HURRICANE FORCE: Canes blank Vegas 3-0, win 2nd Stanley Cup title | Live Updates

As the City of Raleigh basks in a professional sports championship, Mayor Janet Cowell has officially proclaimed June 20 (Saturday) as "Carolina Hurricanes Day" in honor of the team's 2026 Stanley Cup Championship victory.

The Hurricanes won their second Stanley Cup on Sunday night, beating the Las Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 in the best-of-seven series and bringing the Cup back to Raleigh for the first time in 20 years.

To commemorate the achievement, the Hurricanes will host a championship parade in downtown Raleigh on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. The final parade route is still being determined and will be shared with the public as soon as it is finalized.

Residents throughout Raleigh and the surrounding region are invited to join the celebration and honor the Hurricanes players, coaches, staff, and fans who helped make this championship season unforgettable.

Mayor's Proclamation

WHEREAS, the Carolina Hurricanes franchise began in 1971 as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association, joining the National Hockey League in 1979 as the Hartford Whalers, before relocating to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1997, rebranding as the Carolina Hurricanes; and
WHEREAS, the Carolina Hurricanes persevered through the challenges of relocation, built a passionate and loyal fan base throughout North Carolina, and reached their first Stanley Cup Final in 2002 before capturing their first Stanley Cup Championship in 2006; and
WHEREAS, on June 14, 2026, the Carolina Hurricanes secured their second Stanley Cup Championship by defeating the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, further cementing their place among the National Hockey League's most respected franchises and bringing the Stanley Cup back to Raleigh after twenty years; and
WHEREAS, under the leadership of head coach Rod Brind'Amour, who led the franchise to its first Stanley Cup title in 2006 as the team's captain, is one of few in National Hockey League history to win the Stanley Cup both as a player and as head coach; and
WHEREAS, Carolina Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, stepping up with iconic performances including goals in five consecutive games; and
WHEREAS, the 2026 Stanley Cup Championship serves as a source of civic pride and inspiration for residents throughout Raleigh and North Carolina, demonstrating the power of determination, teamwork, and community spirit;
NOW, THEREFORE, do I, Janet Cowell, Mayor of the City of Raleigh, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim June 20th, 2026 as
CAROLINA HURRICANES DAY
IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the City of Raleigh, North Carolina, to be affixed this 15th day of June 2026.

Janet Cowell
Mayor

Taylor Hall was a No. 1 pick in the draft in 2010. He was the NHL's MVP in 2018.

Now, he is a Stanley Cup champion.

"You never know. You never know what kind of turn your life's going to take," Hall said after hoisting the trophy. "It was heavy. It was heavy, unbalanced but amazing."

No longer in the prime of his career, the 34-year-old Hall was one of the biggest reasons the Carolina Hurricanes won 16 of 19 games during this playoff run.

"He's fast, he's physical (and) he makes great plays with the puck," defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. "He's selling out to block shots. And so you need that. He's really just been a complete player this whole playoffs."

Hall took on a workmanlike role on a line alongside 23-year-old Logan Stankoven and 22-year-old Jackson Blake. That trio led the way through the first three rounds of the playoffs and in the final against Vegas. Hall was a force in every way - generating offense, hammering opponents and sacrificing himself on defense.

"Every line on our team has a physical aspect, and I think it falls on me to play like that," Hall said. "Florida last year, there wasn't a guy on their team that didn't hit and didn't make it really, really hard to be on the ice against them and you watch and learn."

Hall fit in quickly with Carolina

With Chicago, Hall played Carolina on Jan. 20, 2025, and liked what he saw in a hard-fought overtime loss.

"I got a first-hand glimpse of the intensity in which we play," Hall said.

His agent had approached him about the Hurricanes' interest in him and a few days later he joined them as part of the same three-team trade that got them Mikko Rantanen. Initially, Hall was not in shape to play coach Rod Brind'Amour's brand of hockey.

But general manager Eric Tulsky liked what he saw in Hall.

"He brings a blend of speed, skill and heaviness that really fits for us," Tulsy said. "He has the ability to get pucks into the zone, win pucks along the way and he has the vision and creativity and skill to get pucks to the middle and create scoring chances off it. We spend a lot of time in the offensive zone, and we need players like him who can not just win the battle along the wall but get it to premium ice and create those top-tier chances and he's been able to do that for us."

After starting in Edmonton and also playing for New Jersey, Arizona, Buffalo, Boston and Chicago, Carolina felt right.

"I've been kind of everywhere," Hall said. "I got here and felt really at home within a couple days."

He settled in the Raleigh area, and before the end of April signed a three-year extension worth just over $3 million annually. A lot went into it, including a bad experience as a free agent during the pandemic and being able to drive his dog to his offseason home.

