken community efforts.
Women who make Kraken-themed items are also able to share them on the LOTK page.
Zahand said some of the LOTK members are also members of separate women-only pages for the Everett Silvertips and the Seattle Thunderbirds. Fans from all three teams often cross over and attend games for all three teams.
The LOTK fan page is for women only and it's private. To join, you must be approved to become a member. Follow this link to send in a request to join.