Stadium Series an 'unforgettable' experience for NHL Power Player

Editor's note: NHL Power Players is an initiative that selects young hockey fans to help advise the League on hockey-related topics important to their generation and to grow the game among young fans and people. Today, Emma Bracken, a 16-year-old from Cary, North Carolina and a member of the 2022-23 Power Players class, writes about her experience covering the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Two weeks after the NHL All-Star Game in Florida, the NHL hosted the final special event of the regular season when the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series between the Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals took place at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday.

The Hurricanes won 4-1 in an unforgettable night for hockey in this market.

As a Hurricanes fan and a member of the Power Player advisory board for the NHL, I've been looking forward to this game for so long.

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The game was supposed to take place here in 2021 but was pushed back because of issues surrounding COVID-19. The prolonged wait for an outdoor game continued the buildup of excitement in our fan base. Since the start of January, the entire city has been anticipating the game.

Stadium Series ads were hung on every street, and giant images of Hurricanes players were pasted onto buildings around the city. A 200-foot-tall image of the 2023 NHL All-Star fastest skater Andrei Svechnikov has loomed over the middle of downtown for more than a month. An image of Hurricanes star Sebastian Aho has hung above the highway by North Hills for just as long.

The festivities started Friday and, quite literally, took over Raleigh. Streets downtown were closed for a huge celebration for Hurricanes fans. I went with some friends after school to the Fan Fest, where we rode the Ferris wheel, which was sandwiched between Raleigh's skyscrapers, roasted marshmallows over portable fire pits, and met famous alumni from the team. The lines to take part in each hockey-themed activity were very long and thousands of people circulated in and out of the festival that night.

As an artist, the amount of Hurricanes art that was promoted there was exciting. Small business owners had set up art stands along the streets, and one painter created a real-time portrait of Stanley Cup-winning goalie Cam Ward, who was inducted into the Hurricanes Hall of Fame on Thursday. Rain cut some activities short for me, but I had friends and family sending me videos of the drone shows and fireworks over the skyline all night.

Fans here participate in hardcore tailgating, but on the day of the game it was taken to another level. Each row of cars had groups of all ages playing street hockey with their friends, tossing bean bags, and cooking with portable grills. The NHL set up its own festivities in a massive tailgating party, where the Power Players got a chance to take photos with the Stanley Cup.

Inside that festival, the NHL had puck-shooting challenges, live music, photo opportunities, and many other activities packed with hockey fans.

The most exciting part of the night for me was during pregame warmups, when we were allowed onto the field and allowed to stand next to the glass.

The moment felt surreal: we could look around and see thousands of fans in the seats of the stadium. When the Hurricanes players walked out to the ice for warmups, the crowd got so loud I had to scream to talk with the people around me.

Calvin de Haan, one of Carolina's defensemen, threw me a puck over the glass near the end of warmups. It felt unreal to catch a puck from one of my idols and share the experience with my other friends. It was a dream come true.

Surrounded by multiple large universities, Raleigh is heavily influenced by college sports. Hurricanes fans even have a tradition of howling after big goals or wins, something we picked up from North Carolina State University.

The Stadium Series game really leaned into that larger sports community, especially since the game was played in NC State football stadium. The university brought its huge marching band, filled a student section, and the stadium broke out into NC State songs multiple times. Singing along with nearly 57,000 other people is an amazing experience.

The game started with fireworks, light shows, and a jet flyover as the anthem ended. Everybody was on their feet, singing and screaming as the players took the ice.

The energy was electric even after the game ended. Every time the Canes scored, walls of fire rose behind the benches, and fireworks went off. At the end of the game, the Hurricanes ended with their famous Storm Surge, with a golfing twist to tie in with the pregame outfits worn by the players at their arrival. As always, the storm surge was a tribute to the fans.

The success experienced by the Hurricanes in the past few seasons has massively grown hockey in Raleigh, and the Stadium Series gave fans an opportunity to show up for our team together.

It was the best hockey game I've ever experienced, with the night ending in fireworks and a wild crowd celebrating the win.