"I was happy here, and I love the way we play and ultimately I saw this as a place that I think we could be here," Hall said. "That's what I envisioned, and everything else seemed like it made a lot of sense."
No MVP ego

Brind'Amour as a player was a grinder, a defense-first center who made a living out of stopping players like Hall. As a coach, he knew all about Hall's skill as a winger, his 93-point season in 2017-18 with New Jersey that got him the Hart Trophy and the kind of offensive talent the Hurricanes were getting.

The player who arrived was nothing like that.

"He didn't bring any of that, 'I'm an MVP' and I'm going to do it this way.' It was, 'What do I have to do?'" Brind'Amour said. "When he first got with us, he was playing like 12 minutes a night. It didn't matter. It was whatever he has to do to win. That's refreshing, and that's good on him."

Hall helped Carolina reach the 2025 Eastern Conference Final, then he and the team faltered against the defending-champion Panthers. That turned out to be an important lesson for a guy in his 30s thirsty for a title.

"I didn't play well in that conference final at all, and I think just the way that Florida played and the way that I played, it was a learning experience for me even at 33," Hall said. "It was just different way to play in the playoffs. There's a way to play, and there's a way that the really good teams do it. I took it over the summer and tried to just get better and better."

Putting that into practice allowed Hall to set a record. His 18 seasons between getting drafted by Edmonton are the most before hoisting the Stanley Cup in league history for a No. 1 pick.

All because Hall made a conscious decision to fit exactly what the Hurricanes needed.

"It's great for the role that we need him to play," Slavin said. "I think he still has all the talent in the world, and you witness it night in and night out. He's been great. And, yeah, has he adapted a little bit to how we play here? I think so. But that just speaks to the player that he is."

- The Associated Press contributed.

Hours before Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, Rod Brind'Amour praised Brandon Bussi while also expressing some measure of relief that the Carolina Hurricanes did not need to turn to their backup goaltender during this playoff run.

"Haven't had to use him, (and) to be honest, I hope we don't because something's gone wrong," Brind'Amour said.

Turns out the late-blooming goaltender came out of the bullpen after all and backstopped the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup.

After Frederik Andersen was in net for every minute of the first three rounds and the start of the final, Bussi came in during Game 3 and finished out the series. He stopped 81 of the 87 shots he faced against Vegas as Andersen's status was shrouded in mystery; the veteran from Denmark did not dress from Game 4 on because of a knee injury that was only revealed after the final was over.

"Freddie battled," Brind'Amour said. "He got a little nicked up, wasn't 100%. I felt for him, but he got us here and then Bus took over. This is a team."

Bussi and Andersen embraced after Game 6 ended Sunday night. Andersen, at 36 the second-oldest player on the team, was the first player captain and playoff MVP Jordan Staal handed the Cup to after getting it from Commissioner Gary Bettman.

"It's disbelief, really," Andersen said. "I did not expect that. It really beat every emotion I could think of or what I've been feeling."

Bussi, a 27-year-old from Long Island, was not an unknown quantity for the Hurricanes because he played in nearly half their games this season, winning 31 of his 39 starts to help Carolina earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference. He got a three-year extension at a bargain-basement $5.7 million price in February.

Before the past several months, he was on track for the career of a journeyman.

Going undrafted, he spend several years in the Boston Bruins' farm system with the Maine Mariners of the ECHL and Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Liking what they saw, the astute back-to-back champion Florida Panthers signed him last summer to be their third goalie behind Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov.

Trying to get him to the AHL in Charlotte, the Panthers lost Bussi when Carolina claimed him off waivers. He and fiancée Mary Raclawski were 10 hours into a drive from from South Florida to North Carolina when his agent called to tell him the Hurricanes had claimed him.

"The next thing you know, the following day I'm in Raleigh and I'm on the opening night roster," Bussi said. "It's crazy."

Injuries to Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov thrust him into an important role for a top contender.

Bussi was even more needed in the final. He entered at the second intermission in Game 3 with the Hurricanes down 4-0. He stopped all 18 shots to allow a stirring comeback, and the only goal he allowed was the Golden Knights' winner in double overtime when the puck took a bad bounce off the end boards behind him and Bussi inadvertently kicked it in.

In the Game 6 clincher, Bussi denied playoff-leading goal-scorer Brett Howden, who got in all alone in the first period. He stopped Tomas Hertl on a 2-on-1 rush in the second, much to the joy of family members watching from the stands. Then Bussi robbed Hertl and Mark Stone on quality scoring chances in the final few minutes of regulation.

Hurricanes fans in Las Vegas chanted "Buss-i! Buss-i!" on the way to his third career shutout. A journeyman no more, Bussi is now a Stanley Cup champion.

So is Andersen.

"This is something everyone dreams of," Andersen said. "You don't really know what it feels like until you try it, and now we're here."

- The Associated Press

Check out the video below as a few Carolina Hurricanes players talk after winning the Stanley Cup.

Seth Jarvis interview:

ABC11's Kate Rogerson talked with Jarvis after Canes' Stanley Cup win.