The Carolina Hurricanes were rocking the house.

Once the red-shirted stepchild of college football and basketball in the Triangle, the Hurricanes are now the most exciting ticket in town. I go to a Canes game or two every season, usually against the Boston Bruins, and Thursday night was a real show at PNC Arena.

The Canes set a franchise record by winning their sixth straight game to open a season. And despite too many turnovers and penalties, they just about humiliated the mighty Bruins, 3-0, with whom they have built a playoff rivalry over the last few years.

An enthusiastic near full house rocked to the aggressive game that saw the Bruins outshoot the home team but fail to get the puck into the net, thanks mostly to a great effort by Carolina’s journeyman goaltender Freddie Anderson, who registered 33 saves and stopped a couple of dead red shots on goal.

If you don’t like loud, pounding music and almost non-stop promotions on the ice during timeouts and in the stands, pro hockey is not the way to spend an evening. But the Hurricanes faithful, which has grown steadily over the years with transplants who have abandoned their childhood teams, has nurtured a high-energy fan base that, frankly, can’t be touched by the college programs that spend most of their timeouts paying homage to themselves.

Canes Coach Rod Brind’Amour has built a roster to embrace his style of play. Even when his team is short-handed, as it was 6 times and once by two men, the Canes play hard-hitting hockey the fans love and celebrate with the players’ Storm Surge on ice after wins.

The team’s front office also gets into the social media fray, recently trolling the Montreal Canadiens after beating them, only to have their site hacked amid controversy. So it’s clear the Canes believe in wide-open promotion, as well.

Whether they are true Stanley Cup contenders remains to be seen. Their schedule will eventually stiffen after their next three games against the winless Chicago Black Hawks and Arizona Coyotes.

But they’re talented, from young superstar Sebastian Aho to grizzled veteran Jordan Staal. And there is no doubt they are here to stay and want to raise a second Stanley Cup in their near future.

 

Photo via AP Photo/Chris Seward.

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