A former Carolina Hurricane is rarely given a cold reception. There are some obvious exceptions, but the Caniacs are often fond of the players who've worn the Canes' crest. We'll talk about a few of them over the next few days that are of a higher profile, but this incident was a bit of a flash in the pan. The hatred was short-lived, but it's worth remembering.
The 2018 Draft was a big one for the Carolina Hurricanes. They moved up in the lottery and won the chance to select Andrei Svechnikov with the second pick on the first day. On Day 2, the Canes swung a huge deal, sending former first-round picks Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin to the Calgary Flames for Dougie Hamilton, Micheal Ferland, and Adam Fox.
Selected fifth overall in 2013, Lindholm never quite blossomed with the Hurricanes. In five seasons, he never hit 20 goals and never had more than 45 points. He was by no means a bad player. He was just stuck on some bad Hurricanes teams. A change of scenery was exactly what he needed, tearing it up with the Flames almost immediately.
The reception wasn't warm from the Caniacs in 2019
February 3, 2019, was a big night for returns. Along with Lindholm and Hanifin, Derek Ryan and former head coach Bill Peters were doing the same after stints with Carolina. The Flames owned the best record in the West, while the Hurricanes were clinging to the final spot in the East. Lindholm rolled into the contest with a nine-game point streak, posting 59 points in 52 games.
It was a good night for the former Hurricanes on the Flames' roster. Lindholm extended his point streak to ten games with a goal on the power play in the first period, Derek Ryan scored a goal and an assist in the second, and Hanifin notched the game-winning goal in the third. The Flames held on for a 4-3 victory at PNC Arena, backed by a 34-save performance from David Rittich.
When the horn sounded, the Flames surrounded their goalie, but all eyes shifted to one of the former Canes. While in line to congratulate Rittich, Lindholm was mockingly doing the Skol clap, and the fans didn't like it. As they had when the team welcomed him back during the game, the fans booed Lindholm for making a mockery of the Storm Surge. It didn't matter because Lindholm's team won.
Tensions were already pretty high leading into the trade in 2018. Lindholm and the Hurricanes failed to agree on a long-term deal. With it clear that Lindholm didn't want to be with the Canes for the foreseeable future, they pulled the trigger on a trade, and it worked out well for both teams, though it didn't lead to a Stanley Cup for either.
Lindholm admitted in an interview the following season that if he could go back in time, he probably wouldn't have done it. By all accounts, it's not the type of player that he is, and he said as much. Tensions were high, and he did something in the heat of the moment. It was a one-time thing. Fortunately, I think the fans remembered that, too.
Playing his best hockey with the Flames, Lindholm set his career-high in goals and points in 2018-19, only to fly past both in 2021-22, scoring 42 goals and 82 points. He was traded to the Canucks in 2024 before signing with Boston in free agency that summer. While he's back East, the Caniacs don't seem to hold the same visceral feelings for him as they did in 2019.
This was a short-lived "feud" between the fans and a former Hurricane, though it appears to be in the past now. There might be a few sore feelings from a select few, but we forgive and forget. The Storm Surge, in all its glory, is an easy thing to mock, and Lindholm was within his rights to do what he did. His team won that night. It's all water under the bridge now.
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