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Andrei Svechnikov will long celebrate this Stanley Cup victory.
In their eighth consecutive playoff appearance, the Carolina Hurricanes finally got over the hump and brought the Cup back to North Carolina for the first time since 2006.
The first stop on Svechnikov’s celebratory tour was Raleigh Raising Cane’s, where he was able to take pictures, sign autographs and serve some Caniacs some mixed pictures, both food and equipment.
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Andrei Svechnikov celebrated his Stanley Cup victory with Carolina Hurricanes fans at Raising Cane’s. (Raising the cane)
Fans had waited a long time and suffered years of late-season anguish before regaining the Cup, while Svechnikov had a front-row seat to witness it all.
Svechnikov, the second overall pick by the Canes (not the Raising) in the 2018 NHL Draft, has never missed the playoffs. But he always lost the last game of the season.
Three times, that happened in the Eastern Conference finals; three other times, it was in the semifinals, and the other time it came in the first round.
Of course, Svechnikov would cherish this title no matter when it arrived. But knowing that he’d been so close so many times, he’s definitely taking it in a little more.
Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes holds up the Stanley Cup after winning game six against the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 14, 2026. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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“Just thinking about everything we went through, how much hard work we put in and, you know, we’ve been eliminated every single playoff, pretty much, it was like a kick in the butt every time,” Svechnikov told Pak Gazette Digital in a recent interview.
“But we knew at some point we were going to win the Stanley Cup, and this was the year. So, you know, we’re really excited and we did it this year.”
It wasn’t easy: the Vegas Golden Knights took a 2-1 series lead and appeared to be headed for their second Cup in their brief history.
But for Svechnikov there were never any doubts.
Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes poses on the ice with confetti after game six of the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on June 14, 2026. (Ben Jackson/NHLI via Getty Images)
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“We just knew what we had in the locker room, in each other. We supported each other, the coaching staff did a really good job preparing us for every game, and we took off after that.”
