In recent years, there’s been a uniting force amongst fans that root for the three Tobacco Road schools in the Triangle—the Carolina Hurricanes. While they play in NC State’s home arena, their consistent success since the 2018-19 season has caused their popularity to explode in the area. There’s no bigger sign of that than the recent news of owner Tom Dundon selling pieces of the team at a valuation of $2.66 billion, about five times what Dundon paid for the team back in 2018.
Still, the NHL season
overlaps with the college basketball season, so it’s rare for the players to be able to make it to a game. The schedule is usually too compact to allow for a trip even 30 minutes away for players that have lives outside the sport, and a lot of that comes through in the fact that even though they share an arena, they are rarely seen watching NC State. This year provided a unique opportunity though.
Thanks to the Olympics, those who didn’t travel to Italy were given a three week break from the NHL schedule. The length of the break meant the last part of it was set aside to gather players back with their team to practice so they could hit the ice full speed once the season resumed. For once, players had free time to enjoy some college basketball; sure enough, there behind the scorer’s table next to the UNC bench at the UNC-Louisville game, sat six members of the Canes.
Credit goes to fellow Tar Heel Blog writer Akil Guruparan, who was in the Smith Center that night and saw the members of the team recognized on the big screen. A few nights later, after the Hurricanes defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning I had a quick chance to ask Logan Stankoven — the one in the middle with the UNC shirt and hat — about his experience going to the game.
Post-game isn’t a time to get more detail, but fortunately I was able to follow up with Stankoven before the Hurricanes played the Detroit Red Wings a couple days later, and I asked how the trip came together:
“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.”
I followed up with the Hurricanes, and was put in touch with Wilmoth. It turns out there’s been a member of the UNC Basketball team working with the Hurricanes for a few years and we didn’t know it. Wilmoth is a 2020 UNC graduate and — arguably more importantly — spent her senior year as one of the varsity student managers for UNC Basketball.
Anyone who is a UNC fan knows just how much work goes into just getting one of those spots, how much work they do when they get it, and then how much they are considered members of the Carolina Family once their season is done.
“They all say that but it’s true. It’s like everyone really is treated like family, and I still talk to all of my old coworkers, managers, staff, players…we’re still in contact so often and it’s so fun to get brought back to Carolina.”
So how did the trip come about?
“So, [Vice President of Communications] Mike Sundheim…and [Head Athletic Trainer] Doug Bennett both mentioned that they were going to the game. They had gotten tickets…and they were taking Jordan Staal and my boss [Manager of Team Services] Mike Brown…and I was like ‘this could be cool to see if any other guys want to go since Jordo’s going…so I texted [UNC Director of Operations Eric] Hoots, and was just like ‘Hey I think I’m going to see if we can get some guys together to come to this game. I know it’s going to be a good one. I just wanted to see what the availability is. Hoots goes ‘say the word and we’ll take care of you.’ So I just went around the locker and just asked all the guys.
“[The family connection] showed when I took our Canes guys over, it was so funny, because they got to really see just how that family is. It seemed like every corner I was turning down, I was seeing someone new that I hadn’t seen in a while. It was just a really good reminder of once you’re in the family, you never leave it.”
Wilmoth grew up a UNC fan before getting the chance to attend, and her freshman year at UNC was the 2016-17 National Title season. She wasn’t so lucky her senior year, as we know how that ‘19-’20 season went, but she wouldn’t trade the opportunity for anything.
“We weren’t winning games like we wanted to, but still, I was learning under Coach Williams who is a legend, and was just an awesome person to be able to be around every day. Coach Davis, now the head coach, he was such a mentor to me while I was there and so I got to see how they responded to adversity and when things weren’t going right. What I always tell my dad, ‘I would rather work for Carolina basketball in a year that’s tough like this than work for any other program in a winning year because it’s just like the best program to be a part of,‘”
It was because of that connection she ended up where she did. Former assistant Steve Robinson was the one who convinced her to go to graduate school at Florida State. When she was looking to go into the professional arena, the job with the Hurricanes was open and she was able to use Hoots as her reference.
So how have her conversion tactics worked? Well, between her and Sundheim, they’ve managed to covert the Manager of Team Services Mike Brown — a Northwestern alumnus — into a UNC fan. As for Stankoven?
“Honestly, like I said that was my first ever game, so it’s hard to pick sides. It was just one of those opportunities where we were offered to go and it’s hard to say no, right?”
No doubt Mallory will keep working on them.
