Internal Use Only · Not for Public Distribution
WA Youth Hockey — Association Reference
PNAHA · USA Hockey Pacific District
What this shows
Washington's hockey is packed into the Puget Sound corridor — and the Kraken (KYHA) is the newest, NHL-backed entrant sitting right in the densest population center. Most associations are small and community-run; only KYHA pairs a pro brand with a flagship rink.
How we use it: the metro density is the Learn-to-Play catchment. Every dot is a feeder market — but KYHA is the only one that can turn a first skate into an NHL-arena experience. Geography is on our side.
Lake Washington Puget Sound — Everett to Tacoma
Flagship Association

Seattle Jr. Kraken

Seattle Kraken Youth Hockey Association (KYHA) · Kraken Community Iceplex, Northgate

The conversion engine
KYHA already moves ~1,080 kids through a full pathway — but the strategic asset is the top of the funnel: Learn-to-Skate → Learn-to-Play. Every LTP kid is a potential Jr. Kraken player and a family that now has a reason to watch the Kraken play.
How we use it: widen LTP intake and the whole pathway grows beneath it. The flywheel: more LTP kids → more Jr. Kraken players → more families in Climate Pledge seats → more kids who want to start. LTP is the cheapest, highest-leverage point in the system.
How Learn-to-Play is funded — and who can actually tap it
The NHL/NHLPA Industry Growth Fund (2013 CBA) has put $200M+ into US & Canada participation, financing Learn to Play. But the money is club-gated — no open application; it flows through NHL clubs (~$105M of its first ~$180M via club grants), so independent associations can't apply directly. Locally the gear isn't one flat fee: NHL LTP1 includes free gear, while Kraken LTP2 is ~$310 for a keep-it kit (≈ $250 gear + ~$61 USA Hockey membership).
How we use it: two levers. (1) A free try-it tier already exists (LTP1) — so the real job is converting LTP1 → LTP2 → Rec, not "removing a $310 wall." (2) Because IGF money only reaches the rink through an NHL club, routing IGF-funded gear/grants to small clubs is something only the Kraken can offer — a genuine way into their doors.

Adult Hockey

KYHA · the other half of the house
3,300
Adult players
25
Divisions
320
LTP / year
TBD
Teams / division (confirm)
Takeaway: KYHA runs ~3,300 adults across 25 divisions — roughly 3× its youth count. That mirrors Washington's adult-driven market and is a built-in audience: adult players and their families are already in the building, already Kraken-aware. 320 LTP/year is the top of the funnel for both sides — kids and adults alike.

How Kraken compares

Side-by-side against every PNAHA association. Empty cells are data not yet collected.

National Comparison · USA Hockey 2024-25 Final Registration

Washington vs the United States

Quick compare: peers pipeline states
Where Washington really sits
WA has 12,993 players but only 47% are youth — adults outnumber kids. Our peers are California, Nevada and Texas (emerging, adult-driven markets), not Minnesota or Illinois (kid-driven pipelines). The youth base here is underbuilt.
How we use it: "underbuilt" is the opportunity. Growth can't come from poaching the same small youth pool — it has to come from bringing new kids in through Learn-to-Play. The adult-heavy mix also means there are hockey-curious grown-ups whose kids haven't started yet.

Total · Youth · Adult

Youth players by age group — Washington

Market signals

National ranking — all 52 affiliates

Rank by:
= state has an NHL team · ▮▮ multiple. Canadian provinces are not in USA Hockey's data; their 7 NHL clubs are listed below.

Source: USA Hockey 2024-25 Final Registration Report (p.6). Youth = under-19 brackets; Adult = 19 & over. YoY growth per USA Hockey affiliate filings.

International comparison · Hockey Canada 2024-25

Canada — the benchmark market

Canada registered 603,149 players across its 13 provincial/territorial members — 452,361 in minor hockey (U7–U18) alone. That minor total exceeds the entire USA youth count (396,525). Use the selector to compare any province against Washington or the United States.

