page_title: Sports in North Carolina
section_title: Ice hockey
hierarchical_section_title: Sports in North Carolina / Ice hockey
caption_attribution_description: Taken by myself (Bobby Schultz) on June 19th, 2006. Picture of the scene at the RBC Center after the Hurricanes won the 2006 Stanley Cup
context_page_description: Athletes and sports teams from North Carolina compete at every level of competition in the United States including NASCAR, the NBA, the NFL, the NHL, leagues operated by the United Soccer League organization, and MLL, and along with several colleges and universities in various conferences across an array of divisions. North Carolina is a state known for minor league sports. There are also a number of indoor football, indoor soccer, minor league basketball, and minor league ice hockey teams throughout the state. For sport amateurs, the state holds the State Games of North Carolina each year.
context_section_description: In 1997, the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL) moved from Hartford, Connecticut (as the Hartford Whalers) to the state. The team played their games at the Greensboro Coliseum for their first two seasons in North Carolina before moving to their current home at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, later RBC Center and now PNC Arena, in Raleigh. The Hurricanes won the 2006 Stanley Cup, becoming the first major professional sports team from North Carolina to win their sport's highest championship.
  In 2010, the Albany River Rats, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Hurricanes, relocated to Charlotte and became the Charlotte Checkers, assuming the name from the former ECHL team that had played in the city since 1995. The Charlotte Checkers play their home games at Bojangles' Coliseum in uptown Charlotte.
  Fayetteville also has an ice hockey team, the Fayetteville Marksmen of the Southern Professional Hockey League.
  Winston-Salem became the home of a new Carolina Thunderbirds team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League in the 2017–18 season. The new team is named after the former Carolina Thunderbirds of the ECHL.
caption: Stanley Cup awards ceremony at the RBC Center
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