Hurricanes raise Stanley Cup banner prior to season opener

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes put the final exclamation point on their 2026 championship season by raising their Stanley Cup banner Tuesday at a sold-out and raucous Lenovo Center.

Carolina won the Stanley Cup last season with a six-game victory against the Vegas Golden Knights. The banner joined the one already in the rafters from the franchise's first championship in 2006. 

The ceremony came before a nationally televised game against the Florida Panthers, who had won the Cup each of the previous two seasons. In 2025, the Hurricanes lost to the Panthers in a bitterly contested Eastern Conference Final.

"I'm excited to kind of put a bow on it and put it behind us a little bit," captain Jordan Staal said after practice Monday. "You know, it's hard, because you're dragging right to the last minute with the puck drop five minutes later into a new season, so it's going to be mixed emotions.

"It's going to be hard not to try to enjoy the moment and reminisce a little bit and enjoy having the Cup in front of our fans in our building, but at the same time, know you're stepping into (the) fire of a big match. So, it's going to be a challenge, but it's going to be a cool moment I'm very excited for."

The Panthers, who missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season,  came out early from their locker room and were on the bench to watch the presentation, which lasted 15 minutes.

The first of many standing ovations came when head coach Rod Brind'Amour was introduced before the players skated onto the ice one at a time from the Zamboni entrance. The loudest ovations were for alternate captain Sebastian Aho, goalie Brandon Bussi, who relieved the injured Frederik Andersen in the Final, and captain Jordan Staal, who was voted the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the postseason. 

Staal brought the Stanley Cup out with him, doing a victory lap with it over his head and then placing it at center ice where the players had formed a circle. With the trophy on the ice, the players did the Storm Surge that has marked significant wins for the past several seasons. 

Staal then scooped up the Cup and placed it on a pedestal between the two face-off circles while a sizzle reel of the playoffs played on the jumbotron. The players, in all-black uniforms, stood in front of their bench, craning their necks to watch the repeat of their triumph and the ensuing parade.

Tuesday was the first time the Stanley Cup was on public display at Lenovo Center since the Hurricanes took a 3-0 win in Game 6 against the Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena, capping a dominant run of 16 wins 19 games in the postseason in which they finished with a plus-27 goals differential. 

Once the highlights were over and a "Let's Go Canes" chant started filling the building, the players lined up across the blue line and tapped sticks as the crisp white banner with red lettering started its ascent.

It stopped momentarily so the players could get a photo taken with it in the background before the journey to the rafters began anew.

Fans began arriving at the arena in the early afternoon, tailgating in full force by 3 p.m. ET, the smell of barbecue and the sounds of "Rock You Like a Hurricane" by the Scorpions everywhere around the arena.

Of the 22 players who dressed in the 2026 postseason, 20 remain with the Hurricanes, an almost unprecedented rate of stability for a Stanley Cup champion in this era of free agency. 

Andersen moved on to the Edmonton Oilers as an unrestricted free agent, and defenseman Alexander Nikishin is a restricted free agent who has yet to be signed. 

Eighteen of those players were in the lineup for the Hurricanes on Tuesday. Forward Seth Jarvis is out, recovering from shoulder surgery. Defenseman Mike Reilly was a healthy scratch, replaced by rookie Charles Alexis Legault, who played 12 regular-season games with the Hurricanes last season.