The Canes absolutely demolishing playoff viewership for the NHL is MASSIVE for getting an MLB team in Raleigh
Entire city is flooded with watch parties everywhere you look. Special. I’m sure Manfred is watching very closely.
Richard Jefferson noted that Charles Barkley was screaming in celebration when the Hurricanes won Game 2.
Chuck: "I'm all in on the Hurricanes. I went to the sportsbook before I left Arizona (and) put a big number on it, Shaq."
Mike Breen gave some high praise for Sean McDonough’s call last night coming out of the commercial break.
Tim Legler also mentioned that Charles Barkley jumped out of his seat at dinner last night when the Canes scored the game-winning goal.
Sidelines in Buffalo (great sports bar) with a very pro Carolina crowd here celebrating the win. The Golden Knights really are the heel in every other market.
At the gas station with my Canes shirt, Canes car flags, and license plate cover and this guy suddenly peeks his head around the pump to say “I really hope the canes win, I can’t stand Mitch marner” 😭😭 never in my LIFE have I experienced this much Canes love in the GTA🥲
Hearing #mnwild pending unrestricted free agent Marcus Johansson, coming off a real solid season, has signed a contract to return to Sweden and play back with Farjestad
Forever, I’ve said the loudest sports arena I’ve ever been in was the old Chicago Stadium. After these first 2 #StanleyCup games in Raleigh, I might have to rethink that. My ears still hurt!
USA. A potluck. Everyone brings one dish. I have never been so out of my depth in my life.
I was invited to a gathering. "Just bring a dish to share," they said. Simple words. I did not sleep for three days.
Because I understood instantly what this was. A summit. Every guest, a lord of their own house, arriving bearing tribute. And tribute is judged. Tribute is ranked. To bring the wrong dish to the wrong table is to fall in standing before your peers, possibly forever.
So I prepared. I made my finest dish. I carried it to the door with two hands and a straight back, braced for the weighing of my worth.
The first lord arrived with a bowl of orange powder noodles. Macaroni and cheese. The crowd roared. He set it down at the center of the table. The CENTER. I noted this. The center is the seat of power.
The second lord brought a tower of small brown meat orbs in red sauce. "Meatballs," he announced, like a man laying down a sword. They were placed beside the macaroni. A strong showing. An alliance, perhaps.
I studied the table like a battlefield map. Potato salad: defensive, reliable, old money. A vegetable tray, untouched, clearly a hostage offering no one expected to win. And then a woman walked in, raised a flat box overhead, and the entire room turned and CHEERED.
Pizza. She had brought pizza. Store-bought. Still in the box.
I was stunned. She had not even cooked it. And yet the people rejoiced as if a king had entered. I revised my entire understanding of the hierarchy on the spot. Effort means nothing here. Only the roar of the crowd decides rank.
I placed my dish down, humbly, near the napkins. A peasant's position. I accepted it.
And then a man tapped my shoulder, pointed at my dish, and said the words that changed everything.
"Whoa, did you make this? This is amazing. Everybody, you GOTTA try this guy's thing."
The room turned. The room came. The room ATE. My dish vanished in ninety seconds. The pizza woman herself took a second helping and looked at me with respect.
I had won the summit. By accident. With a dish I placed by the napkins.
I understand nothing about this country. I have never been happier. I am hosting the next one.
So tell me, America.
Is there a system to the potluck? A secret rank? A hidden law?
I have decided there is not.
You just bring the thing you love, and everyone eats it, and somehow everybody wins.
It is the most insane way to hold a war.
I will fight in every single one.
We fully understand this series is far from over, but what the Canes/Raleigh/Triangle/NC have shown in the last month is moving the needle.
✅ Viewership records/high marks for EVERY series. Two of those were also against Canadian teams, meaning NC is doing heavy lifting to still hit numbers.
✅ Gary Bettman (NHL Commissioner) on Tom Dundon (MLBR lead investor); “There’s no doubt of his commitment to the game. He’s been great for us.”
✅ Tickets are more sought after than NBA Finals. Multiple 1k+ person watch parties around the City.
✅ Repeated mentions of Lenovo being the loudest barn in the League. Hockey/sports personalities consistently referencing the environment and rabid fandom.
✅ Projections for champions’ merch would be top-tier for Fanatics.
✅ The State of North Carolina increasing interest in buying into a future franchise.
✅ Tailgate scene, three hours before a game, rivaling all of the NHL and maybe even MLB. (We know how to party.)
We’ve caught lightning in a bottle with success on and off the ice. Take that same population, TV market(s), intense fandom, win now owner and love of the game and it’s becoming clearer and clearer that @MLB is going to love a NC addition. #MLB2NC #RaleighOnDeck
What a game.
Carolina’s power play comes alive. Seth Jarvis awakens. #SoundTheSiren earn the split - and we’ve got a heck of a series.
The first #StanleyCup Final ever that opens with multi-goal comeback wins by each team.
Jordan Staal said "the building got going", igniting the #Canes' rally.
"It's a tough building to play in when it gets going like that, and the boys started to feel pretty good about themselves. I'm just proud of the group for staying with it, being patient, and finding a way."
82 YEARS!
Carolina became the first team since the 1944 Canadiens to win a Stanley Cup Final game after trailing by multiple goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation 😳
The Hurricanes' 13th postseason win this year is tied for the most wins by any team in their first 15 games to begin a postseason, along with the 2022 Avalanche, 2012 Kings, 1988 Oilers, 1987 Oilers and 1981 Islanders.
All 5 previous teams won the Stanley Cup Final 👀