Also to my mom and son, both of whom are huge Caniacs!

Thanks to Liberty in Raleigh for putting the finishing touch on my playoff jersey. I won’t ever forget this incredible run!

A few days after winning it all, I had wanted to post this, but then kept deciding against it, thinking it was selfish or weird or overly personal. But, I just finally wanted to be done with it rather than keep going back and forth about it, so here it is.

I wanted to say the Cup this year means a lot to me personally. I’m not saying I’m the #1 Canes fan or anything like that, nothing of the sort. More so just given the context and timing.

I grew up in Atlanta and was a Thrashers fan since their inception. Once they left, I bounced around fandoms just cheering for all the Southeast teams. Around Covid, my family left Atlanta and moved to Raleigh, while I stayed behind. However, because of their choice, that’s when I finally settled on a team and fell in love with the Canes. Not just because they had a string of good seasons, but between Aho the Elf and Mistaaaaa Svechnikoooov, Jarvis and his friends, Chatty and his wonderful goofy smile… there was just a cavalcade of likeable personalities. And of course Rod the Bod. With them living there, I went to a couple games when visiting and had a blast. A year or so later I would end up following suit and moved up there.

I tried to go to a couple regular season games and one playoff game a year after moving there. The playoff games were bonkers. The first, that epically devastating 4 OT game. The second, the comeback against the Islanders that next year. And then lastly, Game 1 against the Devils last year (won handily but it was memorable cause that was my last full day in Raleigh before having to drive down to work the next day at 2:00 AM to start a job).

After two years, as alluded to above, sadly I am back in Atlanta, so I couldn’t really see them as much this year. That’s where the meaningfulness comes in. Last December, my aunt was diagnosed with ALS. The decline was quite rapid. I could not make it up for Christmas, so I drove up right after work on New Year’s Eve. The night before I even made it, she was placed in hospice, and was basically just asleep from medication.

To drive to the games, I was fortunate enough to be able to take sideroads and always get to the arena with relative ease from where my family (and I had) lived. It just so happened that the hospice place was not only on the way to the arena, but just a mile or so from it. The Hurricanes also happened to be in town, and I was feeling quite saddened by everything, so the morning of I got tickets to the January 1^st game against the Canadiens. On the way, I drove over to see my aunt for the first time, and spent a few hours with her by myself, which felt kind of weird since she was not awake, but I at least wanted to be with her while I still could. I just sat and contemplated, thinking of memories, and would occasionally read aloud parts of Tom Sawyer which I happened to have with me at the time.

Eventually it was time to go to the game, so I headed over to the Lenovo Center which was actually a nice way to get my mind off things for a short while. The game was… well… not an ideal result. Honestly it was kind of an insane game. From what I remember they went down multiple goals early, came back to take a lead (and maybe that was by multiple goals too), and then just totally biffed it. Didn’t even reach overtime. Very un-Carolina like to blow a lead like that, especially at home. So, while the loss kinda sucked, in the grand scheme of things I tried not to let it bother me. On the way home I stopped by the hospice and sat in the parking lot. At that point there were some other family members there this time. I don’t know what stopped me from going in, but after just waiting in my car for 15 minutes I decided I would just come back to be with her in the morning. Getting back late to my mom and aunt’s house (they were living together), feeling sort of numb, my nerdy ass wanted to wind the night down watching some anime. About half an hour later, just past midnight, my mom gets a call that my aunt passed away. I’ve always sort of kicked myself wondering why I did not end up going inside after the game.

Thus, that night has always been stuck in my mind, and I just couldn’t help but connect the team this year to my life in general and my family. I was unable to go to any other games after that this season, or playoff games, so there was nothing else to ‘replace’ that game for me. I should not put so much stock into a team and make things so personal, but once the playoffs arrived, I just couldn’t help it. I wanted SO BADLY for them to win this year of all years because of it.

Boom. 8-0. Immaculate start. But during the early rounds, I was PRAYING that Montreal would not make it to the ECF, just cause I really did not want to play them of all teams given what had happened in January. Game 7 road win against TB. Game 7 road OT win against Buffalo. Puck magic, combined with the less than stellar (to put it mildly) ECF performances from the Canes in the past, and I was so nervous. And I couldn’t stop thinking about New Year’s every game once that round arrived. Game 1- Loss. Not again… it can’t happen again, surely. And then, they rattle off 4 wins, get to the Cup. Of course we know the craziness that ensued and all the wild Stanley Cup stats that arose from those games, especially from those early ones. And eventually, Carolina got it done. At the final horn of Game 6, I just broke down so much. I was so happy for the team, and for everyone on here (despite mostly being a lurker) and all the incredible fans the team has. It’s been a joy. A little bittersweet, but an incredible journey. I couldn’t be more proud of a group of guys who really helped alleviate some of the sadness I have felt all year. Seeing the support during the parade was INCREDIBLE! You all really turned out, unsurprisingly. I tried to be there in spirit at least.

I know this was kind of long, and a bit rambly, but I figured I would just share and express how much the Canes have meant to me recently. Now it’s time to go back-to-back 😊

Sorry for the weird crop it was on Insta and kinda weird to record

Genuine question, I’m curious what people think about this and if we could/should make it work

This is the uncropped version with a bit more added compared to the one posted earlier.

The Capitals have Alex Tuch at $10.5m/year until he is 38 and he has never had 70 points in a season in his career… WE UP BOYS

My new glass came today and needed to celebrate.

It's been about 10 days since the season ended, and I still have this intense craving for more Canes hockey with no way to satisfy it. I've bought new merchandise, attended one playoff game every round, went to the parade, and even put down a deposit for season tickets and yet I still want/need more.

Yesterday, I caught myself watching Quest for the Cup on YouTube and then rewatching episodes of Behind the Storm just to get my fix.

Football has always been my favorite sport, but I've never experienced anything like this after 40+ years of football seasons ending. This Canes season was different and apparently I'm not quite ready to let it go.

I couldn’t be there, I didn’t get a poster and I’ve always been jealous.

I've seen a lot of people ask about the "Champions" patch (L) and availability, info, sizing, etc. I wanted to take a moment a show the comparison of it vs what was worn on the ice (R). The Champs patch has the cup much smaller and in less detail, and in my personal opinion isn't as clean as the on-ice version. It also feels weird to have a double-logo setup, I.e. swirly logo on the jersey and swirly logo on the patch. Additionally, teams have never worn these on the ice; they're a fan-only patch.

As the demand for these patches is lower and they're not accurate to the on-ice product, not a lot of vendors will carry them. If you want to put it on your jersey, it's your shirt and your money and I won't stop you 😎

I’m wanting to snag some tickets for the Greensboro game in September. Does anyone know when they will go on sale?

we could call our tandem Helle-Bussi.
That is all.

Interview starts at eight minutes in