Friday's recreation for the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center carries all the same old pleasure for the beginning of a brand new season — this time with hurricane victims in North Carolina and Florida at top-of-mind.
The Canes' opponent, the Tampa Bay Lightning, are preventing for a hometown battered by one other hurricane. Saturday's Canes recreation at Amalie Arena in Tampa has been postponed as a result of impacts from Hurricane Milton.
On Thursday evening, Hurricane Milton grew to become the third hurricane to hit Florida this yr, weeks after Hurricane Helene, which additionally introduced devastation to North Carolina.
Friday's season opener brings an attention-grabbing set of coincidences. The Lightning left Tampa forward of schedule on Wednesday because of an oncoming hurricane to play the Hurricanes in a state that is nonetheless feeling the results of a devastating, separate hurricane.
North Carolina was spared from Milton, however Canes' gamers are feeling for his or her opponents from Florida — and for his or her western North Carolina neighbors struggling to maneuver on from Helene.
“It's kind of kind of ironic, we're playing Tampa tomorrow night,” Hurricanes participant Jordan Martinook mentioned. “So it's two teams that their states have been been hit pretty hard by this … and obviously we want to play well for our state and show that where we're with all our people, and they're probably going to do the same.”
Hurricanes participant Jaccob Slavin mentioned it is unattainable to not take into consideration the struggling.
“We sit here and play hockey for a living, and there's people out there that are fighting to have power, fighting to have water and food right now, and it's in our home state, and obviously all across the southeast,” Slavin mentioned. “It's definitely tough, and our prayers and our thoughts are with all of those families.”
Last week, the Hurricanes raised greater than $300,000 for Helene victims throughout a sold-out preseason recreation.
“I know our owners donated a lot of money already and so for us, we can do what we can with our resources and helping people in need right now, whether that's basic necessities [or] just helping where we can,” Slavin mentioned.
“I think anything we can do as an organization, as players, to try and raise money for those people that are struggling right now and trying to rebuild their lives is the best thing we can do, and it's just just the right thing to do,” Martinook mentioned.
Martinook believes sports activities are therapeutic for gamers and followers.
“I feel like times of times of sadness, people can find relief in sports,” he mentioned. “So hopefully we can do that tomorrow night and and raise some money all at the same time.”
“It separates the reality of what's going on in the real world, and you can kind of get away for a couple hours and not think about what's going on,” Coach Rod Brind'Amour added. “And it also unites a lot of people that have differences, whether it's political or … about the colleges. Everyone cheers for different teams, but they cheer for us, and it can kind of bring people together. Hopefully it does a little.”
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper mentioned he wasn't certain if his workforce would play Tuesday, Oct. 15 against the Vancouver Canucks at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday on the Lenovo Center for the Canes' common season opener.
The workforce was scheduled to play Saturday evening at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. WRAL News realized Thursday that recreation has been postponed. A make-up date is anticipated to be introduced at a later date.
