The Carolina Hurricanes have introduced a new element to their uniforms, featuring the “Struttin’ Stormy” logo on the right shoulder of their white sweaters. The decision follows years of positive feedback from fans who embraced the design when it appeared on team merchandise.
Matt Sutor, Vice President of Marketing for the Hurricanes, explained the reasoning behind adding this unique mark. “We did an audit of every NHL team’s shoulder patches, and we saw that there weren’t a lot of unique marks there. There wasn’t a lot of creativity,” Sutor said. “And so, we thought, how can we branch out? How can we be a little different than your standard NHL team?”
The Struttin’ Stormy character has been popular among fans in recent seasons and was considered as a potential main crest for the new uniform before the organization opted for another logo previously used during the 2023 Stadium Series in Raleigh.
President Doug Warf discussed how fan enthusiasm influenced the choice to feature Struttin’ Stormy more prominently. “Whether it’s Duke, UNC, NC State, ECU, you go down the list, and everybody has one of these old monikers,” Warf said at a media event inside Carolina Pro Shop. “(The logo is) one we came up with as just a ‘let’s see how it plays.’ Fans have loved it, and I think that’s what we’ve heard a lot. Any time we put it out, it’s, ‘When is it going to make an appearance on a jersey?’ And I think this is the perfect time.”
Sutor added further context about selecting Struttin’ Stormy’s placement on the uniform: “We knew from the jump that the Stadium Series mark is where we wanted to go,” he said. “We knew we had this Struttin’ Stormy mark, and we said, ‘Where does this fit?’ We knew that this was a dynamic thing. We knew it was something we wanted to play with.”
He also spoke about maintaining engagement with supporters through changes like these: “I think it’s important for us to keep things fresh, keep things modern, always look to innovate, always look to engage our fans and look to improve on what we’re doing,” Sutor continued. “Our job, as an organization, is to engage our fans and keep them interested in what we’re doing. I think uniforms are a big part of that. It’s a way for our fans to connect with the players on the ice… For us, as we push forward as an organization, as we push forward as a brand, uniforms are a major part of that because of the on-ice connection.”
The Hurricanes will debut their updated uniforms later this month during exhibition games ahead of their first regular season game in San Jose scheduled for October 14.
