Go Canes!!!

While updating my site today I turned on the NHL playoffs to watch the Carolina Hurricanes take on the Buffalo Sabers. As most of you know, I love hockey. My team is the Tampa Bay Lightning and I had the privilege of living in Tampa when they won the Stanley Cup. My buddy Dan had a beer with Barry Melrose at Bahasa and it wasn't odd to see Martin St. Louis with his wife at the Publix off Platt Street in downtown.

But today's game has a personal connection as well.

Back when I was a young lad running the streets of Raleigh, Greensboro and Winston-Salem, there was only one NHL team in our world. To us and many other fans living in North Carolina, happiness hung in the balance with the success of our beloved Carolina Hurricanes.

The above photo is from the 2001 season where myself, Dan Kelly, Jeff Hahne and Ben Sheppard attended the 'Canes Eastern Conference Semifinal game against the Montreal Canadians. They lost that game, but when on to play the Detroit Redwings for the Stanley Cup.

With each game, Ben would set up his digital projector and display the games on the front of our apartment building. It was never out of the ordinary to have 30 or 40 people in our parking lot watching the games from lawn chairs. And as the 'Canes got closer to the finals, the crowds in our parking lot grew.

As we watched the drama unfold on the screen, little did we know we were engaged in something we all would never forget. And so because of those Carolina moments during the spring of 2001, the Hurricanes will always hold a special place in my sports-filled heart.

Go Canes!

posted by DVS @ 4:27 PM