Let’s go, Canes: Newsroom culture quest gets extra shine from Lord Stanley’s Cup
Lord Stanley visited The News & Observer office on Wednesday, and he was regal. Great posture, perhaps a bit stiff, but with charisma that shined.
Everyone wanted to have their photo taken with Lord Stanley, and he obliged without any pouting. (This is how royals should act.)
Most importantly, we tried not to touch.
Our thanks to the National Hockey League, the Stanley Cup’s trustees, and deputy regional sports editor Justin Pelletier in getting Lord Stanley’s Cup delivered to our newsroom for 30 worthy minutes on an otherwise busy Wednesday.
(And thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes for giving the Cup a reason to visit Raleigh.)
Workplace culture should be a priority for any organizational leader. Fortunately, N&O employees make it easy to appreciate working and living here.
Our journalists are busy and live across the Triangle. It’s not practical for everyone to be in the office every moment. Besides, it’s our job to go to the news.
Even in a hybrid office environment — where many work at home — our journalists find time to get together. There’s a monthly after-hours trivia night. Reporter Martha Quillin recently organized sewing classes. Our #ToolkitTuesday sessions have ranged from CPR training to museum field trips to a recent staff panel discussion moderated by Laura Brache and featuring Teddy Rosenbluth, Kristen Johnson and Mary Helen Moore on how they’ve navigated new beats.
The Cup visit added coolness to the culture quest.
I’ve spent time with the Stanley Cup before, including a few weeks ago in Toronto. This is the first time the Cup needed to be buzzed past my office door.
Sports has many iconic championship trophies, but the Stanley Cup is special. Lord Stanley wanted to recognize Canada’s rich hockey heritage. What started as a trophy for the top amateur hockey team evolved into the NHL’s prize. That’s when the Cup became legend as winning players openly shared it with fans.
Yet, for all that smooching and touching that defines Cup lore, superstition prevails: Players refrain from touching Lord Stanley’s trophy until it’s theirs to hoist.
Carolina Hurricanes are a point of Triangle pride
There’s nothing ethically squishy about non-sports journalists being fans. We live in the Triangle; we root for the Canes (and other teams). It explains why the Cup’s visit was a distinctive moment for N&O colleagues, spouses, children and one father-in-law.
“I’ve been lucky enough to see games in PNC Arena and a handful of other arenas around the country, but I’ve never actually gotten a glimpse of the Cup,” reporter Mary Helen Moore says. “The dings and scratches in the silver around the ’06 team’s names, remnants of the Cup’s many adventures around the world, reminded me of all the meaning sports bring to a community.”
That 2005-06 Canes team remains a point of Triangle pride. When the Cup arrived at The N&O, visuals editor Scott Sharpe smartly set up a staging area that included The N&O’s image of then-player, now-coach Rod Brind’Amour hoisting the Cup after that banner moment 17 years ago.
Veteran reporter Richard Stradling remembers when and why it matters.
“What a wonderful thing it is that the NHL shares its top trophy with the world the way it does. I was in the last row of the upper deck of the RBC Center when the Canes hoisted the Cup in 2006 and later watched the players parade it around the parking lots outside. But I’ve also now stood next to the Cup four times and even lifted it once. When a team wins the Cup, they don’t get to keep it and put it in a case somewhere. It continues to belong to the game and the fans.”
Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. He has a whole bunch of superstitions.
