With connections to Minnesota and Wild, siblings help establish NHL in Seattle

SEATTLE – Your hike to Section 102 at the Xcel Energy Center began with a trip to the toilet.

Then they each grabbed a hot dog and a sprite to share before finally settling into their seats overlooking the wild bank.

“OK, sit down here and I’ll be back,” her father said.

Kendall Tyson and Kyle Boyd grew up in the state of Hockey, where their father, Joel Boyd, has been Wild’s orthopedic surgeon since the team was founded in 2000. He’s the first black team doctor in NHL history and has put his kids on track for even more diversity in hockey.

Now the Eden Prairie siblings share the sport with a new crowd in Seattle, partnering with the Kraken during its debut season, which includes its first meeting with the Wild on Thursday at the Climate Pledge Arena.

“Everyone feels like they have to get into ice hockey,” said Boyd, “and now is the time.”

Long before joining the Kraken, Tyson and Boyd had been promoting hockey.

Boyd was on Blake’s college team for two years before playing club hockey at Dartmouth, where he studied history. Later he worked as a trainer.

Tyson was a basketball player but competed with a club hockey team while earning her MBA at Yale, which taught the basics of the sport such as skating. More than 200 students took part.

“It was actually the first time I’d introduced ice hockey to people who didn’t know about the game,” said Tyson.

They eventually teamed up with Seattle after Tod Leiweke, the former president of Wild and the current president and CEO of the Kraken, discovered Boyd at a public skater session in nearby Renton, Washington.

Leiweke asked where Boyd was from after realizing how slick he was a skater, and the two began to chat about their connections with the savages. After asking Boyd about his contribution on how to get more people excited about hockey, Leiweke gave his business card and the two continued to meet – along with Tyson, who had worked for Topgolf.

“From then on, one thing led to another,” said Boyd.

Tyson later became the organization’s vice president of strategy and business intelligence, a role where she gathers and analyzes data to customize the fan experience with the team and at the Climate Pledge arena. Boyd is the director of fan development.

In addition to working to develop connections with youth through schools and community centers, Boyd is also working to make octopus hockey more accessible to families. For example, some tickets are available for $ 20.

“It shows that we are simply not interested in supporting our team at the highest level,” said Boyd, “but supporting the youngsters who one day dream of playing for the Kraken.”

While fans were already cheering for Western Hockey League teams in the area like the Everett Silvertips and the Seattle Thunderbirds, the arrival of the NHL sparked a different buzz, Boyd said.

And it’s attractive to newcomers to the sport.

“We’ve created an atmosphere where the fans feel that they can learn and there isn’t necessarily a feeling that you need to know or be an expert,” said Boyd, who is also focused on developing a diverse and inclusive hockey community focused in Seattle.

“We have programmed a lot of what happens in the arena to be fan friendly and fan focused so that they feel like they are learning a little bit about the power play and a bit about a penalty kick and getting excited and you understand some those nuances of the game that go beyond your 5v5 action. “

What motivates Tyson is giving the people of the Pacific Northwest the opportunity to have the same experiences they had as a child.

She and Boyd and her younger brother Kasey were at the Savages’ first home game on October 11, 2000, when Darby Hendrickson scored the team’s first goal in a 3-3 draw with Philadelphia.

“We were high five,” Tyson recalled. “People ran up and down the lines and hugged. It was a sign that NHL hockey was and will be back in Minnesota. I think that moment cemented my passion and love for the game for me.”

Another memory was only created last Saturday when Tyson was with her brothers and parents at the Kraken’s house kick-off, a meeting that felt surreal.

After traveling with her father all those years ago, their individual journeys brought them back to the same destination.

“Three of us had credentials,” said Tyson. “When did this become a family business? One is a doctor, one is a teacher. I was an engineer by profession. That was definitely not in the vision us? ‘ In a way, it makes sense, just as little as the path we’ve taken here.

“It makes so much sense to be here.”