The Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup run in 2006 was perhaps the greatest thing I've ever been a part of. The heavily favored Canes lost the first two games of the opening series to the Montreal Canadiens. Game 2 was a 6-5 double overtime nailbiter that most (me included) thought would be the nail in the coffin. But it was Coach Peter Laviolette's decision to go with unproven 22-year old rookie backup goalie Cam Ward that propelled the Canes to four straight wins in the series.
With all that momentum, the Hurricanes completely dominated the New Jersey Devils, starting with a 6-0 shutout in Game 1 and never looking back.
And then....the Sabres.
Even Hollywood couldn't recreate the drama of that 7 game series, five games of which were decided by one goal. There were the belligerent Buffalo fans, the nightly jokes making fun of Buffalo on the Jumbotron, the lawn parties in front of the arena, and yes, there was the Cane Vic.
To say it's my favorite radio promotion of all-time is a gross understatement - it was magic. We found an old white Crown Victoria and spray painted it red ourselves in a Carolina Ale House parking lot. We drove it all around the Triangle to have listeners sign it, and then we drove it to Buffalo for one of the road games where, believe it or not, it was not destroyed.
It was destroyed by our own fans outside the RBC Center, after the Stanley Cup win over Edmonton - the game during which every fan stood up for the entire game. It seemed appropriate - better to have our fans do it than Buffalo fans.
To this day, it's by far the #1 thing people remember most fondly about 96rock- that we switched our name to 96.1 The Cup (complete with new logo, website, and banners) for the run and that darn car.
Here's hoping the PNC Arena brings its own special memories.
Foster
Radio 96.1
1 comment:
The 'Cane Vic was Green prior to the spectacular paint job it was given, including the white racing stripe. We lost 3 pucks, two miniature Stanley Cups and countless pom-poms on the trip up. And no matter how destroyed that vehicle was, or the various wildlife that inhabited its broken shell in the CMG parking lot, you'll never get rid of the Crash smell from the passenger seat...
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