The NHL stadium series game between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes took place at Carter-Finley stadium in Raleigh on Saturday, February 18, the first time an outdoor hockey game took place in Raleigh.
Fans did not hold back, with a sellout crowd of 59,961 people. The game was sponsored by the Navy Federal Credit Union.
Students in attendance expressed their excitement at being at the game along with the result, an emphatic 4-1 Hurricanes win.
Junior Oliver McClure said that he enjoyed the fanfare of the outdoor game.
“It was a really cool spectacle, especially for the fans,” McClure said. “I thought it was a really cool event. I liked how they organized it, and I liked how they used NC State’s marching band to play all the music and stuff: that was really cool, and it just made the spirit of the game even better.”
Science teacher Jason Curtis also attended and said the outdoor venue made a regular-season game much more dynamic.
“Everybody was happy to be there,” he said. “You know, I’m old so I had no idea what the songs were and everyone was singing along to them. Playoff games are crazier, but it was the best atmosphere in a long time.”
The outdoor NHL game was originally supposed to take place in 2021 but was postponed to because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Afterwards, the outdoor rink was used for the “Frozen Finley” event, which featured the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill versus North Carolina State university; the Wolfpack won 7-3, attracting an estimated 24,000 fans, according to NC State’s athletic department.
