A new era of hockey in the Carolinas
by MisterGrizz on Mar 15, 2010 11:58 AM EDT
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As a Canes fan and a Checkers fan since they returned to Charlotte in 1993, I have to say this -- With the Charlotte Checkers becoming the Canes' AHL affiliate next season, now all we have to do is convince someone to buy the Florida Everblades and move them to Greensboro (and preferrably rename then the Generals). Then, we would have a complete hockey system in NC. Not only would both affiliate teams be within 200 miles of Raleigh, but it would be geographically well laid out, giving pro hockey to everyone virtually state-wide.
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giving pro hockey to everyone virtually state-wide.
I guess only those west of I-95 count. The people on the coast wouldn’t know what a hockey puck was if hit em in the face. Screw em.
I’m joking obviously. I think the checkers are going to do alot to advance hockey in the state. Moving up from the ECHL to the AHL is a huge jump. This is probably the best move to grow hockey in the state the ’Canes have made. The Everblades moving to Greensboro maybe a stretch. But it would be pretty awesome if they did.
There are alot of reasons to be a excited about being a hockey fan in the ol’ north state.
how about Columbia SC
move them there
make a triangle
cola to charlotte to Raleigh
While in Principal
Mr. Griizz you have an make excellent points…but it is my understanding , and i maybe very well be wrong, but i was under the impression that the Everblades were owned in part or % by Mr. karmanos…or maybe it was the rink…but never the less, bring them or any other echl team to greensboro with the economy as it is with no entrenched fan base like there is say in Albany…it would be a very hard sell…now when the generals were there i did and was able to go a 12 games…but due to health concerns they were intermitten trips to Greensboro…now i will be waiting to see what the prices will be…and i will commit to get at least a flex type package especially if a vast majority of what current rats players there currently are do make the trip down from Albany this summer..they are and would be a well known commodity…but again like many others we all just have to wait and see…thanks for lewtting me have my say…
Relax !! Even Micro Wave Popcorn takes time !! Go Canes !!
As someone that went to many Raleigh IceCaps games and never thought hockey would grow more than that – I am VERY pleased with how the sport is growing in NC!
Thank you Mr. Karmanos!
So True
I was raised on IceCaps hockey, and remember not understanding why my Dad, being from boston would tell me this is not a hockey market, that we would never have an NHL team in Dorton Arena, which as a kid felt like a giant place….I can hear the Dorton Arena cowbells still.
Hockey has more than exploded in this area, and I think is due in a large part to families like mine who are transplants from northen areas that are steeped in hockey tradition already. It makes for more away fans at our home games too, but I personally love it when a regular season home game has the feel of a playoff game.
I am looking forward to having the chance to go see our prospects in a home game setting, instead of being a visiting fan in other teams venues.
North Carolina has good things on the horizon regarding hockey growth and banners to hang in the RBC.
by camwardsaysno on Mar 16, 2010 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions
Thats not to say all caniacs are transplants by any means though. I was born in Western Mass but I was raised here and am a 100% card carrying caniac.
This team and fanbase would not be the same if it were anywhere else in my mind. I love the melting pot that is caniac nation!
by camwardsaysno on Mar 16, 2010 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions
hehe – good clarification – my family has been in NC since 1780 – can’t get much more local than that. But I think you’re right, having a good number of folks from the north helped get things started.
Even though secretly I wish all y’all would leave and give me back my sleepy, quiet, no traffic, tons of trees (must they clear cut everything???) small town. :0)
haha, I wish we could leave…but all this talk about the south rising again we have to come down and here make sure it doesnt happen ;)
by camwardsaysno on Mar 16, 2010 12:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Have to weigh in here, another North Carolina native. My grandfather’s family came here as part of the Jamestown settlement, I’m not sure exactly when they made their way here so not sure I can beat Cyn’s record of 1780, but my ancestors did fight on behalf of NC in the War of Northern Aggression so it’s been awhile.
I don’t know anyone who grew up around me that wasn’t a fan of sports, whether it was American Legion baseball, ACC basketball, NASCAR, golf at the GGO or Pinehurst, Stonybrook Steeplechase. If it was a competition we watched it and if we were good enough we tried to play it.
I think hockey is a perfect fit for North Carolinians. It’s a beautiful sport to watch (the combination of speed, skill, and athleticism just blows me away), the players aren’t too highfalutin for our genteel southern sensibilities, it’s reasonably priced so the whole family can enjoy it. What’s not to love?
Apropos of nothing but I’d like some of the trees back too.
Sees the world through ruuu-colored glasses...
Sisu
by Jamie Kellner on Mar 17, 2010 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions
+1 You said what I wanted to say, but much more eloquently.
