If you're hoping to snag a ticket to a Seattle Kraken game, join the long, long (did we say long?) line. More than 35,000 people plunked down $500 or more for a chance to score season tickets—of which there are only 10,000 spots. Another 60,000 hopefuls joined the wait list. While you're certainly welcome to lurk on StubHub, there are other ways to watch hockey in this town, and none of them involve a packed monorail ride to Climate Pledge Arena. Just saying.

Kraken Community Iceplex

If you're hoping to glimpse the pros on the ice, get thee to the Kraken Community Iceplex at Northgate. The team opens its practices to the public, so you can watch the players running drills while you snack on popcorn from the bleachers or an upstairs viewing window. Legions of other ticketless fans also gather here during Kraken game nights, when the rink broadcasts the hockey game live on a 32-foot screen during a public skate. Because nothing says true hockey fan like watching hockey while trying to keep your balance on a sheet of ice.

Non-NHL Hockey

Yep, hockey existed here long before there was a remodeled arena or an NHL team. And if all you're looking for is an easy way to get into the game, these teams make for one fine introduction.

Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips

Before Seattle netted the Kraken, hockey diehards ventured outside the city to catch the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips take the ice in Kent and Everett. Players in the Western Hockey League may only be 15 to 20—something to keep in mind if you're prone to trash talking the opponent—but they deliver checks, goals, and saves with the best of budding NHLers. Better still, Thunderbirds and Silvertips tickets are a steal compared to Kraken games, going around $15–25 per seat, with some even right along the glass. Take note: Everett's fans are known for cowbell-ringing celebrations, so bring ear plugs if you're sensitive to loud noises.

UW Huskies

Don't feel comfortable taunting 15-year-olds? How about college kids? This year the Huskies play their home games at the Kraken iceplex, opening the season on October 1 against their cross-state rivals at Washington State University. Tickets run $10 for adults and $5 for minors and UW students; kids under 10 are free. 

Sports Bars

Members of the Kraken's Anchor Alliance, a lineup of 32 local bars committed to hosting fans for games, were announced at the start of the season. Then there's the iceplex's 32 Bar and Grill (okay, guys, we get the whole 32 thing already), as well as these two establishments are already devoted to the sport.

Angry Beaver

If the chubby beaver clutching a hockey stick on the sign outside wasn't clue enough, this is a hockey bar—you might even say Seattle's OG hockey bar. When former Torontonian Tim Pipes opened this Greenwood establishment in 2012, he wanted it to have a "sort of Canadian clubhouse thing" and promptly decorated the walls with all manner of hockey paraphernalia. TVs in the bar as well as the massive projector screen in the main seating area faithfully play hockey games (not just Kraken ones), and bartenders are generally happy to flip to your game of choice if you ask nicely. The menu has your standard bar fare, with the Canadian theme fully on display in the form of a poutine flight, a slate of Canadian beers, and specialty drinks like a Bloody Caesar.

Petoskey's Sports Bar

We appreciate a good theme. Named for a Michigan-born, Minnesota-bred hockey legend who disappeared while ice fishing, Petoskey's brings the Midwest to Fremont in the form of cracker-thin pizza crusts, Leinenkugel's, and seven screens to showcase all those Kraken (and Wild, Red Wings, and Blues) games. Yes, poutine also makes an appearance on the menu, as does Spam, a Budweiser-Provel cheese dip, and a tuna-laden pizza called Kraken Bait.