How do several Hurricanes end up at a UNC Game?

Two weeks ago between the end of the Olympics and the return of the NHL, UNC tipped off against Louisville in a big ACC Matchup. The stands were stuffed with UNC fans, students, alumni, and dignitaries.

And right there a couple of rows behind the scorer’s table, in clear camera view, sat several members of the Carolina Hurricanes.

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It can be difficult to recognize the players without their jerseys on, but of course as the rest of the crowd was wearing either white or Carolina Blue it wasn’t that difficult to spot Alexander Nikishin, Andrei Svechnikov, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Mike Riley, and in the middle wearing team-provided gear was Logan Stankoven.

The Hurricanes have been in North Carolina since 1997 and in Raleigh since 1999, but between the fact that basketball plays their schedule at the same time as hockey, and nights off are extremely valuable to hockey players there really hasn’t been an instance before where this group of players had been visible at a UNC Basketball game—or any game that wasn’t NC State for that matter. This also happened a few days after Svechnikov and Nikishin went to see the home state Charlotte Hornets play.

As a UNC alumnus and Hurricanes fan I was curious about how this happened. After morning skate of the Detroit game, I was able to speak with Stankoven for a few minutes about the trip. I asked how it came about:

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“Honestly…one of our team services..Mallory Wilmoth, she actually used to go to school there and work there as well. So she kind of has that connection to them. She had kind of mentioned, ‘hey I can get you guys hooked up with tickets to go to their game.’ And there were a bunch of us that were willing to go and just check it out.”

It’s funny that Stankoven would single out Wilmoth on this day because later on, after the win, Rod Brind’Amour would also single her out with one of the coveted post-victory t-shirts.

She’s clearly someone who’s made a connection in the locker…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/several-hurricanes-end-unc-game-142641387.html

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Publish date : 2026-03-09 14:26:00

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