The ceiling — what mature looks like
Canada fields more minor players than the entire USA fields youth, from 1/9th the population. This is what a fully-built hockey culture looks like: hockey is the default first sport, not an introduced one.
How we use it: it sets the aspiration and the gap. We're not trying to become Canada — we're showing how far the runway extends. Their density starts with universal early access (their Learn-to-Play equivalent). Same lever we're pulling.
Province:

Players by age division — All Canada

All 13 members ranked by total registration

Rank by:

Source: Hockey Canada 2024-25 Annual Report — Player Registrations by Member & Age Division. "Minor" = U7 through U18. Canada uses two-year age divisions (U7/U9/U11…), so brackets are not identical to USA Hockey's; cross-comparisons are aligned at the youth-total level, not bracket-by-bracket.

Which provinces actually produce NHL players
Ontario produces the most NHL players by a wide margin — 179 active (~43% of all Canadian-born NHLers) — but that's largely population: it's Canada's biggest province. Per-capita, the Prairies win: Manitoba (~18 per million) and Saskatchewan (~17) far out-produce Ontario (~11).
How we use it: density beats size. The Prairies aren't big — they're hockey-saturated. WA (1 active NHLer) will never out-scale Ontario; the only path is out-densifying per-capita — the Prairie model of cheap, universal, early access.

Population vs NHL production by province — active NHLers, 2024-25

Rank by:

Sources: QuantHockey — active NHL players by birth province, 2024-25 (~420 Canadian-born). Population: StatCan 2024 estimates. "Per million" = NHLers ÷ provincial population. Yukon & NWT: 1 active NHLer each.

Three-nation comparison · Canada · USA · Europe

Canada · USA · Europe

The three pillars of world hockey, side by side — switch between participation (registered players) and production (active NHLers the system graduates). Europe is the combined total of its hockey nations.

Production starts with participation
Canada produces NHL players at roughly 12× the US per-capita rate — and just 1 active NHLer was born in Washington: Spokane's Kailer Yamamoto, who's even skated for the Kraken. Elite output is downstream of how many kids start young. No broad base, no top.
How we use it: this is the long-game proof that the base is what matters. We're not promising NHLers — we're showing that everything elite is built on Learn-to-Play volume. Today WA's base is thin; that's the foundation the Kraken can lay.

Europe definition:

Europe — by nation — IIHF registered players

Head-to-head — pick a province and a state

vs

Ranked side by side — all provinces | all states

Rank by:
Canada — 13 members
USA — 52 affiliates

Sources: Participation — IIHF Survey of Players (registered players), all three nations from the same survey edition. Province/state head-to-head below uses current Hockey Canada 2024-25 & USA Hockey 2024-25 detail. The IIHF tri-nation totals above pre-date those current figures, so treat the three-way participation comparison as one-source/one-vintage. Population: Canada ≈ 41M, USA ≈ 335M, Europe ≈ 745M.

Cross-sport context · NFHS 2023-24 · per-capita

Sports · the bigger field

Where hockey sits among the major participation sports, and what the per-capita ratios reveal. High-school participation (NFHS) is the only apples-to-apples cross-sport, cross-state dataset that exists — so this is HS-only and undercounts club-heavy sports like hockey. Read it as relative interest, not total players.

The recruiting pool is right here
In Washington, ~3× more kids play soccer than hockey, and hockey is only ~8% of the big team sports. These are athletic WA kids already playing something — most have simply never been put on the ice.
How we use it: this is the Learn-to-Play target list. Soccer/basketball/baseball families are the warm market for "come try hockey." Convert a sliver of them and KYHA's LTP — and the future Kraken fanbase — grows materially. The demand isn't missing; the introduction is.

Sport participation — Washington

Per-capita ratios — interesting facts

Hockey's foothold — ice hockey as % of (football + hockey), HS boys

Sources: NFHS 2023-24 High School Athletics Participation Survey (boys, the consistent cross-state series); U.S. Census 2024 population. Caveats: HS-only — misses youth/club hockey (where most WA hockey lives), so hockey is undercounted here vs USA Hockey's 6,110 WA youth figure. "Primary sport" is a participation proxy, not a definitive ranking. All five sports (football, basketball, baseball, soccer, ice hockey) are complete for every state.

Working notes · USA Hockey / NHL Annual Congress · June 2026

Notes & ideas

Live capture from Congress + partnership brainstorm. The DL section is sourced from USA Hockey's published FAQ. The ideas section is a working board — directional, not finalized.

