The Field And Rink For The 2024 Winter Classic Might Be The Coolest We've Ever Seen

This year's Winter Classic will pit the NHL's two newest teams — the Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights — and as per usual, the rink and the field surrounding it will feature some nods to the host city, in this case, Seattle.

However, I don't know that in the 14 previous Winter Classics we've seen anything as cool as what they're cooking up in Seattle.

The Seattle Kraken posted some photos of the rink preparation ahead of the game on New Year's Day.

Look at those details. Considering the Kraken are hosting a game in Seattle, it won't be surprising that there's a significant amount of nautical theming.

The rope design painted into the blue line is cool, but the NHL logo is surrounded by a compass design on the faceoff dots? Now that is very cool.

While the rink itself has some uniqueness to it, it's the area outside the rink that will get people talking.

Seattle's Winter Classic Has A Serious Nautical Them For Obvious Reasons

I always like the idea of theming the area surrounding the rink, because if you think about plopping a 200-foot by 85-foot rink in the middle of a baseball field or football, there's a significant amount of wasted space. So, why not have some fun with it?

Theming it to the city or team is always a good idea. I went to the 2019 Stadium Series game between the Flyers and Penguins at Lincoln Financial Field. What did they have at one end of the field? A replica of the famous Philadelphia Art Museum "Rocky" steps.

That's exactly what they're doing in Seattle, but what they've got is even cooler.

Players will make a heck of an entrance ahead of the 2024 NHL Winter Classic. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

First, it looks like they're trying to make the field look like it's covered in water. Then, they made some wooden docks for the players to walk across from the dugouts to the rink. That's going to be a very cool visual, but not anything like what they've got sitting in centerfield.

You could see it in concept art, but it appears there's a ship being pulled underwater by giant tentacles. Seriously.

That's the coolest thing I've ever seen at one of these games.

Maybe we'll reach a point where the gimmickiness becomes too much... we are not at that point right now.

Between the rink, the field, and the sweaters were going to see, this could be one of the coolest Winter Classics yet.

Follow on X: @Matt_Reigle