Hurricanes set for Stadium Series spotlight in their 1st outdoor game

The Carolina Hurricanes have long envisioned themselves playing under the spotlight and amid the excitement that an NHL outdoor game can bring. That dream will finally become a reality when they host the Washington Capitals in the Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, SN360, TVAS2).

The NHL's 37th outdoor game will be a celebration of the uniqueness of Carolina hockey, featuring a college game-day atmosphere complete with tailgating, a marching band, and a sellout crowd of about 57,00 at North Carolina State's football home.
"It's fun to do things that are a little different, a new life experience," Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon said. "So, I think that's the most interesting thing is doing something different, and it fits well for our market between the tailgating and the college football to be able to do it right there in your parking lot. So, it's just something interesting and different."
The Hurricanes will be the NHL's 28th team to play in an outdoor game, and it will be one of the highlights of their 25th anniversary season. A journey that began when the Hartford Whalers moved to North Carolina and became the Hurricanes in 1997 included the first two seasons in Greensboro Coliseum while they awaited the completion of their current home, PNC Arena, across the parking lot from Carter-Finley Stadium.
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There have been some ups and downs along the way. Carolina reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2002 before losing to the Detroit Red Wings and defeated the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup in 2006. Hard times followed, and the Hurricanes missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in nine straight seasons from 2009-10 to 2017-18, but they have experienced a renaissance since Rod Brind'Amour, captain of their 2006 Stanley Cup team, took over as coach to begin the 2018-19 season.
Carolina (36-10-8) is in first place in the Metropolitan Division and headed toward qualifying for the fifth straight season.
"Just seeing the growth of the team and the organization from kind of where it was to where it is now, I just think it's special," said Brind'Amour, who was traded to the Hurricanes during the 1999-2000 season, their first in Raleigh. "It's special to be a part of something you see that can really compete with the top people on a regular basis, and I think we've done that the last few years, and be sustainable. And I think it's all about the young players you bring in, management has done a phenomenal job, and say what you want about Tom Dundon and this and that, [but] that's the reason we're even having this conversation because of what he's done to that franchise."
When Dundon acquired a majority stake in the Hurricanes from Peter Karmanos on Jan. 11, 2018 (he became full owner June 30, 2021), they had fewer than 5,000 season ticket holders and their average attendance had dropped to 11,776 (capacity of 18,680) in 2016-17. Since then, Carolina has nearly tripled its season ticket base and was averaging 18,505 in attendance (99 percent capacity) prior to hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Bringing an outdoor game to Carolina became a focus almost immediately after Dundon took controlling ownership because he felt the market needed a jump-start. The Hurricanes had hosted the 2004 NHL Draft and the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, but an outdoor game is a much larger undertaking.
"We needed to do things different," Dundon said. "If you think back five years ago, the previous eight or 10 years it wasn't very interesting to be a Carolina Hurricanes fan. For me, if you're going to ask people to support your team and your players and spend their money, they've got to get something for that. … Then, I was always confident that by the time we got it, the team would be good. It never crossed my mind that we weren't going to be a good team, so it felt like if we got an event like this, our fans would support it."
Dundon was so confident an outdoor game in Carolina would be a success that in his first pitch to the NHL he offered to underwrite any financial losses the League incurred if it wasn't.
"In the end, they didn't take me up on that, but to make sure we got it, I was willing to do it," Dundon said. "I think practical truth is the League is not going to do something they don't believe is going to be successful. So, maybe in hindsight, me being willing to do that, given I have more information than them about our market, maybe that gave them a little more confidence that it would work out this way. But they got to the same conclusion we did and awarded us the game, so it all worked."
The Hurricanes were originally slated to host the Stadium Series in 2020-21, but with that season shortened and played with limited attendance because of the pandemic, it was pushed back to this season. Dundon's belief was quickly proven justified when Carolina sold out its initial allotment of 18,680 tickets (capacity for PNC Arena) within three hours. The Hurricanes had sold more than 30,000 tickets by early October, and the event went on to be one of the fastest sellouts among the NHL's outdoor games, according to NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer.
"The enthusiasm for the game is great," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. "Steve is going to outdo himself with the event group as he always does, and we're excited to be going there. This is a franchise under Tom Dundon that clearly has been on the rise both on and off the ice. It's great to see."
Though Karmanos no longer owns the Hurricanes, he is excited as anyone to see the market get and sell out an outdoor game. He took the initial leap of faith 26 years ago by choosing Raleigh, where a new arena was being built for North Carolina State's basketball teams, as the franchise's eventual new home after also considering Columbus, St. Paul, Kansas City and San Diego.
Columbus (Blue Jackets) and St. Paul (Minnesota Wild) would get NHL expansion teams that began play in 2000-01, but Karmanos was intrigued by the potential of the Raleigh area, which supported NCAA teams at North Carolina State, North Carolina and Duke, but had none in professional sports.
"We had the market exclusively to ourselves and what we do with that will determine the success of the team," Karmamos said. "And it was true with Raleigh. If you look at the building now with a really good team and they've done a remarkable job, it's filled every night. … So, I'm very proud of the market. I'm very proud of the job that was done there."
In fact, with the success of the Stadium Series ticket sales, the Carolina market has exceeded even Karmanos' expectations. When the NHL began scheduling more outdoor games following the success of the inaugural NHL Winter Classic in 2008, Karmanos remembers talking with then-general manager Jim Rutherford about whether an outdoor game could work there.
"We discussed whether we should apply for one of those games and we just didn't think it would be successful at that time," Karmanos said. "Our worry was whether or not we'd be able to sell enough tickets. So, I'm very, very pleased we were able to sell out this game so quickly."
The game Saturday will be the main event capping two days of activities. Friday will feature the Carolina Hurricanes Fan Fest presented by UNC Health, with food trucks, live music, fireworks and the Stanley Cup, in downtown Raleigh, and a concert by Hootie and the Blowfish at PNC Arena.
The parking lots around Carter-Finley Stadium and PNC Arena will open at 2 p.m. Saturday for an afternoon of tailgating and live music leading up to the game. Tailgating has long been a signature of Hurricanes home games when weather permits, particularly during the playoffs, but never on the scale expected Saturday.
"I think they're opening the doors at 2 o'clock and the game is not until 8 o'clock, so that's just a whole boatload of time to have fun, and they do," said Capitals coach Peter Laviolette, who coached the Hurricanes' 2006 Stanley Cup team. "Both sides will get to experience that. You can't do that here (in Washington). You can't do it in the city. But in that setup where the football stadium is right there and the parking lot surrounds the rink, it makes for a really unique experience for a day of hockey.
"They've mastered it down there."
Dundon is so excited about what's to come in the next two days, he's already talking about hosting a second outdoor game.
"The big thing is we had a pretty good idea it was going to be a success, and then you'd like to do it again," he said. "We want to get another one."