{"id":1759,"date":"2026-06-05T10:35:35","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:35:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:35:35","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T10:35:35","slug":"why-roy-cooper-wants-canes-to-win-stanley-cup-and-drink-sun-drop-from-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759","title":{"rendered":"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roy Cooper didn\u2019t get the chance to live out his dream in 2006 \u2014 not fully \u2014 but he\u2019s hoping to make things right in 2026.<\/p>\n

Read more Taylor Swift Shares Rare Childhood Footage of Herself Dressed as a Cowgirl<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooper wants to drink Diet Sun Drop<\/a> out of the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, Mountain Dew is a great backup,\u201d Cooper told The News & Observer on Thursday afternoon ahead of Game 2 of the Finals. \u201cBut it\u2019s Sun Drop\u2026 so I would like an opportunity to do that. And that would probably rank as the zaniest thing that I\u2019ve done.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former North Carolina governor and U.S. Senate candidate is hoping the Carolina Hurricanes win the Cup for all the obvious reasons: the spotlight it would bring to the state, the economic impact on the region and a morale boost for many of his constituents. But, at his core, Cooper is just another long-suffering Caniac who is, hopefully, three Carolina wins away from the sweet \u2014 and, in Cooper\u2019s case, tangy citrus \u2014 taste of Stanley Cup victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly have been through a lot of seasons where we were pretty bad and the arena was half full,\u201d Cooper said, \u201cand I stuck with this team through thick and thin. I think we\u2019d see a final payoff for fandom here if we could bring the cup home.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an unofficial requirement for any North Carolina politician to know ball. The state practically demands fluency in Tobacco Road rivalries in order to connect with constituents. But knowing puck is another matter entirely.<\/p>\n

Hockey is growing in non-traditional markets<\/a> but not nearly as popular in the South, making Cooper\u2019s devotion to the Hurricanes something of an outlier. But for more than two decades, he has followed the franchise with the intensity usually reserved in North Carolina for basketball.<\/p>\n

Cooper still considers watching the Canes lift the 2006 Stanley Cup his favorite sports memory. North Carolina basketball\u2019s 2022 Final Four win over Duke is a close second for the UNC grad.<\/p>\n

A native of rural Nash County, Cooper grew up playing football and basketball. He never strapped on the skates himself, but has loved hockey just as passionately and has been a dedicated fan of the Hurricanes since the 2001-02 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s strange, but I do love the sport so much,\u201d Cooper said, \u201cThe speed and power and the toughness of hockey is just unmatched \u2014 particularly when you see it live. Yep, it\u2019s just an amazing game.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Cooper passed that love down to his three daughters, who \u201cdon\u2019t love baseball,\u201d are just \u201cOK with basketball\u201d and \u201ctolerate football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper jokes that one of his better parenting moments involved one of his daughters bringing a sign to a Hurricanes game in hopes of being featured on the jumbotron. Cooper can\u2019t recall the year, but does remember a \u201cterrible\u201d call made against a Carolina player in the third period.<\/p>\n

That meant showtime for Cooper\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire arena is yelling \u2026 and all of a sudden my daughter is up on the screen with her sign that says, \u2018bad call,\u2019\u201d Cooper said. \u201cAnd her dad, the attorney general, is beside her. She stayed up there so long that the boos turned into cheers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper\u2019s campaign has emphasized his fandom as the Democrat runs for U.S. Senate in a nationally watched race. And this week, the campaign and other Democrats took aim at his Republican opponent, Michael Whatley, for posting an AI-generated picture of a Canes player<\/a> on social media and later declining to name a favorite player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always great to welcome new Canes fans!\u201d Cooper wrote on X, referencing Whatley\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

Read more Hurricanes work Game 2 OT magic again, topple Vegas to square series at 1-1<\/a><\/p>\n

But long before he became North Carolina\u2019s governor, sounded sirens at games or surprised Rod Brind\u2019Amour in the locker room with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Cooper was a season-ticket holder in search of the perfect seat in the arena.<\/p>\n

