Elvis is in the building, along with fishmongers as part of a nautical scene for the Winter Classic

For Seattle, it was led off its team bus by minority owner Marshawn Lynch and paid tribute to the fishing industry and the workers at the nearby market who fling fish around every day.

For the reigning Stanley Cup champion Golden Knights, well, was there any other choice than Elvis? It was the brainchild of veteran defecseman Alec Martinez.

“I mean, it’s literally Vegas,” defenceman Zach Whitecloud said.

T-Mobile Park was transformed into a nautical landscape tapping into the region’s maritime influence as the two most recent expansion franchises met Monday. There were lakes created in the outfield, docks leading from the baseball clubhouses to the ice and a shipwreck in center field with the tentacles of a Kraken pulling the ship underwater.

The NHL placed the game at the home of the Seattle Mariners in part because of the retractable roof in case protection from the Pacific Northwest’s notorious dampness was needed. But the league got its wish for an open-air game as fog burned off by late morning and a day of sun and clouds greeted the sold-out stadium.

“I think we’d be silly to try to normalize it. It’s not. It’s a different environment. It’s an awesome environment,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “I think everybody should acknowledge that. But at the same time, you have to dial in and acknowledge that the two points are equally as important as any other two points throughout the year.”

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Tim Booth, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Elvis is in the building, along with fishmongers as part of a nautical scene for the Winter Classic

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