The result didn't end in the Canes' favor, as they fell 6-1, but the group of dads, brothers and fathers-in-law take with them unforgettable memories of spending time on the road with one another.
"He's been having a blast. He's just glowing, smiling the whole time," Derek Ryan said of his father, Tim. "He told me at breakfast the other morning that it's right up there with getting married and having kids, one of those life experiences that he'll remember forever. I'm sure we'll cherish it and talk about it for many summers to come."
"It's been great. He's a funny guy. It's a cool moment for us," Noah Hanifin said of spending his first dads trip with his father, Robert. "Taking him out to these cities and showing him what it's like has been a lot of fun."
The trip offers the fathers a unique glimpse into their sons' everyday lives, lives they worked tirelessly as a parent to help create.
"My dad has probably been the biggest influence in my life hockey-wise. When I was a little kid, he was taking me to the rink, those long drives at 5 a.m. He supported me my whole life," Hanifin said. "It's a cool moment for us to share now that I finally got to the NHL, and it's cool to see my dad's reaction to all of it."
"Just as a whole being able to have him along for the whole experience - being on the plane, coming to the rinks, all those things that I get to experience by myself or with my teammates but not with my family. To experience that with him is something special," Ryan said. "It's just like a culmination of everything we've done throughout our hockey careers. It's respect to them, too. They battled through a lot of cold mornings taking us to practice, and we wouldn't be here without them. It's nice to see them in the stands."