Jamestown Settlement (in VA) was in 1607, so that beats my family. I was Tarheel Jr Historian of the Year in 8th grade, though.
i've got both of you two beat
i am native american…end of story
Ice Caps Hockey
I loved the Ice Caps and hockey at the Dorton Arena. I had never seen live hockey before the Ice Caps (hockey was hardly even on tv in South Carolina). Hockey really gets into one’s blood and is one of the most amazing sports to follow. Now to get 5,000 more STHs and have the Hurricanes become a full salary cap team. We need to be able to keep all the talent the organization has managed to bring to Carolina.
Homegrown fandom
Born and bred in North Carolina, although elskling has lived…well, damn near everywhere. :-D
We picked the sport to follow as a “designer sport” when they first began playing in the ESA (now the RBC Center), mostly because it fit our “designer” criteria:
- indoors, so climate controlled (with tailgating opportunities)
- close by (we live 6 miles away via local roads)
- predictable time period for the game (’cept for playoff triple-overtime games!)
- non-stop action to satisfy our recognized need for vast amounts of sensory input at all times (LOL!)
In a true “you’ll know when you go” spirit, we were quickly hooked and became STH’s midway through our first season since we found ourselves going to every game anyway.
I believe it is the transfer of ACC-trained fandom that fuels Caniac Nation and that it has become a source of regional unity in a geographic setting that sometimes leads to divergent interests.
That’s a good way to put it. Growing up I enjoyed watching hockey during the Olympics, but mainly was amazed by the skating ability. When the IceCaps came to Raleigh we went to the games as just another thing to do for entertainment, more than as a hockey fan.
That changed when the Hurricanes came to town. The first season in Greensboro, we went to support the team both as a fans and as an investment to make sure they stuck around. It wasn’t until recently that I could afford season tickets, but now I’m hooked. I almost go into depression when the season ends.
I agree that ACC fandom has fueld the Caniac Nation. I mean – I lived through the 1983 NCSU basketball journey to the NCAA Championship. Totally prepared me for the ’Canes playoff runs.
I think yall are right about the ACC trained fandom...
So much emotion goes into ACC Basketball around here, its nice that the ‘Canes can unite the fans of the area. It’s the only time I give people a pass on being a Duke fan,lol.
by CarolinaCanes on Mar 17, 2010 7:59 AM EDT up reply actions
There’s also the ECHL team that’s going to Greenville, SC (2 hours from Charlotte) next season. I’m not sure who they’ll be affiliated with, but I know it’s not the ‘Canes. If they’re looking to change ECHL affiliates I’m sure that’ll be a target. And as someone who spends a lot of time in those two cities, I am very, very happy that I’ll get to watch some ‘Canes and that G’vill is getting hockey back. Horay for southern hockey!
Cool. good news for the new “Hockey Triange”. This will only help. Its been an amazing 12 or 13 years for hockey in the Carolinas and it looks to be even more so in the next.
by CarolinaCanes on Mar 15, 2010 7:11 PM EDT up reply actions
I hope they can create a HNIC schedule for next year
HNIC is Hockey Night in Carolina.
meaning schedule a lot weekend games for the ’Canes, Checkers, down in Greenville and Fayetteville and Charleston all the other teams that are local to them.
As a Damned yankee
as in one who came & stayed :) i grew up in Chicago and watch hockey at the old Chicago Stadium with my grandfather many a game. so it was only fitting that as i could walk i got my first pair of hockey skates as grandpa said figure skates was fer…well you get the point. I played in many city & county leagues through grade & high school and was a fair defencemen…never had the bug to want to go to college and play hockey even though i had always wanted to be a NHL referee. did alot of local and in state youth league whistle blowing and after 2 years of i earned the orange arm bads…had a good time but life got in the way, i got married worked full time and went to college full time as well while my wife went to college too… so the only time hockey was ever allowed in was whn i had to work traffic control around the same old stadium…now many years & seasons later…while the game of hockey has changed ( some for the better and yet to better improve) most of the changes have been positive. Players were no longer slaves to owners and teams unless they chose to do so. What i don’t see as much as i used to but it is still there…is the fire in a players eyes and while if we were to look honestly at what top stars were paid and treated in the late 1950’s & 1960’s compared to what they get today…many of the old timers who played far more hurt & injured than todays players do, but they did it not for the money …but many did it because of the love they had for the game…now i am being realistic…and yes sadly i saw things and players play that could have died on the ice for even being there as just the wrong hit the wrong way…and they were done…now all of us here can prety much name pretty much many current or recent NHL Players who did more than once suck it up and took just one for the team…yet and again while there are still players who live for the game…the numbers are shrinking…those are the kinds and types of players i have or don’t put faith in…but that’s just me and my opinion…after all i am just an old hockey fan and can remember when Godie howe and Bobby hull still had all of their teeth and just 1 scar each on thier faces…what would i know ? be safe everyone…
Relax !! Even Micro Wave Popcorn takes time !! Go Canes !!
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