RALEIGH, N.C. - Training camp has finally arrived for the Carolina Hurricanes, but the ice at the arena looked more like a movie set than a hockey rink earlier this week. Between the massive LED wall, stadium lighting, multi-camera setup, fog machines and more, you'd be forgiven for thinking 'Raleighwood' had become more than just a nickname - and that was just the on-ice set at the team's 2024 media day event.
"I look at it like Christmas," said Senior Director of Creative Services Cato Cataldo. "We have all our toys to play with, and now we can start to build everything that the fans will see throughout the year.”
This year's media day actually took place over a span of three days, where Cataldo and the Canes' creative crew were once again tasked with capturing a season's worth of content for various departments and partners before the first puck even drops.
Day one sees players arrive to the arena in staggered time slots before moving from station to station, posing for photos in Canes merchandise in one area before competing in tailgate games in the next, followed by interviews, in-game videoboard messages and more in their remaining stops.
All in all, it's about a five-hour process to get through the off-ice needs for the bulk of the roster.
“Monday is our ‘fun day.’ Monday is where we have the guys come through in their street clothes and we’ll get them in some Canes (retail) gear and they’ll make their way around to different stations basically just showing their personality and having fun," said Cataldo.
"The goal there is either to set them up to be competitive and chirp each other or show their camaraderie. We just want to set them up to be themselves – this is a really fun group, the guys are so close, so Monday is a lot of fun.”