Skate With The ‘Canes!

The 16th annual Skate with the Canes fundraiser was held tonight.  It was a sell-out and this year’s event raised just under $40,000 for the Kids ‘N Community Foundation.  Brian and I were attending this charitable event for the first time!  Brian’s skating chops have improved to the point where I figured he could hold his own on the PNC Arena ice.  This event is not being held long after Brian was cleared to skate by his Orthopaedist at Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic (coincidentally the Official Team Physicians for the Carolina Hurricanes, as Brian often points out … side note, they were also my doctors during the unfortunate leg break of 2010) .  Brian hasn’t had lessons or any practice for the better part of six weeks.  He was a tad apprehensive about doing it, but couldn’t pass-up the opportunity.  He actually donned his knee/shin guards for hockey under his khaki pants, and I don’t think anyone knew 🙂

We cycled through three sessions: a photograph session held in conjunction with a tour of the locker room, an autograph session, and (of course) a skating session.  We had the opportunity to meet each player on the Hurricanes’ roster.  We also got to meet a few special guests from the broadcast team, including Hall of Fame radio voice Chuck Kaiton.

Our first session was the locker room tour and holiday-themed photograph session.  Right outside of the main entrance to the locker room, we were greeted with a surprise: three Hurricanes Alumni were there to sign autographs. Shane Willis, Bates Battaglia, and Jesse Boulerice (the player on my ‘Canes Jersey) were great additions not advertised for the event.  I was so thrilled to meet these players from years past, not as much of a thrill for Brian.

Once in the locker room, we took pictures with the players in their stalls (including Tim Gleason, Defenseman and Alternate Captain).  This year, Brian was especially drawn to Justin Peters as one of his favorite players, both because he’s a great player, but also because he is a goaltender and Brian is kind of thinking that may be the position he would like to have in the future.  Justin was actually on the end, and whereas most fans sat down right in the middle, Brian didn’t want to miss the chance to be next to Justin, so he did what any starstruck kid would do, went right towards his favorite on the end for a snapshot!  We also didn’t realize he wore glasses at all, so that was a bit of a surprise when we saw him wearing his rims.  Down the hall, a holiday feast with turkey and all the trimmings was set up for a seasonal photo-op. It was like eating Christmas dinner with the team (most notably: Jeff Skinner, Forward)!  In the locker room and hallways I took all sorts of photos of the memorabilia on the wall.  It brings back a lot of fun, and less fun, memories over the last few years.  Take a look at the gallery to see some of the stuff I could see up-close.

After the locker room, we were off to the autograph session.  Before getting the John Hancock’s of the players, television personalities John Forslund, Tripp Tracy, and Chantel McCabe were on-hand to have photos made and autographs given.  Chantel even held Brian on her lap!  The four of them (including Chuck Kaiton) added so much to the event, and we appreciated the time they took out of their busy schedules to meet us.  After interacting with the broadcasting team, we headed over to get autographs from members of the team.

After the autographs, it was finally our turn to skate!  Brian and I were both so excited to have our blades hit the PNC Arena ice.  It’s truly a surreal experience being on that ice, looking up at your seats experiencing the entire view in reverse.  Also of note, that is some awesome ice, best quality ice I’ve ever skated on.  Once Brian could find the spot on the ice the center-ice camera was pointed at, he made a dash over to get himself onto the four big HD screens on the scoreboard!  We not only had the opportunity to skate with a group of players (including Cam Ward, Goaltender, and Jordan Staal, Forward and Alternate Captain), but also got to hang out with Stormy and in-game co-hosts Amber Jaye and Ron the Ref.  Brian also found the spot on the South end of the ice to run through some hockey drills with Brett Bellemore and a few other players.  This might have been his favorite spot of the entire night, even more than meeting the ‘Canes!  Another thing right up there was skating with Stormy, the Ice Hog mascot, and getting his autograph.  I can’t quite describe how much the boy loves this silly skating pig.

The day was filled with many more fun guests and entertainment.   The Eye Care Associates Storm Squad was on-hand to talk with us, sign their 2014 calendar, and man the slapshot booth (also a top-5 location for Brian this evening).  In all, it was an awesome experience, and we can’t wait to do it again next year, and to do a similar event for the Canes Kids Club later in the season!