NHL Fans, Jump on Bandwagon: Why It's OK to Root for the Hurricanes This Postseason

The Carolina Hurricanes and their fans have been in a strange predicament these past five years.

There's considerable whiplash for everyone involved when a small-market team goes from owning the league's longest playoff drought to becoming everyone's favorite happy-go-lucky Cinderella story to five straight years of playoff contention.

Ever since owner Tom Dundon, GM Don Waddell, and head coach Rod Brind'Amour took over, Carolina went from irrelevant, to the tongue-in-cheek "Bunch of Jerks" that instated an unconventional postgame celebration called the Storm Surge, to a team that sells out every regular season game and is consistently relevant on the ice.

The thing is, when you're in a small market, that chip-on-the-shoulder feeling doesn't go away so easily. The Canes have done it their way, bucking tradition without any apology. They've continued on with things like revenge offer sheets, social media antics, and iterations of the Surge.

The refusal to "act like they've been there before," if you will, has gained them some enemies along the way. Most recently, Bally Sports' Pete Blackburn has been on a mission to point out how defensive some Canes fans can be.

As someone who covered the Hurricanes for The Athletic for four years during their rise to relevancy, I personally believe a lot of folks on the outside get it wrong when it comes to the Canes and their fans. Yes, they can be annoying online at times. Yes, they tend to exaggerate some all-encompassing bias against them. But they're annoying because they care, and because for the longest time, you didn't. Plus, lack of attendance and relocation jokes would make you defensive, too.

I fell in love with a lot of things about this team and the people around it in my four years in Raleighwood, and despite some of the collectives' silly internet takes and angst, it's a team worth rooting for.

And it's about to get even more intense. The Canes are headed to the Eastern Conference Finals after taking the down the Devils with a Game 5 overtime win Thursday.

If you're not on now, here are the reasons to hop on the bandwagon, in no particular order.

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The forecheck, the system, and the defense's role

It's ironic that a system largely revolving around shot suppression is also so fun when it comes to defense, but here we are.

If you're into the emerging concept of positionless hockey, this Hurricanes team is for you. There's a reason so many defensemen come to Carolina and have career seasons. Of course, playing next to Jaccob Slavin will give anyone a boost, but it's more than that—it's the system and the attitude.

The easiest way to explain it? Canes coaches encourage all players on the ice including defensemen to jump the rush, and players are rarely punished for making a mistake while doing so. It's something that can take getting used to when defensemen arrive from stricter schemes, but once they let loose you see them just take off.

Game 5 regulation alone saw 17 of Carolina's 31 shots coming from defensemen. Brent Burns came up with that huge equalizer with less than 40 seconds left in the second, and he's got two goals and eight points through 11 games this postseason. More on Burns later, but Slavin and Brett Pesce both have two goals and six points in 11 playoff games. Everyone's a factor, and it's a huge reason the Canes have stayed afloat despite losing Andrei Svechnikov and Teuvo Teravainen.

Then there's the forecheck, and the best way to explain that is "No one wants to make coach Brind'Amour mad." It's relentless and comes in waves, with hard-working forwards constantly putting pressure on the opposing team.

Color commentator Tripp Tracy

To know longtime Hurricanes broadcaster Tripp Tracy is to love him, so much so that many consider him the Frank Sinatra of the NHL. He's been with the Canes since 1998, through the highs of the 2006 Stanley Cup Championship and the lows of the playoff drought.

Tracy has provided so many laughs throughout the years with his trademark humor that sometimes we've taken his brilliant insight and eye for the game for granted.

But this season, as Tracy has bravely shared his sobriety journey, we've seen him at the top of his game. He's still hilarious, but he's sharper than ever and you can tell he's found a confidence he's always deserved. How special would it be for the Hurricanes to win the Cup to cap off a special year for someone who has always been one of their best ambassadors.

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The friends, family, and fan vibes

Stick around long enough after Hurricanes practices, and you'll see Brind'Amour out there shooting pucks with his youngest son, Brooks. He told me a few months ago that he coaches Brooks, Burns' son, and Justin Williams' daughter on his off days.

The famous tailgates start early and last all day in Raleighwood. All are welcome.

A former NHL GM of a different team once told me PNC Arena is the loudest arena in the playoffs, and after experiencing a dozen NHL arenas during the postseason, no one has proved him wrong.

There's a mutual appreciation and sort of closeness between a team and its fans when you're in a small market that just recently became good. No one is able to capture that magic on Twitter, you just have to go to Raleigh and see it for yourself -- and I highly recommend doing that.

Brent Burns' shot at the Cup

Objectively, Burns has had better seasons in his decades of playing in the NHL. But he looks like a kid again and he's playing some of the most fun hockey of his career at 38 on this Hurricanes team. You can tell he and Brind'Amour have a unique relationship, as Brind'Amour was also late in his career chasing that one Stanley Cup. Brind'Amour accomplished that feat, and you get the feeling Burns might, too.

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Head coach Rod Brind'Amour

Remember when people were skeptical that the "poverty" Hurricanes' new management promoted an in-system assistant coach instead of outsourcing the usual carousel?

None of those people ever met Rod Brind'Amour.

First of all, Brind'Amour's entire playing career embodied what it takes to be successful in a traditional market that won't always bring in the flashiest players in the league. He's hard work, he's no shortcuts, and we all know he captained the one Hurricanes team to win the Cup in 2006.

The Hurricanes haven't missed the playoffs since he took over behind the bench. He's breaking all sorts of "fastest to X wins in franchise history" records. He's already got a Jack Adams.

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

You see flashes of who he was as a player in the contemporary Hurricanes—the emphasis on shot suppression, the respect for conditioning with Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Bill Burniston, the stars logging ample TOI, and the lively penalty kill.

He does things the right way, the way they need to be done if a team without a Connor McDavid or an Andrei Vasilevskiy is to win the Cup. I can't think of a current NHL coach who has built more with less and who wouldn't get behind that?

Above all else, the Hurricanes are fun. And isn't that what sports is all about? Having a good time watching a sport we enjoy. The Canes and their fans are having a blast. We all might as well join in.