NHL’s Kraken gets original score from Oscar winner Zimmer

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SEATTLE (AP) – With Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer as part of the ownership group, Seattle Kraken was always meant to have a cinematic element to its video productions.

When the Kraken decided to revamp their pregame introductions during the offseason, Bruckheimer was involved in brainstorming ideas. In one such Zoom meeting, Bruckheimer said he had a friend who might be willing to do a favor and provide some grandiose music that would build to a crescendo as the players hit the ice.

His friend: Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer.

“When I watched their presentation of the game, which I thought was very good, the only thing they lacked was the kind of explosion when the players come out on the ice. Musically it could be very interesting because they’re basically gladiators going into battle,” Bruckheimer told The Associated Press. “I felt working with Hans Zimmer on ‘Top Gun,’ and he’s a composer who can certainly write that kind of theme for the players and for the team.

If you want music for gladiators, get the guy who wrote the music for “Gladiator”.

Bruckheimer enlisted the help of Zimmer, who created an eight-minute original score for Kraken. The part is used during a three-minute intro video that plays just before Seattle takes the ice.

The Kraken also plays Zimmer’s music during game breaks, in promotional TV spots and even on the Seattle Monorail for fans en route to the Climate Pledge Arena.

“He has an incredible ability to write phenomenal themes. Very simple, phenomenal themes,” said Bruckheimer. “And you hear things … whether it’s four notes, six notes, whatever it is, it’s so memorable. That once you leave the movie theater embedded in your brain, you can play it over and over again. That’s what’s so exciting about him.”

Zimmer won his second Academy Award for Best Original Score earlier this year, for “Dune.” He previously won in 1995 for “The Lion King,” and has been nominated nine more times. Zimmer also has three Golden Globes and four Grammys. Although he’s primarily worked on movies — several of which were produced by Bruckheimer — Zimmer also has a few video game scores on his resume.

But this was his first venture into hockey.

Bruckheimer first heard the composition when he connected with Zimmer while finishing the film in London earlier this year. They later held a listening session for the staff in Seattle to hear the finished product, and the full production — music and video — debuted last weekend at the franchise’s second-year home opener.

“It’s supposed to be about the players getting on the ice, getting to know them and getting the crowd excited about the first blade hitting the ice and the crescendo of all those players jumping out there and skating around. It’s a moment,” Bruckheimer said.

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