Cardiac Cane
Fansided

Carolina Hurricanes: How to fill PNC Arena

By Omar Abdelgawad

RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 22: Carolina Hurricanes fans lights the arena in honor of Hockey Fights Cancer during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on November 22, 2017. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 22: Carolina Hurricanes fans lights the arena in honor of Hockey Fights Cancer during a game between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Rangers at the PNC Arena in Raleigh, NC on November 22, 2017. (Photo by Greg Thompson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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RALEIGH, NC – DECEMBER 3: Fans of the Carolina Hurricanes pose with Star Wars characters prior to an NHL game against the Florida Panthers on December 3, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC – DECEMBER 3: Fans of the Carolina Hurricanes pose with Star Wars characters prior to an NHL game against the Florida Panthers on December 3, 2017 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Carolinian Identity

The weirdest thing about the hurricanes is that they don’t feel like a North Carolina team. Stormy the mascot, which is a hog, was the first step towards gets a more NC feel. Hogs are local to NC, but are not a part of their identity. To their credit, the Canes have been pushing hard to give the Canes more of a NC feel. The homegrown series have been an excellent way to connect the team to the state and all that makes it Carolina. However outside of that, the game feels like a foreign experience, a cold weather sport, Canadians, Finns, and Northerners representing the home ice, and an experience that can be improved upon.

Let’s start with the Storm Warning Siren. Why is it only used at the beginning of the periods? Its an excellent identity piece for the south and should be used when scoring goals as well. If Columbus can fire a Cannon, we can make Goal scoring much more annoying and noisy for the visiting team. Its also time to change songs too. While the “Wooo” song is entertaining, it doesn’t do much for NC identity. There are a multitude of songs of all genres which speak of or originate from NC. Perhaps it’s time to for the Canes to prove that they are proud to represent the Carolinas in the NHL?

The Great Outdoors

FREDRIKSTAD, NORWAY – JANUARY 21: Players of Stjernen Hockey and Sparta Warriors shake hands during the 2017 GET-ligaen Winter Classic hockey game between Stjernen Hockey and Sparta Warriors on January 21, 2017 in Fredrikstad, Norway. (Photo by Ragnar Singsaas/Getty Images)
FREDRIKSTAD, NORWAY – JANUARY 21: Players of Stjernen Hockey and Sparta Warriors shake hands during the 2017 GET-ligaen Winter Classic hockey game between Stjernen Hockey and Sparta Warriors on January 21, 2017 in Fredrikstad, Norway. (Photo by Ragnar Singsaas/Getty Images) /

Another idea I saw bouncing around the twittersphere was the idea of an annual outdoor game between the Canes and the Preds. There are definitely enough stadiums and ballparks around both Raleigh and Nashville to accommodate an annual game played in each state intermittently. And perhaps it only gets cold enough to play this sort of game a small segment of the year which makes it a logistical nightmare. But we placed a man on the moon, we can figure this out too.

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