Mavericks join forces with Kraken

INDEPENDENCE, MO. -The Kansas City Mavericks announced that the club has entered into a multi-year affiliation agreement with the National Hockey League’s Seattle Kraken. The Mavericks will serve as the ECHL affiliate for the Kraken and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, starting in the 2022-23 season.

"Ever since I bought the team in 2015, our goal has been to win championships," said Mavericks Team Owner, Lamar Hunt Jr.  "What this means for our organization is stability, commitment, consistency and presence.  It gives us this place in the hockey ecosystem that is really near and dear to our hearts.  What we are looking for is ascending players and ascending organization and that is what we are here to do."

"This is a celebration and an exciting time in Mavs Country," said Mavericks Head Coach and General Manager, Tad O'Had.  "Today is a celebration for our fans, for our hockey community and as Lamar talked about, Kansas City has a rich hockey history and we are excited to continue that progress.  Our goal has always been the same thing, to win a championship here and part of that is continuing to make the affiliations with the National Hockey League, and we are excited about those affiliations."

The Mavericks complete the three-tiered affilition for Seattle along with Coachella Valley.  With 34 total draft selections across the Kraken's first three seasons in the NHL, both parties are excited for the young pool of talent that will help grow the affilition in the long term.  The Mavericks are Seattle's second ECHL affiliate, but their first in a three-tiered system from the NHL, AHL down to the ECHL.

"As a collective group, we've spent countless hours building relationships with the Saettle Kraken to create an affiliation that is going to help us long term in the ECHL," said O'Had.  "Most importantly, the time and effort we have put into this affiliation will allow us to be better for many years to come, and it's good to see the fruits of our labor beginning to take place.  If you look across the league in the ECHL, teams with success have good partnerships with their affilition and that is vital to the success in Kansas City.  It's no secret that successful teams in the ECHL have strong affiliations, and we do to.  It is and exciting time for Seattle, Coachella Valley and the Kansas City Mavericks.  This is my second time here and the folks made me feel extremely welcome and definitly have some great surroundings here, the accomidations, you can see that the players are treated with respect and first class and most importantly the staff here.  We know that our players are going to feel comfortable and be able to maximize and showcase their talent infront of the fans here down in KC."

"Together we are as one," said Kraken Assistant General Manager, Ricky Olczyk.  "We are all trying to develop players and at the end of the day that is why we are in this, we all want to win.  We tried to find a location that has a rich history similar to Seattle and with the history and then the folks (with the Mavericks) it was something that was a no brainer and we feel that it is going to be a good relationship as we move forward."