In the 1990s, professional ice hockey was primed for growth. But the NHL had one major problem: geography. In order to expand its footprint, the sport had to move into unlikely warm weather locations with few existing fans. The league eventually expanded to the Sun Belt with mixed early results. But in North Carolina and other Southern states, the NHL has found success with a radical long-term strategy. They've helped build the next generation of hockey fans almost completely from scratch.

With the start of the 2025 NHL season just underway, we're revisiting this episode that was originally published on February 20, 2025.

Featuring:

• Ibraheem Khalifa, hockey fan
• Cory Lavalette, Carolina Hurricanes beat reporter and senior editor at North State Journal
• Shane Willis, Director of Youth Hockey & Community Outreach for the Carolina Hurricanes
• Joe Ovies, co-host of the Ovies & Giglio sports podcast

Special thanks goes out to the Orange County Sportsplex and Coach Kevin Kamenski of the Carolina Thunder Hockey Club in Hillsborough, NC.

Thanks also to WUNC's Josh Sullivan and Mitchell Northam.

Links:

• You can find a transcript of the episode here.

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