Hurricanes should honor IceCaps

I can still remember the moment fairly well. It was 1991, and I was at lunch in the cafeteria of my Harnett County high school, and a couple of my friends were discussing the hockey game they had attended the night before.

"Ice hockey?" I asked.

Yup. Turns out Raleigh had a full-fledged, professional "ice" hockey team. I had no idea, even though I lived roughly 45 minutes from the Capital City. A couple of weeks later, a group of us piled into my Chevy Corsica (hatchback, baby!) and drove up to Dorton Arena to watch the first of many Raleigh IceCaps games.

And it was wonderful. I remember tickets for students being about $5 or so, and the food and merchandise was fairly affordable. (I still proudly display an IceCaps puck on my office shelf.) The arena was cold the moment you stepped into the concourse, and the action on the ice was exciting and like nothing I'd ever seen in person before. I wasn't necessarily hooked as a hardcore hockey fan, but IceCaps games introduced me -- and I'm sure hundreds if not thousands of others in the Raleigh area -- to this wild and wonderful sport.

And because of that contribution, I'd like to see the Carolina Hurricanes honor the IceCaps in some way during the 2010-2011 season, which will be 20 years since the Caps first played at that whacky building across the street. (Yes, I realize this a few years away.) Ideally, I'd love for the Canes to don throwback IceCaps sweaters for at least one game that season. At the very least, they should sport IceCaps patches for the entire season.

I won't go as far as to say that had there been no Raleigh IceCaps that there would today be no Carolina Hurricanes. But it's not ridiculous to assume that the IceCaps made the transition to East Coast Hockey League to National Hockey League just a little smoother. (And, remember, the Canes needed all the help they could get in those early years.)

The Caps called Dorton home from 1991 until the arrival of the Canes. (The IceCaps moved to Augusta, Georgia.) The IceCaps had a loyal following, and some of its players chose to remain in the Raleigh area and make this their home. The names of folks like Lyle Wildgoose and Kurt Kleinendorst still conjure up good memories for many old IceCaps fans.

There are even Canes-IceCaps connections. Prodigal son/Canes GM Jason Karmanos played 16 games for the Caps back in 1997. Wildgoose's son, Nicholas, plays youth hockey in the area. (Think fans don't remember the Caps? Young Wildgoose "received starting-lineup applause as well (relatively, anyway) no doubt from old-school hockey fans who assumed he is related to IceCaps star Lyle Wildgoose," wrote the N&O's Luke DeCock back in March.)

And here's one more piece of evidence to show that the IceCaps' legacy lives on (from this past January's News & Observer).

"Who would have thought that 10 hockey moms in Raleigh would become pioneers in women's ice hockey in the southeast?

"The N.C.Trailblazers, now in their 13th year, have blazed the trail for local women to enjoy hockey on the ice rather than from the stands.

"Julia Zeigler, 51, a Raleigh native who now lives in Youngsville and is a corporate sales representative for the Carolina Hurricanes, is one of the team's founders.

"She recalls the Trailblazers' humble beginnings in 1995 at Dorton Arena where the now-defunct Raleigh Ice Caps played. A group of transplanted Canadians and women with kids in the local youth hockey programs decided they wanted to have some fun on the ice and pooled their money to rent ice time. ...

"But hockey fever struck. Today, their roster of 50 includes a competitive team, two recreational teams and beginning skaters. ..."

Not a bad little legacy worth celebrating.

Got any thoughts on ways that the Canes or the area could honor the IceCaps' 20th anniversary? Or, do you have some IceCaps memories to share?