Postgame celebrations and success on the ice have helped energize the Hurricanes fanbaseGETTY IMAGES
The Hurricanes' "dream season" has had an impact on the team's financials, as they have already sold $3.6M in new ticket business for next season, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun. A year ago, the Hurricanes had only sold $500,000 in "new ticket business for the following season." LeBrun: "New business. That is something" (TWITTER.com, 5/7). YAHOO SPORTS' Justin Cuthbert wrote it "probably shouldn't be a surprise that the Hurricanes are managing to fill more seats in advance." Public interest "sags when smaller-market teams fail to make the postseason for prolonged stretches -- and in the case of the Hurricanes, this was a drought that lasted an entire decade." The "only real remedy" for that is the "real tangible success the franchise is once again having" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/7).
SURGING POTENTIAL: Hurricanes Exec VP/Marketing & Brand Strategy Mike Forman said the team's choreographed celebrations after regular-season home wins are "helping to grow the game here in Raleigh, I know this for a fact." After receiving criticism from Sportsnet's Don Cherry for the celebrations, Forman said the Hurricanes "ran with it immediately," which "set the tone to take what could have been perceived negative and turn it into a positive right away." Forman said the celebrations were "authentic," and in terms of "showing up the opponent that's the last thing that they're trying to do." He said they are "more just a way to engage our fans." Forman: "Not a single Canes fan has had a negative thing to say about this and very few opposing fans." He added, "Don knows we thank him for this every single day and as was mentioned he doubled down this weekend so we thank him again." Forman said, "Hockey is still a very traditionalist-type sport and I don't think this will work in every market so I don't think this is something we go to our club business meetings and say every team should be doing this. But it works in our market" ("OTL," ESPN, 5/7).
SOUR CHERRY: The GUARDIAN's Colin Horgan wrote the fact that Cherry "doesn't like something new is unsurprising," but what he "often articulates, perhaps even without knowing it, isn't just cantankerousness, but rather a kind of unintentional airing of the NHL's core principles." If Cherry "does anything well, it's broadcasting values hockey still holds dear -- those of tradition and normalcy and, subsequently, opposition to (and bewilderment at) change beyond mere aesthetics." The NHL is a "league that takes itself so seriously that it frequently can't recognize, or simply dismisses, the seriousness of its own fans -- whether it's when they're actually enjoying themselves, or when they're simply asking for the league to live up to expectations." The league "hasn't stopped" the Hurricanes' celebrations, and it "likely won't, presumably as long as they don't spread" (GUARDIAN, 5/8).
