For a moment, UNC, Duke, State fans can all shake hands and agree — on the Canes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- The Carolina Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup finals run unites rival fans across Raleigh.
- Fans from UNC, Duke, and NC State temporarily set aside rivalries to support the Canes.
- Raleigh’s Lenovo Center energy stems from combined enthusiasm of Tobacco Road fans.
In normal times, the chance of a Duke fan high-fiving a Tar Heel over anything sports-related runs about as low as free parking at the Lenovo Center.
Around Raleigh, you’re about as likely to see an N.C. State student fist-bump somebody wearing Carolina Blue as you are finding tomatoes in a barbecue sandwich.
Only one thing could unite the Triangle’s three sets of mutually hostile fans:
The Canes in the Stanley Cup finals.
Once the puck drops, all the rivalry melts away.
“Normally,” said Jackson Pittman, a rising senior at NC State, “you don’t want anything to do with a Tar Heel fan or a Duke fan. When the Canes play, you see all fans wearing red.”
The combined power of three sets of ACC basketball fans
Raleigh’s Lenovo Center has the reputation as the loudest house in the NHL — notoriety that is almost certainly due to the combined power of three rabid sets of basketball fans united under a common hockey flag.
“Tobacco Road fans learned how to taunt their opponents in steamy ACC Basketball gyms and arenas,” wrote A. Scott Honeycutt in a recent Facebook post. “It’s our superpower. It comes from living in close proximity to big time rivals, Duke, State, UNC. School kids learn to smack talk at a very early age.”
The temporary truce serves as fun novelty.
“My best friend is a Carolina fan,” said Brady Suber, bound for NC State in the fall. “I’ve actually gone to watch Canes games at his house. It’s something we can actually agree on. We argue most of the year.”
Everyone’s loyal to the Carolina Hurricanes
Loyalties lie deeper and as fiercely as with Coke or Pepsi, Star Wars or Star Trek, Hatfields or McCoys.
“When they’re not playing, I’m fine,” said Tyler Brown, a recent Wake Tech graduate and longtime Duke fan. “When they’re playing each other, you probably don’t want to be around me very much.”
But for a few glorious weeks, while the Hurricanes vie for a national title that has eluded any other local basketball team for nearly a decade, all the animosity melts away on the ice.
This story was originally published June 1, 2026 at 3:39 PM.