Philipp Grubauer

Philipp Grubauer Courtesy Seattle Kraken

On his instant affinity for Seattle

It’s like home. I grew up in Rosenheim, Germany. It’s close to the Alps, 20 minutes from the mountains, and we have a lot of lakes and vegetation. Everything here has the same beauty.

On the city’s love for hockey

It’s been absolutely incredible. There’s so much excitement around the Kraken and hockey in general, and that makes it fun for us to play.

On the joy of playing at Climate Pledge Arena and Kraken Community Iceplex

We’ve got brand-new facilities, and it’s unbelievable. During the playoffs last year, especially, we really got to experience the true Seattle fan base and how loud everything gets.

On handling high Stanley Cup expectations

We were a new team, and this group had never played together, so we had to make our own experiences and go through highs and lows in order to learn and improve and get better. Obviously, a lot was expected. But we were trying to create our own story as well.

On his favorite local restaurants

Como (1270 Carillon Pt, Kirkland; comousa.com) is one I love on the Eastside. And I’m a big sushi guy, so Sushi Kappo Tamura (2968 Eastlake Ave E; sushikappotamura.com) too.

On embracing Washington’s holiday traditions

I’m a big Christmas fan, so the tree goes up pretty early. I went up to Leavenworth (leavenworth.org) because everybody was talking about how it’s a Bavarian town, so that was the first trip I did to look at the Christmas lights and market.

On playing in the 2024 NHL Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park

That’s how the game originated, outside on a lake. We can’t play on a lake, but we can play outside and fill a whole stadium, and knowing Seattle fans, it’s going to be incredible. Also, as a baseball fan, being at T-Mobile Park (1250 First Ave S; seattlemariners.mlb.com) is pretty cool (nhl.com/kraken/fans/winter-classic).