



Among the unexpected victors emerging from the bizarre first-round of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs were a bunch of “jerks” playing for the Carolina Hurricanes. On their way through, these jerks – members of a team that hasn’t seen the post-season since 2009 – upset the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals, and swept their next opponents, the New York Islanders, to move on to the conference final. These jerks are playing good hockey. The only problem? These jerks and their fans are apparently having too much fun.

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Throughout the regular season, the Hurricanes (who squeezed into the first wildcard slot with a 46-29-7 record) turned their post-games into a rally. It started back in October, after a win against the New York Rangers. The team lined up along one blue line, then skated together the length of the ice and threw themselves into the glass – it was quickly dubbed the “storm surge.” Soon, it became a more elaborate carnival, with the team adding staged elements, like a game of duck-duck-goose, mock baseball and bowling, as well as, uh, Quidditch.

The Quidditch Celly pic.twitter.com/FLjsDMNxEU — Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) November 19, 2018

As Hurricanes captain Justin Williams told NHL.com in December, the point was to make it “a fun time to interact with us and our fans.” Yet, even by that point, the antics were causing concern. In November, former NHL coach-turned-commentator Brian Burke told a sports radio station in Toronto: “I don’t like it. I don’t think it belongs in our league… I think it’s absurdly amateurish pee-wee garbage stuff.”

But Burke’s personal annoyance was overshadowed weeks later, when another, more famous, former NHL coach-turned-broadcaster took aim at the fun.

“These guys, to me, are jerks!” Don Cherry, the longtime CBC commentator and human exclamation point, shouted during his regular Saturday night segment, Coach’s Corner, in February. “I know what I’m talking about! Never do anything like that! They’re still not drawing [a crowd], they’re a bunch of jerks as far as I’m concerned!”

The Hurricanes immediately saw an opportunity. The team coopted Cherry’s remarks to build the narrative of underdog pluck. It had the sneer emblazoned on t-shirts, and fans were equally swift to appropriate the derision as a badge of honour. It was they to whom Cherry addressed his latest comments this past weekend, dismissing ‘Canes supporters as “front-running fans” – in other words, band-wagoners.

In response, the Hurricanes duly updated their playoff t-shirts Monday:

New Fans. Old Fans. We don't care.



Every jerk is welcome to join the #Canes family.



Available soon at The Eye. pic.twitter.com/oP6X39UGU5







— Carolina Hurricanes (@NHLCanes) May 6, 2019

That Cherry doesn’t like something new is unsurprising. The 85-year-old usually takes immediate umbrage at any variety beyond his own flamboyant wardrobe, which he shuffles constantly, showcasing a vast array of garish suits apparently cut from discarded reams of upholstery. But what Cherry often articulates, perhaps even without knowing it, isn’t just cantankerousness, but rather a kind of unintentional airing of the NHL’s core principles.

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