The SB Nation Rivalry Week rolls on, and now it’s time for us to start our tour of the Metro! Divisional rivals are the Flyers’ most direct rivals, after all, which means there are a lot of reasons to hate, well, everyone else into the Metro. First up, we’re here to dunk on those jerks in Carolina. Why do we hate the Hurricanes? Our staff weighs in.
Drew: One word. Petr Mrazek. I hate that he’s managed to be effective in Carolina after laying an absolute goose egg in Philadelphia. We have Carter Hart now, but Mrazek going elsewhere and not looking like a pylon in net makes me strangely upset.
Maddie: Ugh, Petr Mrazek. No thanks. That’s a good reason to hate the Canes, but for me, I think I’m going to go with the fact that Haydn Fleury tried to kill David Kase one time, and for that he is my enemy.
Kyle: To stick with the theme of hating on Petr Mrazek, that guy sucked here so it’s pretty annoying seeing him do well on a division rival. My only other major gripe with them is that they constantly give anti-advanced stats people fodder with their “out-corsi a team to death but lose 3-1” trend.
Brad: Petr. Mrazek. Really, what I hate the most right now is that they seem to be really well run, and are in our division. We’ll probably clash with them in the post-season sometime soon and I’ll end up having to actually hate them.
Ryan Q.: Growing up in Virginia, there was a pretty decent amount of Hurricanes fans around me. They were all annoying, so I decided to root against them at all costs, hoping that their dumb fans would never get to experience joy anymore.
Kurt R.: Too bad the Hurricanes don’t play in the CHL. The CORSI hockey league. They’d be doing better there than in the National Hockey League. Folks…
Also a Flyers loss to the Canes a couple years ago led to probably the worst recap I have ever written on this website and I haven’t forgiven them for it.
Ryan G.: Who do the Hurricanes think they are? First they stole Flyers legend Rod Brind’Amour as a player, and then as a coach. They also just came out of completely nowhere to somehow be good. Why is that allowed? They made the Stanley Cup Final in their fifth season after moving to Carolina, and won the Cup three seasons later. And now, just as the Flyers are starting their ascent towards the top of the division, they go and make the Eastern Conference Final? No thank you. Move them back to Hartford.
Kelly: Since this is a round table and I’m not responsible for making this article good, I gotta tell you, fam — I really like the Hurricanes. They’re fun to watch, Rod The Bod runs the team, our old pal Dr. T made them good again, the bunch of jerks thing was fun as hell… I dunno. I’m into their whole thing down there.
Steph: Well, you see, they stole Dr. T from us. And that makes me angry. He could have been a Flyers but nooooo. I also hate their logo.
But it’s not all ire around here! Maybe there are some things to like about the Hurricanes after all. Gang, what do we think?
Maddie: The Canes are just… fun? Also we still love our old pal Eric.
Brad: There are a lot of things I like about the Hurricanes. Their jerseys are clean, Hamilton the pig is the best, and of course the Storm Surge, which makes people who hate fun mad. Even though they are a division rival, the bunch of jerks are easy for me to get behind. For now.
Maddie: Hamilton the pig! I love him too!
Ryan Q.: I’ve actually grown to like Hurricanes fans a lot after thinking they were annoying at first. Definitely a better fan base than it gets credit for. PNC Arena is also a lot of fun, especially during March or early April when the weather is perfect for tailgating.
Ryan G.: Yes, them making people mad with their celebrations is one of the good things about those bunch of jerks.
Craig: To be honest, I don’t mind them. I love the celebrations and embracing analytics. Also Rod The Bod is their head coach.
Drew: Their celebrations are fun and John Forslund is one of my favorite broadcasters in the NHL.
Kelly: Unlike the Devils, I have to say: yes.
Steph: I love the storm surge. Every team should do them, it’s so much fun! Also Dougie Hamilton has finally found a home and a team that doesn’t seem to hate him for enjoying museums, ice cream, and scooters and that warms my heart.
