Carolina Hurricanes: He’s No Gritty, but We Love Stormy the Ice Hog.

The Carolina Hurricanes haven’t had a home game in over a month thanks to COVID. But that hasn’t stopped Stormy from being in our lives.

As far as mascots go, having a pig be the mascot of a team that is named after a weather phenomenon is kind of strange. But for the state that loves BBQ, it’s perfect. The Carolina Hurricanes and Stormy the Pig go together like peanut butter and jelly.

So where did Stormy come from?

Stormy was “born” on October 10th, 1997. That marks the day of the first win for the Carolina Hurricanes Franchise after relocation from Hartford. He wears #97 to commemorate the relocation and the birth of the Carolina Hurricanes.

His actual debut predates this. There is a good reason for that and if you think Gritty’s debut was wild, wait until you read how they brought stormy out.

The Horrific Debut of Stormy the Ice Hog

Now, many readers have been around long enough to remember this fiasco. While Gritty was born out of the depths of Hell Philadelphia, the Carolina Hurricanes planned on bringing Stormy out from inside a Zamboni as it cleared the ice.

No that’s not a typo. But neither is it the craziest part of this story.

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In front of a Greensboro, NC preseason game attendance, Stormy the Pig, chosen to represent all the wonderful hog farmers around the state who deliver wonderful meat for the BBQ, was supposed to pop out of the Zamboni filled with dry ice to help keep the mascot cool.

But there was a slight problem that happens when you mix that dry ice with Zamboni fumes; you lose oxygen.

The man in the mascot outfit passed out and to the horror of the attendance, all they saw was two brown legs peeking out the back end of the Zamboni as it swept the ice. Luckily the man in the pig suit survived and made a full recovery.

Stormy had a second injury-free debut later in the season and we can all forget about this horrific idea.

Why Stormy rules over the other mascots

Since then he has gone through several remodels and went from a slightly scary looking pig to the big bright blue-eyed huggable and lovable ice hog we know today. Forget Gritty, Stormy is the best mascot in the league.

For starters, he is the only mascot in the league with a girlfriend. Sure they introduced Caroline as his “old friend from home”, but let’s be honest those two hogs are a thing. Every Valentine’s day since she was introduced Stormy has been keen on giving her flowers and chocolate. You don’t give that to a friend.

He also has an entourage that no other mascot has. Sure Gritty has his bodyguards or keepers. It’s still questionable if they are there to protect Gritty or to protect us from Gritty. Stormy on the hand has Caroline, Hamilton the Pig, and Pucky the Whale. It is a straight-up menagerie of mascot animals some nights at PNC. Sorry Gritty, but your bodyguards are kind of lame.

https://twitter.com/NHLStormy/status/1234192271899267072

Also, Stormy is the only mascot that a Kardashian has named their child after. Don’t look it up, just believe me.

What Stormy has been up to

Even this quarantine hasn’t stopped Stormy from his usual shenanigans.

Stuck at home with the rest of us, Stormy has been doubling down on the task of entertaining us. From TikToks dancing to celebrating puppy day, Stormy has taken to social media to give us the fix we need of the lovable ice hog:

There is nothing you can do that Stormy can’t do better. Hoverboard karaoke is one of them.

For a mascot that almost died inside a Zamboni before he was even born, Stormy has come a long way to the top of mascots across the league. We for one cannot wait for hockey to resume and for this lovable ice hog to come back to our lives!

Question for CC Readers: What is your favorite Stormy memory?