Karmanos’ Carolina gamble wins him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame

With temperatures soaring to 90 degrees, this may seem like a funny time to be talking about ice hockey. But then, when Peter Karmanos Jr. brought NHL hockey to North Carolina in 1997, that seemed kind of funny, too.

The Hartford Whalers moved South, to the land of college basketball and football. Naysayers wondered aloud about this plain-spoken guy Karmanos, and some even were skeptical about the name, Hurricanes, in a place where hurricanes have done profound damage over the years. Now that the team has a Stanley Cup and respectable crowds at its Raleigh arena, the name seems perfect – and Karmanos has been announced as a new member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Karmanos is being inducted come November in the category of “builder,” one who has helped advance the game, and he most emphatically has done that. For one, Karmanos has long been an advocate of youth hockey (there’s a good bit around here) and of advancing the game. His friends and supporters, including Hall of Fame star and Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis, salute Karmanos for, in Francis’ words, dedicating “a significant portion of his life, and a lot of money, to growing the sport.”

Long ago, questioned about the financial risk of coming to North Carolina, Karmanos sarcastically and humorously wondered whether anyone could show him how to make money owning an NHL professional hockey franchise. But he’s put his money where his mouth is many times, whether in pursuit of star players or in giving a free hand to his former long-time general manager Jim Rutherford, who helped shape the Hurricanes.

Karmanos qualifies as a builder. And few in Raleigh, especially all those naysayers-turned-Caniacs in their red and white and black “sweaters” (that’s jerseys in hockey speak), will disagree.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Karmanos’ Carolina gamble wins him a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame."