Having the distinction of scoring the first goal in Climate Pledge Arena history is an honor that will stay with Vince Dunn for the rest of his life. There are also some details about that famed goal the 24-year-old Seattle Kraken defenseman did not realize until it was brought to his attention.

Dunn’s goal came with the pomp and circumstance one would expect to encounter in an NHL arena. On cue, the Kraken’s in-game production department immediately blared the Washington State Ferry horn and followed it up by playing their goal song, the Nirvana classic “Lithium.” What was normal about that moment is that the arena’s public address announcer told the sold-out crowd who scored the goal along with who was credited with the corresponding assists.

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What made the experience unique and arguably overlooked was the fact a chord from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was plucked after each name. For example, Dunn’s name was read aloud and it was followed by the chords. Then, the assists from Adam Larsson and Joonas Donskoi were followed by the same chords but played at a higher pitch so it did not all blend together.

“I didn’t hear any music, to be honest, the whole game,” Dunn said. “I didn’t hear anything in warmups. I didn’t hear a goal horn when I scored. I am not sure if it was maybe them getting a feel for how loud they wanted to make it, but I could not hear anything but the crowd. I think having those things makes the game a little more interesting to watch and the crowd can play along with the different notes.

“Being in the game, you are not really searching for those things but for the momentum and emotion of the crowd, it is important for them to stay engaged.”

Those chords were heard quite a bit Tuesday when the Kraken captured their first home victory in a 5-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens. Here is an example from when Jordan Eberle scored the game-opening goal which was accompanied by assists by Alex Wennberg and Jamie Oleksiak.

And from the sounds of it, Dunn was not alone when it came to picking up on those subtle details.

“We hear the crowd a lot, but we don’t hear those little things,” Larsson said. “We’re in our own little zone, so, it’s kind of hard to focus on what is going on in the stands and whatnot. But sometimes, you can let those moments sink in a little bit and I think there were a lot of those moments that night.”

Larsson’s personality is one that is always relaxed. He remains that way when explaining how everything for the team starts in the dressing room. The entrance itself is a pair of frosted double doors featuring the Kraken logo that slides apart whenever someone is entering or exiting the room.

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He still remains chilled while continuing to talk about the behind-the-scenes of Climate Pledge Arena, but when he discusses the long hallway that takes the Kraken from their dressing room to the bench generates the most reaction. The hallway itself is a long, dark-colored entryway that has blue LED lights that illuminate the floor with white LED lighting panels that frame the space along with dark tinted floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

“It was really cool. Obviously, there are fans in here,” Larsson said.

Wait, what? There are fans behind those mirrors?

“There are some lounges and they bang the glass,” Larsson continued. “That really fires up the boys. It’s nice. I think they did a lot of things the right way where. You can see it is top-notch. It’s always lit up. Even for practice, it feels like you are making an entrance. It’s pretty cool.”

A glance inside one of those lounges reveals white LED lights inside trey ceilings with recess lighting all around. The non-windowed walls are a shiny, black tile that matches the black, leather furniture which appears it could sit at least eight people. It comes with a bar that has seating for five with a 70-inch HDTV that serves as one of the main attractions of the space.

If anyone would be an expert on unique features inside a new arena, it would be Larsson. He was with the Edmonton Oilers when Rogers Place first opened in 2016 and has since become one of the standards throughout the league. Larsson said the hallway that usually takes a team from their dressing room to the bench is generally just a concrete wall, and not anything more elaborate than that.

“It does not look like this in any other places,” Larsson said. “Not even in Edmonton.”

Even the space between the Kraken’s dressing room and their unique hallway entrance is something that adds a trendy yet practical feature that accommodates today’s player. Rubber flooring has become more popular in several arenas and training facilities across the NHL. The flooring allows coaches and players, who are still wearing their skates, more freedom to roam around those spaces without damaging their skate blades.

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The Kraken has between at least 30 yards of rubber flooring around their dressing room and hallway spaces that allow for more space.

Dunn said he had not yet been in the visitor’s dressing room, but imagined it must already be among the nicer ones in the league. In fact, one member of the Canadiens’ traveling party told The Athletic that they already considered Climate Pledge Arena to have the nicest visiting facilities in the NHL.

“I think you basically have a little, black mat that you walk out onto and just gray concrete floors underneath,” Dunn said. “Here, we have very detailed settings. We have handrails on the whole side here for people who might need assistance walking. We have all the details on the walls with the pictures. Different lights to kind of give you more of an exciting feel when you are walking down a hallway.”

As Dunn is explaining what makes their part of the arena unique, at least one set of the construction workers is walking past him. Seeing construction workers in hard hats and safety vests have become a frequent sight underneath the bleachers.

But why? Especially if Climate Pledge Arena is already completed? Many of the workers who are occupying those spaces are working to strengthen the infrastructure of certain parts of the building to make sure the arena is fully functional depending upon the situation. For example, there were several people walking around the event level earlier this week who were working on the building’s WiFi system.

