1999 First Playoff Series vs Pittsburgh
The only North Carolina team to win a major sports championship.
The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Hurricanes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at the Lenovo Center.
Quick Facts
- Season
- 1998-99 NHL Playoffs
- Round
- First Round
- Opponent
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Series result
- Hurricanes won
- Captain
- Ron Francis
- Home venue
- Alltel Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
- Significance
- First playoff series in Carolina identity
Lore & Background
The franchise was formed in 1971 as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Whalers saw success immediately, winning the Eastern Division in the WHA's first three seasons and becoming the inaugural Avco World Trophy champions at the end of the 1972–73 season. The Whalers again competed for the World Trophy in 1978, this time falling short to the Winnipeg Jets. The franchise joined the NHL in 1979 as part of the NHL–WHA merger, renaming themselves the Hartford Whalers. The team relocated to North Carolina in 1997, rebranding themselves as the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup once, in 2006. They are the only professional team from North Carolina to have won a major sports championship.
Reader's Guide
The Hurricanes play their home games at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. The team moved to their newly completed arena in Raleigh in 1999. The old goal horn from the Hartford Civic Center remains in use at Lenovo Center.
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