National Development League (DL) — Tier 1 watch

What it is

USA Hockey · approved Jan 2026 Winter Mtg

A national collection of hand-picked Tier 1 programs (~32 nationally) fielding 15U & 17U "DL" teams, built on ADM, anti-burnout (55-game cap, no multi-game days).

It is assimilated into the Tier 1 framework — it does NOT replace Tier 1. Designed to work in cooperation with it.

Timeline

Source: USA Hockey FAQ
  • Applications: May 1 – June 30, 2026
  • Selections announced: Oct 16, 2026 (intentionally after Tier 1 roster lock)
  • Play begins: Fall 2027 (2027-28 season)

USA Hockey warning: no teams selected yet — any org claiming it's "in" is misrepresenting.

5-team DL structure

Per selected organization
  • 13O (Tier 1)
  • 14U (Tier 1)
  • 15U (DL)
  • 17U (DL)
  • 18U (Tier 1)

DL clubs cannot also field 15O / 16U Tier 1 — it reshuffles the elite tier, not just adds to it.

WA readiness — prep, not ready

Internal assessment

WA has one true-AAA association (KYHA) and just 1 active NHLer born in-state (Spokane's Kailer Yamamoto). We are not positioned to win a DL bid today.

Prep goal: deepen the Tier 1 pipeline now (volume + advancement history are selection factors) so a future application is credible. Watch the Oct 16 selections for the regional picture.

Partnership & exposure ideas — grow youth hockey + Kraken exposure

Theme: high-exposure Seattle Kraken hockey, unique partners, and revenue from quiet ice (6am–4pm) windows. With partnerships colleague @ Congress.

Mom & Me program

Grassroots · top of funnel

Parent-and-tot intro sessions — lowest barrier entry, builds the family habit early and converts a parent into a Kraken fan alongside the kid.

LTP feederfamily acquisition

LTP graduation celebration + club unifier

Exposure · data capture

A season-end LTP graduation that unites local clubs at a Kraken event. Spreads Kraken brand across associations and collects participation data from other clubs we otherwise can't see.

brand exposuredata collectioncross-club

Daycare hockey program

Revenue · quiet-ice · ages 3–5

Knee-hockey "rink": cushion boards + rink-graphic floor mats, daycare-style service for 3–5 year-olds. No ice required — only floor space. Runs in quiet daytime windows, earliest possible exposure to the sport.

no ice needed6am–4pm revenueearliest funnel

Daycare hockey — market price read

Cost benchmark · Seattle 2025–26

Comparable Seattle pricing to predict ours: full-time toddler/preschool daycare $1,800–2,430/mo ($380–520/wk); drop-in care ~$10–26/hr; branded sports-enrichment classes (Soccer Shots, Little Gym, Amazing Athletes) ~$15–25/session. Our model is drop-in + enrichment, so price at the enrichment premium ≈ $18–25/child/session — ~20 kids × $20 ≈ $400/session on otherwise-dead floor space.

$18–25/sessionest.quiet-ice revenue

Quiet-ice revenue (6am–4pm)

Facility utilization

Fill the low-demand daytime sheet with unique youth programming that generates revenue and exposure — daycare hockey, school field-trip skates, homeschool PE, senior/adult intro, corporate try-hockey.

utilizationunique partners

Try Hockey Camp

Grassroots · summer · no experience

A half-day summer camp for youth with no hockey background: off-ice hockey games, ice-skating classes, and try-hockey-style on-ice sessions in one morning. The lowest-commitment first contact with the sport — a feeder into LTP and Jr. Kraken.

top of funnelLTP feedersummer

LTP Camp (LTP-only)

Retention · LTP-exclusive · skill accelerator

A camp open only to current Learn-to-Play kids — concentrated reps to push raw beginners toward Jr. Kraken faster. Keeps the funnel-mouth engaged between sessions instead of drifting off, and is the natural bridge from free NHL LTP1 → Kraken LTP2 → Rec.

LTP1→LTP2retentionskill build

Full-circle org alignment

Operating principle · internal

The Kraken youth department works in lockstep with Fan Development, Partnerships, and Marketing — every youth play is also a fan, partner, and brand play. Stay cognizant of the full-circle mission: youth → fans → partners → marketing → back to youth.

