Blend of old, new brings an NHL title to Carolina

By Lenox Rawlings in the WSJ:

RALEIGH - Upon their 1997 arrival in the South, the Carolina Hurricanes sensed a need to teach fans even the simplest hockey rules.
Today, Carolina rules the hockey world.
The Hurricanes, thrashed and trashed after blowing two title shots in the past week, regained their skating balance last night and beat Edmonton 3-1 in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals.
With foghorns blaring and most of the 18,978 fans roaring, the Hurricanes glided across the RBC Center ice, taking turns hugging the Stanley Cup.

"Truth be told, the Hurricanes taught no one about hockey. NC residents who really cared about the Stanley Cup before the finals are former Northeasterners or Canadians working and living here. They were already fans.
But that's okay. Now it's destined to become quite popular in NC, which is exactly what we need: another sport glorifying physical violence, a sport often played by a gang of unsavory characters, watched by foreigners taking our jobs, whose beers crowd the shelves of the fridge at the local Wilco."

Completely, completely kidding — just practicing my ‘xenophobic sports blogger’ shtick…