Hurricanes Fans Pack RBC Center For Season Opener

WRALSportsFan

Hurricanes Fans Pack RBC Center For Season Opener

Oct 10, 2002

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RALEIGH, N.C. — It was the night Carolina Hurricanes fans have been waiting for. The season opener against the New York Rangers at the newly named RBC Center.

Excitement is high after last season's quest for the Stanley Cup.

"We think regular season playoffs -- that's the kind of hockey you want to play. Pre-season it was difficult. Anyway more success, we have more kids on the lineup trying to make the team, but the intensity will be there for both teams on Wednesday," said coach Paul Maurice.

Prior to the game, the team raised a pair of banners to the rafters at the RBC Center: one signifying the 2002 Southeast Division championship and another signifying the 2002 Eastern Conference championship.

Many familiar faces stayed with the team, including Captain Ron Francis and Jeff O'Neill. However, three key players are gone from the front office and President Jim Cain is on his way out.

"It's really standard business procedure, especially in sports. There's a lot of turnover. I think the team is positioned well to go forward," Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said.

"The Hurricanes desperately needed somebody to rebuild burned bridges with the corporate community here. Nobody is better at that than Jim Cain," sports radio host Adam Gold said.

Cain is credited with inking an $80 million naming rights deal, and led a campaign that increased the season ticket base to 12,000 last year. Team leaders said sales for this season are disappointing so far, especially among local businesses.

"We didn't expect them to buy every year, but the encouraging thing in a soft economy is that we sold 3,000 new season tickets," Rutherford said.

The arena is no longer the Entertainment and Sports Arena, or ESA. It is officially the RBC Center.

Fans who sit behind the goals will be watching games through nets -- an NHL decision after a Columbus, Ohio fan was killed by a puck last season.

Ticket prices have increased by an average of $5 per ticket and parking now costs a dollar more.