The Hurricanes have been one of the NHL’s most successful teams for nearly a decade, but they didn’t have a title to show for that sustained excellence. That finally changed Sunday night.
Carolina closed out Vegas in a six-game Stanley Cup Final to claim their first title since 2006. The victory saw the Hurricanes rally from 0–1 and 1–2 series deficits and win twice at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The championship also marks a culmination of an emphatic run that has seen the team win at least one playoff series each of the past eight seasons.
This is the second Stanley Cup title for the Hurricanes since relocating from Hartford after the 1996–97 season and changing its name from the Whalers. Notably, no Canadian team has won a championship during that 29-year period, and despite a league-leading franchise valuation of $4.4 billion, the Maple Leafs are still pursuing their first Stanley Cup since 1967.
Despite operating in a mid-tier market, Carolina has also been a key part of what has been a banner run for the Stanley Cup Final in television viewership on ABC. Through the first four games, the series averaged 5 million viewers, up 101% from a year ago, when it aired on TNT Sports, and the best figure since 2015. Further lifts are anticipated when audience data for the final two games arrives later this week.
