Carolina Hurricanes: 5 NC teams that should host a hockey night

With the Carolina Hurricanes partnering with the Durham Bulls for the upcoming “Bunch of Jerks” night, what other North Carolina teams should look to partner with the Hurricanes for a hockey night?

North Carolina is a hot bed for sports and not enough people are talking about it. There are major and minor league teams all over the state. Ranging from baseball to soccer to hockey and everything in-between. Many of them are bringing home championships as well.

Recently, one of the state’s most beloved baseball teams, the Durham Bulls announced that “Bunch of Jerks” night will be held on August 23rd at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. This comes on the heels of their second Stranger Things night. With people still riding high off success of the Carolina Hurricanes success last season, this will for sure be a home run for the Bulls.

There are some major names in North Carolina sports. As well as some smaller ones. Who should look into hosting their own hockey night along side the Carolina Hurricanes. I will be omitting other hockey teams from this list.

Charlotte Hornets

North Carolina’s third major sports franchise is another obvious choice. I’ve been a fan of this franchise since I was a little kid when they first came into the league as the Bobcats so this would be a dream come true for me. Those Hurricanes themed jerseys would be absolutely beautiful too.

Also, as much as I hate to admit it, the Hornets need all the help they can get right now. They just lost arguably the best player in franchise history, Kemba Walker, during free agency. They’ve also struggled with attendance over the last few years. Last season they ranked 23rd in the league averaging just over 16,000 fans when the Spectrum Center holds over 19,000.

On a more positive note, it would be a sight to see if during halftime if Stormy challenged Hornets owner and greatest NBA player ever, Michael Jordan to a game of horse. As much as I love Stormy, I’d still put my money on Jordan.

But what about more baseball?

Carolina Mudcats

The Carolina Mudcats have been a staple of North Carolina baseball for years. They had success in their original incarnation before the move to Pensacola back in 2012. The current version of the team has had their share of success as well both the Mudcats and Kinston Indians.

The Carolina Hurricanes and Carolina Mudcats have history.  They hosted a “Cats ‘n Canes” night before at Five County Stadium so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for it to happen again. It would be nice to see these two storied North Carolina franchises get together for a night of baseball and hockey once again.

Appearances by the Storm Squad, Stormy and Canes players would be an absolute delight to see. Plus, how cool would it be if they were to get head coach Rod Brind’Amour to throw out the first pitch?

How about soccer? That’s another growing sport in Carolina:

North Carolina Courage

North Carolina’s women’s soccer team might not be a household name but that shouldn’t mean a thing. They are an incredibly fun and talented team to watch. They also won the 2018 NWSL championship, the inaugural women’s International Champions Cup, and back to back NWSL shield titles (best regular season record). And they were only founded in January of 2017.

The success this team is having is amazing to watch. At the time of writing this article, they currently sit in 2nd place in the NWSL, just one point behind the Portland Thorns.  Attacker, Lynn Williams, is also leading the league in both assists and shots. With the US women’s national team recently winning their 4th FIFA World Cup, more eyes than ever will be on the world of women’s soccer.

This team is not getting the attention they deserve. The success of the national team will bring in more people for sure. A hockey night with their Wake county neighbors could also help bring in people and help them make some new fans, if their overwhelming success hadn’t made them a fan already like it has for me.

On to the biggest fish in this pond:

Carolina Panthers

This is a no brainier. The Carolina Panthers are the biggest professional sports franchise in North Carolina. The two time NFC champions would be hard pressed not to bring the Hurricanes up to Charlotte for a night celebrating the two biggest names in North Carolina professional sports.

Stars Christian McCaffrey, Luke Kuechly, and head coach Ron Rivera all served as siren sounders during the Hurricanes playoff run. Even though I’m not a Panthers fan, it would be cool seeing guys like Jordan Martinook or Dougie Hamilton  returning the favor and sounding the drum at the game.

Bank of America Stadium can hold over 75,000 people. That would be a tremendous opportunity to raise money for a good cause. Also, with that many people, a Panthers version of the greatest celebration in sports, the Storm Surge, would be pretty cool if they were to win the game.

What NC teams would you like to see host their own hockey night with the Hurricanes?