Hurricanes fans jam into downtown Raleigh for team’s Stanley Cup parade, celebration

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Hurricanes brought their Stanley Cup celebration to downtown Raleigh on Saturday, with thousands of fans arriving hours early to line sidewalks for the team’s victory parade or packing in near the rally stage where the Hurricanes were set to cap off the festivities.

The team boarded double-decker buses to start the parade, which was set to weave by the State Capitol building. And the Hurricanes players were greeted by fans screaming, chanting, waving flags and wearing Carolina jerseys, still buzzing from the franchise beating the Vegas Golden Knights last weekend to win the Cup for the second time, the other coming in 2006.

Carly Goodman, 35, of Raleigh, was hard to miss in the front row behind barricades in front of the stage where the parade would end with a rally. She sported a red Sebastian Aho jersey, waved a large Hurricanes flag and was blinged out with a silver “Stanley Cup” chain necklace.

She was drinking from a “beer skate,” the novelty mug shaped like a Hurricanes skate that sold out immediately during the Game 1 of the second-round series against Philadelphia. She got up at 5 a.m. — “Let my dogs out, they were mad to get up,” she said — and made sure to head straight downtown hours in advance to ensure a prime spot.