{"id":2257,"date":"2026-06-12T07:05:25","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2257"},"modified":"2026-06-12T07:05:25","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T07:05:25","slug":"the-tarps-off-craze-arrives-in-nc-shirtless-canes-fans-have-skin-in-the-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2257","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018tarps off\u2019 craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

With 10 minutes left in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, the mood in Lenovo Center had soured.<\/p>\n

Read more How to get Carolina Hurricanes tickets for Lenovo\u2019s Game 6 watch party<\/a><\/p>\n

The electric energy of the first two periods had fizzled as Carolina remained scoreless, and trailed Vegas 2-0.<\/p>\n

Then, the shirts came off.<\/p>\n

\u201cTarps off for the boys?\u201d read a prompt on the Jumbotron.<\/p>\n

The answer to that question was a no-brainer to hundreds of men across the stadium. In seconds, bare-skinned fans waving their shirts like rally towels were almost as easy to spot as the thousands of red Hurricanes jerseys in the stands.<\/p>\n

Everything inside the arena noticeably shifted.<\/p>\n

First came a goal by Logan Stankoven, bringing the score to 2-1. Then, Mark Jankowski and Jordan Staal scored to erase the Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 lead before Vegas\u2019 Mark Stone tied the game again at 3.<\/p>\n

And after two shirtless fans sounded the siren to ring in the overtime period, a power-play goal from Seth Jarvis brought the Hurricanes their first victory of the series and catapulted them one step closer to a championship win.<\/p>\n

To a superstitious fan, those 10 minutes could only be explained by magic. But to the Hurricanes, that\u2019s just the power of their fan base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the best thing about them \u2014 they\u2019re crazy,\u201d Jarvis said Friday after Game 2. \u201cIt\u2019s an amazing atmosphere to play in. It\u2019s not warm in there, so to take your tarps off and get the crowd going and get the energy going \u2014 that\u2019s what kick-started our whole little press there.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the Hurricanes flew to Las Vegas for Game 3, the \u201ctarps off\u201d trend continued to take off in Raleigh, with photos of shirtless fans going viral, and the Hurricanes even launching official Tarps Off merchandise<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the trend isn\u2019t unique to the Canes, or to the NHL. For decades, fans across the sports world have gone shirtless as a rallying cry in their team\u2019s most critical moments.<\/p>\n

Read more Carolina Hurricanes take commanding 3-2 series lead after Game 5 win over Vegas<\/a><\/p>\n

It gained even more virality in college football in 2025 after an Oklahoma State fan accepted a bet from his sister to stand shirtless alone in an empty section of the stadium, waving his shirt above his head, per USA Today<\/a>. And it\u2019s since spread to the MLB this season, largely embraced by St. Louis Cardinals fans<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the Hurricanes\u2019 \u201ctarps off\u201d invitation wasn\u2019t pre-planned, said Jason Danby, the Hurricanes\u2019 Vice President of Entertainment and Production Head of Entertainment. The viral moment was a spur-of-the-moment decision in the middle of the second period to renew the crowd\u2019s energy, Danby told The News & Observer.<\/p>\n

And because of the notorious boldness of Hurricanes fans, it worked.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fans are just a little bit more active, engaged and willing to put themselves out there,\u201d he said. \u201cCourage encourages courage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Danby<\/p>\n

And while Danby was reluctant to name the shirtless crowd as the sole cause of the Hurricanes\u2019 comeback, he said it was an effort to encourage fans to have more skin in the game \u2014 literally \u2014 as the team put their necks on the line in the critical match-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes more courage to play hockey, being a very dangerous sport,\u201d Danby said. \u201cSo if we can encourage our fans to show a little bit of courage themselves and go tarps off for the boys in support of what they\u2019re doing, then I think it fits the environment here in a way that\u2019s pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ahead of a critical Game 5 in the Lenovo Center on Thursday, Danby predicted the team wouldn\u2019t be using the \u201ctarps off\u201d prompt at all. That\u2019s because, he said, the Canes would be so far ahead that they wouldn\u2019t need the rallying cry in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy gut feeling is telling me our team isn\u2019t going to be down,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if they are, it\u2019s our job and our privilege to help encourage our crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Carolina Hurricanes take commanding 3-2 series lead after Game 5 win over Vegas<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 8:57 PM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Tarps off' moment in Raleigh saw shirtless Carolina Hurricanes fans boost Lenovo Center, fueling Stanley Cup Final comeback vs. Vegas, inspiring merchandise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nThe \u2018tarps off\u2019 craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game - 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=2257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The \u2018tarps off\u2019 craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018Tarps off' moment in Raleigh saw shirtless Carolina Hurricanes fans boost Lenovo Center, fueling Stanley Cup Final comeback vs. Vegas, inspiring merchandise.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=2257\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-12T07:05:25+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=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"The \u2018tarps off\u2019 craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T07:05:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257\"},\"wordCount\":723,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a17d9285e4ca185b216df21876f5f6d7.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257\",\"name\":\"The \u2018tarps off\u2019 craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a17d9285e4ca185b216df21876f5f6d7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-12T07:05:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=2257#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a17d9285e4ca185b216df21876f5f6d7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a17d9285e4ca185b216df21876f5f6d7.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Fans cheer on the Canes in the third period of the Hurricanes\u2019 game against the Golden Knights in the second game of the Stanley Cup Final at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 4, 2026. 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