Perhaps the most visibly active crews have done the most work in the stands near the Zamboni entrance. On Saturday, they were hammering away at seats in the final hours leading up to the home opener against the Vancouver Canucks. Since then, they have continued working on those stands from underneath. The arena has between 1,800 to 2,000 seats that can be adjusted to accommodate for a basketball game, hockey game or a concert. The seats themselves can be installed and removed while the bleachers they occupy can either retract or expand to fit the configuration needed for a specific event.

So who is the one Kraken player that might have the most insight on Climate Pledge Arena to this point? Try Joey Daccord.

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Daccord has been with the team for about a week since he was called up from the AHL after Chris Driedger sustained a lower-body injury that has continued to keep him out of the lineup. His role as Philipp Grubauer’s understudy has allowed him to take notice of a few items within the arena that have already made a massive impact as it relates to how he and Grubauer do their jobs.

And for him, the most unique feature within Climate Pledge Arena would be the dual scoreboards. Daccord said being a backup goaltender is all about how they can see the game while they are on the bench. If the game is on the near side of the bench, then, he can just watch what is in front of him. But if the game is on the far end, then, that is when Daccord and other goalies in his position rely on using the scoreboard to track what is happening.

“One of the things me and Grubi were talking about was that I love to watch the replays,” Daccord said. “When we score. When they score. When they show any my saves or any of Grubi’s saves.”

Hold on. Daccord actually wants to watch when the other team scores him? Why? Shouldn’t that be the other way around?

“Oh yeah!” Daccord said. “Because you can watch it, process it and then you can cleanse it. You can watch the goal. I got scored on. This happened. It went off this player and it went to this guy and then he scored and whatever happened. Then, I can get rid of it from my mind. If I don’t get to watch it, then maybe I think about it a little bit while the game is still happening. But if I can watch it before the puck drops, then you can clear it from your mind and move on to the next play and stop the next puck.”

But what makes that a bit more challenging at Climate Pledge Arena is indeed having two scoreboards. Daccord said having a traditional scoreboard suspended above center ice allows whoever is in the net a chance to simply look straight up at a massive scoreboard.

Climate Pledge Arena’s scoreboard situation, while different, does pose its challenges by comparison.

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“Here because it is pointed, you can’t watch,” Daccord said. “The near scoreboard is like too straight up and you can’t see it. The far one, you are looking at the points. So you can kinda see on an angle, but it’s different. I will say the picture quality is top-notch.”

Scoreboards, while important, were not the first items Daccord and Grubauer discussed when they first took the ice at Climate Pledge Arena.

The first thing the two goaltenders discussed was the lighting within the building. Retaining the historic side windows was already a unique touch considering practically every NHL arena relies upon artificial light. Having the windows exposed during the daytime on an overcast day allows for more light to enter the building in addition to the copious amount of artificial light which has already made an impact on the Kraken’s two goaltenders.

“It just makes everything easier when everything is more clear,” Daccord said of the lighting. “Some of the older buildings in the league, they’re a little bit darker and it is a little bit harder in just that micro-fraction of a second to pick (the puck) up. The puck is a small, little object. So when it is really bright and there is no issues with lighting, it makes it a little bit easier for us.”

Of course, those are the items that players have noticed within their respective parts of Climate Pledge Arena. But there are more details that others may have thought about or were not aware of. Rewind what Daccord said about the dual scoreboards. One feature they provide is a closed-caption ticker in bold white letters against a black backdrop that allows anyone who is hearing impaired to follow along from any place within the arena.

As for the windows? Most of the arena, including the event floor, is built underground. That means anyone who is watching from the open windows is able to view the game from above. Social media has already come up with a few nicknames for what the area should be called. Another name was floated around Tuesday when it was suggested that the terrace be called “Sea Level” given the team’s nautical theme.

Playing off their theme also allowed the Kraken to get creative in a few other areas. One of them being their on-ice crew and what they wore. The Kraken had the group don long-sleeved white shirts and blue waders with a wool beanie to create a look that is understood to pay homage to those who work at Pike Place Market, one of Seattle’s most well-known landmarks.

But having the ice crew dress like they work at Pike Place was only the beginning. The Kraken commemorated their first home-ice victory by having the three stars of the game toss stuffed fish into the crowd.

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Yes, you read that right. Instead of throwing a stick into the stands. They threw a stuffed toy fish into the stands.

“I think you just go out there and put a smile on your face and give it to one of the fans out there,” Kraken winger Brandon Tanev said. “They’ve been unbelievable for us thus far this season. We’ve seen the energy and the excitement in the building and we want to keep that going here.”

Grubauer had a bit more of an animated answer when asked about the Kraken’s newest postgame tradition.

“I was like, ‘Who came up with that?'” Grubauer said with a smile. “That was pretty funny. I’ve never seen that before. Obviously, the public market and you can tell the fish makes sense. It’s the first time not tossing a puck or a stick in the stands. It was a salmon. That was pretty fun.”

(Photo of Brandon Tanev throwing a stuffed fish into the crowd at Climate Pledge Arena: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)