In 1997, the owner of the Whalers Peter Karmanos announced that the team would move to the Research Triangle area of NC. The team changed their colors to red and black and renamed themselves the Carolina Hurricanes. In fact, Karmanos himself thought of the name, instead of holding a fan contest as was the norm, because of lack of time.

In the first two years as the Hurricanes, they had to play their home games in Greensboro, because the Entertainment and Sports Arena at Raleigh was not ready. This caused attendance at their games to fall as nobody was willing to drive down to Greensboro to watch them play. Karmanos finally conceded that playing their home games at Greensboro “was probably a mistake”. In 1989, they won their first Southeast Division title and made it to the playoffs. They lost in the first round to the Boston Bruins and a few hours after the loss, their defenseman Steve Chiasson was killed in a tragic accident.

In 2002, the Hurricanes won the Southeast Division again and made the playoffs. In the Conference Finals, they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs and made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in franchise history. They lost the Finals to the Detroit Red Wings, but it had been one of their most successful seasons.

Stanley Cup 2006

In 2006, the Hurricanes made the playoffs again. This time they beat the Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference Finals. They went on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final, which they hosted at Raleigh. This was the first time that two former teams from the WHA were facing each other at the Finals. The Hurricanes beat the Oilers and won their first and only Stanley Cup till date. This win was the first major professional league sports title won by any team in the Carolinas. They were also the second consecutive team from the Southeast Division to win it. The Tampa Bay Lightning had won it the previous year. Unfortunately, the Hurricanes failed to make the playoffs in the following season. Interestingly, even the Edmonton Oilers did not make the playoffs making it the first instance of both finalists of one year, failing to make the playoffs the next year.

The Hurricanes have retired one jersey number so far, Ron Francis 10. Steve Chiassons number was unofficially retired, following his tragic death in 1999. The Hurricanes Hall of Famers include Ron Francis, Paul Coffey, David Keon and Gordie Howe.