Fan DevPartnershipsMarketing

Volunteer engine

Capacity · no helpers, no quality product

Incentivize (low-cost): comp ice time + the volunteer's own kid's registration per hours coached, pay for their coaching cert / SafeSport, comp Kraken tickets & swag. Retain: a coach pathway (helper → assistant → head → mentor), a co-coach model to kill burnout, and a teen→adult pipeline. Tap captive pools: hockey parents, the 3,300 adult-league players, and 16–18U players needing service hours.

ice = currencycomped feesanti-burnout

Gear recycle → shared gear bank

Cost + club adoption · lean

Recycle outgrown LTP gear (return bin + a one-time "clean out the garage" drive across 4,000+ member families to jump-start it). Gives us the cheap rental tier we lack and a free shared gear bank to offer small/rural clubs (Yakima, Whatcom, Bremerton) — a way in their door. Not aimed at Sno-King, who already runs a $40 rental.

rental tierclub adoptionrecycle loop

Community assets → funnel

Connect what already exists

One Roof's 5 sport courts, ball-hockey in ~200 schools, the Kirkland Iceplex (2 sheets, 2027) and new Memorial Stadium (8,000-seat, 2027) are a huge free top-of-funnel that dead-ends. Bridge it cheaply: a QR on every court → free ice at the Iceplex, surface the existing One Roof financial aid at the point of interest, and stage the LTP graduation at Memorial Stadium.

existing assetscheap bridgesfan dev

Reg question: kid's other sports

Cross-sport intel · zero cost

Ask "What other sports does your child play?" on every KYHA registration. Shows which sports we share families with (soccer, baseball, basketball) — the warm pool to recruit from, and the seasons/conflicts we compete against. Pairs with the Sports tab's cross-sport conversion thesis.

cross-sportrecruiting poolfree data

Reg question: parents' sport background

Household intel · zero cost

Ask "What sport do you (the parent) play now or used to play?" A hockey/skating parent = a built-in coach, volunteer, and superfan; a non-hockey parent = a household new to the game to nurture. Feeds the volunteer pipeline and tells us how deep hockey runs in each family.

volunteer pipelinehousehold intelfree data

Reg question: favorite hockey player

Market intel · zero cost

Add "Who is your child's favorite hockey player?" to every KYHA registration. It's a free read on how hockey-aware our market is: a named Kraken/NHL player = an already-engaged family; a blank = truly new to the sport. Track it over time to measure fandom penetration — and flag which families are warmest to convert into Kraken fans.

market awarenessfree datafan dev

The shared goal

Why these matter

Every idea ties to one funnel: more kids on the ice → more Jr. Kraken families → more people in Climate Pledge seats watching the Kraken play. Exposure + revenue + pipeline in one motion.

north star

Working notes — capture in progress. Verify DL details against USA Hockey's official guidebook before any external use.

Data provenance · every figure on this dashboard

Sources & methodology

Every dataset used across the tabs, with links. Where a figure mixes vintages or bases, it's flagged in that tab's footnote.

Registration & participation

NHL player production

Cross-sport context

Demographics & geography

Tiers, clubs & governance

  • MyHockeyRankingsCompetitive tier placement of WA associations.
  • PNAHA — records & meeting minutesMembership roll & governance context.
  • Association websites & IRS Form 990 filingsClub enrollment figures where self-reported.
  • Google PlacesRink coordinates / locations.

NHL programs

Internal / proprietary

  • Seattle Jr. Kraken (KYHA) internal rostersPlayer heat-map ZIP data, 2025-26 — aggregated to ZIP counts; no personal data is stored or published.
  • KYHA internal enrollmentProgram/team counts on the Jr. Kraken tab.
Methodology notes. Figures carry mixed vintages where noted per tab. Map distances are great-circle (straight-line), not driving distance. "Neighborhood income" is the ZIP-area average AGI per tax return — a wealth proxy for the area, not individual families. Canada's two-year age divisions (U7/U9…) aren't identical to USA Hockey's brackets, so cross-comparisons align at the youth-total level. The player heat map uses only aggregated ZIP-level counts built from internal rosters — no individual records are committed or shown.
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Flagship — KYHA Member association Member team — IEAHA One Roof sport court
15+1
Member assocs + team
~1,080
KYHA registrants
6,110
WA youth players
12,993
WA total players
47%
Are youth (18U)