SEATTLE — Hockey fans came out in droves on Sunday for the first day of the Enterprise NHL Fan Village.
The festival, which is being held in conjunction with the 2024 Discover NHL Winter Classic (3 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS), is a celebration of the sport as well as an opportunity for fans to test their own skills, meet a Seattle Kraken player or two, and even touch the Stanley Cup.
Kraken season ticket holders Keith and Lulu Carpenter were at the village with one goal in mind: for Lulu to meet her favorite player, Brandon Tanev.
“[The Winter Classic] is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Keith said.
Added Lulu: “Since [Tanev] came out on stage (at the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft) and laughed at his own picture, he became my favorite. If you can laugh at yourself and take it in stride, I’m with you.”
Lulu was referring to Tanev’s famed headshot, in which he looked surprised and later said he “saw a ghost.”
But Lulu wasn’t the only fan there to meet Tanev. The minute the gates opened, a line formed at the Discover booth, where Tanev was set to sign autographs and take photos with his many admirers.
Sacha Coughran, who is from Snohomish, Washington, was among the many that waited to meet the Kraken forward. Coughran was wearing a Tanev Winter Classic jersey that she said she received as a Christmas gift.
“I was just really excited when I heard that he was coming to hang out with the fans,” Coughran said. “I didn’t know if I’d actually get a chance to say hi to him, so I’m just hoping to have him sign my jersey and get a picture with him. And then I’ll go around and see all the different stuff that they have.”
Among the activities that were available for fans like Coughran to take part in were an accuracy contest on a stacked washer and dryer, as well as a giant air hockey machine that was temporarily being tended to by hockey influencers Jacob Ardown and Olly Postanin.
“We’re here to just keep it greasy, get the vibes up, you know?” Ardown said. “Seattle has been off to a bit of a slow start this year. Vegas has been hot again, but [the Winter Classic] is in Seattle, the vibes here are good, the fans are great.”
