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Hurricanes ‘did the best we could’ in submitting home dates to NHL

Jim Rutherford

Last week, we wrote about the Carolina Hurricanes’ scheduling dispute with North Carolina State University that had the potential to result in hefty fines from the NHL for the hockey club.

Today, Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford told the Triangle Business Journal that the club had no choice but to submit to the league potential home dates for next season, even though some of the dates had already been claimed by the Wolfpack.

“We did the best we could,” Rutherford said.

From the TBJ:

NCSU has scheduling priority at the arena, where both the Wolfpack and Hurricanes play home games. Gale Force Holdings, which owns the Hurricanes and operates the arena for concerts and other events, worked with the Atlantic Coast Conference in previous years to coordinate schedules. But NCSU Athletic Director Debbie Yow claimed so many dates for possible Wolfpack games this year that Gale Force says it doesn’t have enough dates for hockey games, let alone other events. ... The NHL season schedule is expected in mid-July and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s basketball schedule will be released in late August. If the Wolfpack and Hurricanes schedule games for the same night, they’d be setting up a scenario in which the NHL could fine the Hurricanes $100,000 per rescheduled game, but Rutherford said he was left no choice but to submit days for use.

Would the NHL actually fine the ‘Canes over something that sounds like it’s out of their control? That’s not clear. But it sure sounds like a bit of an unnecessary headache.

Click here for video of a somewhat annoyed Rutherford discussing the situation.