Now, 20 years after the Hurricanes\u2019 only championship, Cooper thinks this is their year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had great last eight years with fantastic teams,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cIt would be amazing to finally bring the Cup back to Raleigh, where it belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, maybe, they\u2019ll allow him to pour some Sun Drop in it.<\/p>\n

Here are some excerpts from The N&O\u2019s conversation with Cooper. Some of these questions and answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.<\/i><\/p>\n

Q:<\/b> What did you make of Shayne Gostisbehere\u2019s comments about the final Vegas goal from Stanley Cup Game 1<\/u><\/a>?<\/p>\n

A:<\/b> \u201cHe took responsibility for that,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cWhat did he say? He took a breath and (Tomas) Hertl was right in the middle. These guys (the Golden Knights) are really good, and they\u2019re very different from Montreal. They forecheck as well as we do. And I don\u2019t remember us playing a team that forechecks as well as we do \u2014 sort of like a mirror of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd consequently, I don\u2019t think we were 100% ready for that. Too many turnovers, and these guys are a lot bigger than Montreal. We\u2019re a little faster than they are, and we\u2019re gonna have to utilize it. It\u2019s gonna be fun to see what unfolds here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q:<\/b> What\u2019s it going to take to get this top line<\/u><\/a> going?<\/p>\n

A:<\/b> \u201cI\u2019m not as worried about the first line. They will be there when we need them. I know that we have been relying on the Stankoven-Hall-Blake<\/u><\/a> line, but they\u2019re too good. I think (Sebastian) Aho and (Seth) Jarvis and Andrei Svechnikov are too good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m more worried about the power play. That\u2019s just not been able to get clicking. We got to figure out a way to deal with that. We put a lot of rubber on the net when it\u2019s five-on-five, but it seems like we\u2019ve been very hesitant to take shots on the power play. I\u2019d like to see that and find a way for us to deal with the forechecking penalty that Vegas has and take better care of the puck. Those are the keys to the game here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd making sure that we\u2019re all over the defensive assignments. This is a tough team to be dealing with, man-on-man, because they are bigger than we are in many positions. But we\u2019re a good team too, and we can win this thing if we just get back to our game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Q:<\/b> How important is it for North Carolina politicians to keep up with North Carolina sports?<\/p>\n

A:<\/b> \u201cIt\u2019s more important just to be yourself and to be who you are. People expect you to be who you are when you are a leader. I just happen to be someone who loves basketball, football, and hockey, and feel comfortable talking about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, it relates to being a government official. Sports bring tremendous economic benefit and good paying jobs to the area. Sports put North Carolina on the map. The fact that we are in the Stanley Cup Final and are being looked at by people across the world \u2014 I think it matters. And it\u2019s been fun for me to incorporate something that I naturally love into the jobs that I have had.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Jumanji’ and \u2018Top Gun: Maverick’ Actor James Handy Dead at 81 After Stabbing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roy Cooper, a longtime Caniac and ex-governor, discusses the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run, the economic boost for North Carolina, and his quirky Sun Drop wish.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1758,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roy Cooper, a longtime Caniac and ex-governor, discusses the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run, the economic boost for North Carolina, and his quirky Sun Drop wish.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-05T10:35:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T10:35:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759\"},\"wordCount\":1265,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759\",\"name\":\"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-05T10:35:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=1759#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"Roy Cooper, a longtime Caniac and ex-governor, discusses the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run, the economic boost for North Carolina, and his quirky Sun Drop wish.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-05T10:35:35+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it","datePublished":"2026-06-05T10:35:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759"},"wordCount":1265,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759","name":"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-05T10:35:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1b07126f744554df833b4afe5101ad4c.jpg","width":1200,"height":674},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=1759#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Roy Cooper wants Canes to win Stanley Cup \u2014 and drink Sun Drop from it"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}