RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A day after the Canes punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final, Caniacs can already start buying their tickets for the next round of the playoffs.
“We live in Virginia Beach, so it’s Capitals Country, unfortunately, and I’m a die-hard Canes fan, so to get kick Ovechkin out was great,” said Jessie Thorogood.
Thorogood is in the Triangle this weekend for a wedding.
“We had a rehearsal dinner last night, so we were keeping up with the game on the party bus and at the rehearsal dinner.”
She and her husband made sure to take advantage of being in Raleigh, coming down to Lenovo Center to buy some merchandise as the Canes’ playoff run continues.
“We left the baby with my mom, we were like, we’ll be back in 20 minutes.”
While Caniacs are understandably excited, local businesses are also buzzing about another deep playoff run.
“You’ve got people that are looking to go out, they want to go dine, they want to watch the game with other Canes fans, so they’re spending more when they’re doing that. They’re also looking for merchandise that they can buy local,” said Jennifer Martin, Executive Director for Shop Local Raleigh.
It still remains to be seen who the Canes will face in the Eastern Conference Final, as Carolina will have all eyes on Sunrise, Florida Friday night to see if the Panthers can close out their series against the Maple Leafs.
Florida leads that series 3-2 after losing the first two games of that series.
If the Panthers advance, the Canes, who have yet to lose at home so far this postseason, would have home ice advantage.
A Toronto advancement would keep home ice north of the border.