Canes Amped to Play in Front of Fans at PNC Arena

For the first time in over a calendar year, the Carolina Hurricanes will have fans back in PNC Arena.
It will be just 15% of the building's capacity - close to 3,000 fans to watch the
Canes face off against the Red Wings
- but even that is going to make a noticeable difference in game atmosphere compared to the artificial hum that's become commonplace in the last calendar year.
"It's not a full building that we love to play in front of, but any sort of atmosphere is something you can build off of," said Jordan Martinook, the team's noted hype man. "It gives you a little more energy. Just to have that little bit of buzz in the building is something you can't replicate or take for granted."

Arenas around the NHL have slowly begun to host a limited number of fans as COVID-19 vaccines continue to roll out. The Canes have played in front of small crowds in Dallas, Florida and Nashville already.
The last time the Canes played in front of a partial home crowd was on Friday, Feb. 28. It's been a while - 370 days, to be exact.
"When you don't have any fans, there's not much energy, but we try to get ourselves going," Andrei Svechnikov said. "It's going to be so much fun because you are going to see them and hear them."
PNC ARENA FAN SAFETY GUIDELINES
It's a beautiful spring-like day outside PNC Arena - the sun in shining, there's no chance of rain in the forecast (finally) and temperatures are hovering in the mid-60s - but current NHL protocol prohibits tailgating, a staple of the game experience in Raleigh.
"[My dad] lives for the tailgating. That's what makes hockey here so cool," Martinook said. "The entire parking lot is full, people are honking their horns and playing games - I just remember the energy it gave me driving in."
Tailgating will return at some point in the future, and crowd size will continue to grow until one day PNC Arena is full again.
Until then, even having a fraction of a full building will provide a roar that the Canes haven't heard in quite some time.
They're amped and ready. Are you?
"The plays that get cheers - like a clear on a penalty kill, a blocked shot or a big hit - those are the ones you miss the fans for. The goals are the goals. You get the goal horn and everybody cheers, but it's those little plays that almost hurt a little bit that the fans pull you through it," Martinook said. "I'm fully expecting the Caniacs to be screaming as loud as they can tonight."
And what about the Storm Surge?
"Watch the game," Martinook teased.