Hurricanes celebration underscored togetherness that fueled Stanley Cup run

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When Carolina Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon hired Rod Brind’Amour to coach his team in 2018, the franchise’s first goal was to put a team on the ice that made the Raleigh community proud, Brind’Amour recalled Saturday.

Brind’Amour became the Canes head coach amidst a nine-season playoff drought, 12 years after winning the 2006 Stanley Cup as a Canes player.

Eight seasons later, and the Canes have yet to miss the playoffs under Brind’Amour. During Saturday’s Canes 2026 Championship Celebration, the players’ exulting release was underscored by the togetherness Brind’Amour has instilled in the Canes.

After the parade took Canes players, staff and others through part of downtown Raleigh, the crowd — stretching from City Plaza toward the North Carolina State Capitol — was overjoyed.

Players and staff took the moment to gush about the triumphant moment for hockey in the South, while the team’s camaraderie that fueled their Cup run was on full display.

“When people talk about this team,” Brind’Amour said, “they are going to say this is the greatest team that has ever won the Stanley Cup.”

Players’ children joined them on stage, a few of them shooting water guns into the crowd and captain Jordan Staal’s son even took his shirt off to lead a tarps off moment.

Staal praised Brind’Amour as the “best human being” he’s “ever met,” shouting out his coach’s work ethic early in the mornings.

Then, he turned to his teammates and gave kudos to the group’s bond.

“What a team,” Staal said. “What a team we had. We needed everyone that whole ride.”

The Canes spent the week partying with the Cup, even taking it to the Teets bar Monday.

At the Cup celebration, the party didn’t stop as players tossed beverages into the side crowds while their teammates addressed the masses. Left winger Jordan Martinook often stole the microphone to energize a crowd or introduce his teammates like an intoxicated person might at a karaoke bar. Sebastian Aho and Martinook even led a Staal chant while holding the microphone together.

When Jaccob Slavin took the microphone, the crowd chanted “USA,” a nod to the 2026 Olympic gold medal-winning men’s hockey team. But he let them know how he prefers the achievement he made with his Canes teammates.

“Winning a gold medal, unbelievable,” Slavin said, “an honor to represent this country. But winning a Stanley Cup with this team right here and this city, there’s nothing better, baby.”

“I can’t wait to be a Hurricane the rest of my life,” Slavin later added.

The Canes have captivated the Triangle over the past few weeks, punctuating their Cup run by putting on a celebration unlike many other events that ever taken place in the area. One couple held a sign that read they had delayed their wedding to attend the celebration.

General manager Eric Tulsky said he often strolls around tailgates before games and the stadium concourse during intermission, greeting fans. When he tells other executives that he does so, they call him brave.

Tulsky sees no problem.

“I’m like, ‘man, I don’t know what your issue is,’” Tulsky said. “‘They like me here.’”

Tulsky even said numerous players came up to him after winning the Stanley Cup and thanked him for bringing them to Raleigh. One of those players was left winger Nicolas Deslauriers, he added, who signed a two-year contract on the stage Saturday

Left winger Taylor Hall — who came to the Raleigh via trade in January 2025 — said the atmosphere of his first Canes game ignited him. Hall recorded 48 points this season, the most he’s logged since his 61-point 2021-22 campaign with the Boston Bruins.

“You guys gave a jolt to my career I didn’t know I needed,” said Hall, the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2010 who was the league’s most valuable player in 2018.

As evidenced by the players and staff’s comments Saturday, the Canes celebrated a Cup that means more to the team and city than just the achievement itself. Over 150,000 people attended the event, according to Raleigh Police, breaking the city’s record for most people in one place.

For Brind’Amour, who has ushered in this change, the team’s togetherness is the driving force.

“Hockey,” he said, “is the greatest team sport in the world.”

This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 4:24 PM with the headline “Hurricanes celebration underscored togetherness that fueled Stanley Cup run.”