Celebrating the Carolina Hurricanes’ first Stanley Cup championship in 20 years, an estimated record-breaking crowd of 150,000 fans packed downtown Raleigh on Saturday for the team’s victory parade, according to The News & Observer.
Coach Rod Brind’Amour, who was the captain of Carolina’s only other Stanley Cup-winning team in 2006, was surprised by the overwhelming support from the team’s loyal fans.
“I’m in shock,” Brind’Amour said after the parade in North Carolina’s capital. “It doesn’t happen very often, but I’m just kind of speechless.”
Fans in droves arrived hours before the parade to line the route and find a spot near the stage for the rally that followed. Meanwhile, the players passed by on double-decker buses, with Brind’Amour riding along the route in a truck and waving to fans.
Donned in Hurricanes jerseys and waving flags, fans were still reveling in the team’s Cup victory over the Vegas Golden Knights last weekend.
“I was trying to explain to the fellas what I knew was going to happen,” said captain and Conn Smythe winner Jordan Staal. “And my expectations were so high because I know these Caniacs, I know what they’re all about, and I was still blown away. I couldn’t even describe how amazing that was.”
At the rally, Staal held the Stanley Cup high while the adoring crowd roared their approval. Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Martinook, among others, cranked the “Storm Warning” siren that also sounds when the team takes the ice before games in Raleigh.
“I did not expect that, for sure,” Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon said of the turnout. “Like, I didn’t know. That’s a lot of people. I was surprised. It’s, also, you know, seeing all the little kids, my guys up there with water guns, and all the little kids in front, thinking about how many people have this connection now and what that’ll mean for the future, is kind of what kind of will hit me.”
Taking a short break from the rally, Carolina took care of a piece of business as general manager Eric Tulsky signed forward Nicolas Deslauriers to a two-year, $1.75 million deal. Acquired at the trade deadline, Deslauriers was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
–Field Level Media
