Noah Hanifin was the 17th all-time All-Star selection for the Carolina Hurricanes, continuing the team’s appearance streak in the ASG to four years.
As the 2018 NHL All-Star Weekend came and past, it’s a great time to look at the past participants with the Carolina Hurricanes. This team had he 21-year-old star defenseman Noah Hanifin participating, as a first-time selection, there’s a lot of excitement from the fan base surrounding this year’s All-Star festivities.
Hanifin got to participate in Jan. 27 Skills Competition, in the race for the fastest skater in the league. Sami Kapanen was once a Cane that won the event, and they have a few different players in the roughly two decade long history of the franchise that took part.
In total, 11 Canes played in at least one NHL All-Star Game, since the franchise moved to North Carolina in 1998. Geoff Sanderson just missed the cut, by making the 1997 NHL All-Star Game with the Hartford Whalers.
Another recognizable Canes legend that participated in the festivities as a Whaler is current general manager Ron Francis. As an NHL legend and Hockey Hall-of-Fame inductee, Francis surprisingly never got the honor of playing in a single All-Star Game as a member of the Canes. Considering he was either selected to play in or actually suited up with four All-Star Teams, it seems off that he never had that same honor while playing in Raleigh.
The fact that the Canes have possibly the smallest fan base in the NHL, by this point, the abundance of recent All-Star selections is unexpected. Carolina is in the midst of a nearly decade long playoff drought (officially would become 10 years if there’s no playoff hockey in Raleigh by April 2019). The spotlight on the organization is much dimmer than from 2002-2009.
A good portion of the Canes on this list took part in multiple All-Star Games. With the 2018 NHL All-Star Game officially concluded after an exciting weekend, here’s every player to ever represent the Carolina Hurricanes in this historic event in the world of hockey.