With what had already gone down in the NBA earlier this weekend it might have been easy to overlook the excitement that had built up in the Stanley Cup finals that resulted in another opportunity for a championshhip to be awarded on ABC’s air last night. After all, if one was to believe the fact-based predictions of UFC’s honcho, the magnitude of Freedom 250 was going to produce Super Bowl level audiences for the historic event he staged on the South Lawn of the (Dana?) White House last night. The minor detail that such an accomplishment would have taken an audience delivery of roughly 150 per cent of Paramount Plus’ global subscriber base seemed to have eluded him.
But while the NBA series involving America’s top market and its tallest center were reaching audience levels for the Disney suite of networks not seen since last century, the NHL was pulling in some outsized and greatly improved audiences of its own. And last night another overperforming team went on the road to show how it’s done. Per CBS NEWS:
The Carolina Hurricanes won their first Stanley Cup championship in 20 years on Sunday night, using a suffocating defense in Game 6 to shut down the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0, winning three straight games in a thrilling final filled with momentum swings and spectacular offense. Brandon Bussi, whose entrance late into Game 3 helped turn around the series for Carolina, recorded his first career playoff shutout — stopping 22 shots. Jackson Blake had a goal and assist, and Taylor Hall scored just 3:47 into the game to set the tone. Nikolaj Ehlers added an empty-net goal.
As THE ATHLETIC’s Michael Russo and Chris Johnston tag-teamed to eludicate upon, Bussi’s storyline was pretty dramatic in its own right:
As Mary Raclawski stared at her fiancé, tears came to her eyes. A week ago, nobody could have envisioned Bussi would become a Stanley Cup hero — not even Raclawski, his biggest supporter.
Undrafted, Bussi was thrust into action when Andersen got hurt earlier in the series, then started Games 4, 5 and 6 and won them all, including becoming the third goaltender in NHL history and first since 1937 to record a Stanley Cup-clinching shutout during their first NHL season.
“Oh my gosh. I’m so emotional right now,” said Raclawski, who will marry Bussi next month, in an interview with The Athletic. “I can’t even comprehend what is happening. It’s been such a long road here for him, and he’s never given up, never doubted himself. And I’m just … I can’t believe we’re standing here today celebrating him and his team. I’m so proud of all of them.”
And at the other end of the time-space continuum was this heroism that also translated into personal hardware:
After the Carolina Hurricanes finished off a march to the Stanley Cup that was as clinical as it was cathartic, the emotions started bubbling over as soon as Jordan Staal wrapped his big paws around its silver edges.The Hurricanes captain let out a guttural roar while thrusting it into the air, culminating a 17-year wait for him that included 14 seasons with Carolina…
Eric Staal is a Canes legend. Twenty years ago, he was their leading scorer when they won their first Cup. His No. 12 hangs from the rafters at Lenovo Center. He fired up the home crowd by sounding the siren in advance of Game 1.
“There’s a lot of people that have grown up and been around the Carolinas, where they don’t really know the team without a Staal on it,” Eric Staal said. “So it’s kind of funny that this has happened again 20 years later, and obviously Jordan at the front of it, it’s super, super unbelievable. Like it really is.
No, it’s not a 53-year drought that was ended here like it was in the Big Apple the night before. But two decades of disappointment ain’t bupkis, either. Enough so that THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER’s Scott Fowler was inspired enough to show some envy toward his smaller Research Triangle neighbor in a piece he authored as things started to heat up last week:
(T)he Carolina Hurricanes are showing Charlotte’s three major pro sports teams how it looks and feels when you are on the precipice of a championship…These Canes are exactly what the Carolina Panthers , Charlotte Hornets and Charlotte FC should aspire to. You don’t just make the playoffs and lose immediately (as the Panthers and Charlotte FC did in their most recent seasons). You don’t just qualify for the play-in tournament and then lose by 31 points (the Hornets, in April). You win and scrap and win some more, meeting one moment after another with plays that will be talked about for years (Jordan Staal’s falling-down, game-wining goal on Tuesday being only the latest example).
There is a stark statistic you should know about the four major pro sports teams in North Carolina and their postseason victories. If you total those playoff wins up from 2017 until now, at any round of the postseason, this is what you get. Playoff wins since 2017 Carolina Panthers: 0 Charlotte Hornets: 0 Charlotte FC: 2 Carolina Hurricanes: 61.
Hey, if they can get the attention of their entire state, maybe the rest of the country can now take pause and celebrate them, too. After all, we need something to rid ourselves of the stench that was left on the South Lawn, right?
