Sweet Is The Memory. Our Staff Share Their Favorite Hurricane Memories
By Chris Baker
Is it a game you went to with your family? Meeting a favorite player? Catching a puck with your teeth in front PNC? Whatever it might be, everyone has a favorite Carolina Hurricanes memory. I polled our staff and collected their favorite Hurricanes memories.
Keith Preston- I have been a fan for only a few years I fear my scope is limited compared to most. My runner up memory is being at game 1 this year of the ECF. Being so tired and a weeknight and seeing just how many fans stayed and supported our team was incredible. Showed how awesome Caniacs are. My favorite sport event of all time is the Stadium Series game. I was at Fenway for an 18 inning Sox Yanks game, but this is by far my favorite sporting experience. Top 5 day of my life.
Avery Thomas-I have a few great memories. I remember in second grade, the Stanley Cup was brought to my elementary school and that was really cool. There’s a picture at home somewhere of my class with the Cup. Before Covid, me and my brother took our Nana to an open practice and she beelined down the stairs for the closest seats. We were telling her to slow down and one of my favorite pictures I have is Nana and I in our matching bunch of jerks shirts at the PNC Arena that day. Nana’s favorite player was Dougie Hamilton and I gave her a shirt with his name and number during the 2020 bubble games. I recorded her reaction (which was really cute, she was so excited) and shared it to r/canes on Reddit, and then the official team account reached out to me to say they wanted to send Nana a puck signed by him. By the way…they also said Dougie loved the video. Some time later, we got two pucks in the mail – one signed by Teuvo Teravainen and one signed by Dougie Hamilton. I said I’ll wear my Aho shirt with Nana, so I guess they misheard me and thought I said Teuvo, but it’s all good. Nana’s puck sits in its own display case. Nana unfortunately passed away last year, and it was very hard not watching games with her. I wish she could have gotten to go to one. My mom and I watch games together now to keep that special memory in place. Even though we lost the Eastern Conference Finals, staying up until 2 am to watch Game 1 with my mom was pretty awesome. I wish I could’ve gone to the Stadium Series game this year and hope there will be another one in the near future.
Harvey Ashner- I don’t really have just one overall, but some key memories I enjoyed. Watching Kochetkov in net and seeing his passion for the game. He became a fan favorite of mine. Watching him come and play in crucial moments when we needed him, and having that grit. It was fun to watch him get into it with Marchand. As upsetting as it was to not make it to the finals this past season, I really enjoyed the ride and effort of everyone trying to get there. After Svech got hurt, Teuvo, and Patches along with our goaltending situation I really didn’t know what to expect but I was pleasantly surprised by.
Ben Huffman- It might be a bit of a cop out, but I remember almost every detail of what it was like inside the RBC Center for Game 7 against Edmonton 17 years later. My mom and I were in the upper level right at center ice and, as it is often mentioned, we stood for every second of play. I did have to take a little bit of a break during the intermissions. Seeing Rod Brind’Amour hoist the Stanley Cup and hearing how loud the crowd was all night still stands out to me. Hopefully, we’ll get to experience it again.
Chris Baker-I have two great memories. It’s between going Game 7 against the Rangers in the ’22 playoffs, and the “Lemme Talk To Y’all” game back in the day. My hockey fairy godmother gave me two tickets to Game 7. I was so hyped I was watching Hurricanes games on YouTube at noon. Even though the Hurricanes lost it was so awesome to take a great friend to see the most intense hockey game either of us had been to. “Lemme Talk To Y’all” is a game of no great import except among my friends. We had been “in serious preparation” for the game for awhile. The group was playing our best by the time the puck dropped. At some point in the game, everyone was out in PNC’s concourse. We walk past a concession booth and one of the ladies in the booth yells “Lemme talk to y’all!” Everyone thinks this is gonna end up with all or most of us in the penalty box. Turns out for some reason, this kind soul had exactly enough orders of nachos for everyone in the group. FREE!! Those hit, and we skated to victory. I don’t know about the Canes, but we did for sure.
We’ve shared our memories, now it’s your turn to hit us up with your favorite memory!