Rangers' Brendan Lemieux mocks Hurricanes with solo 'Storm Surge'

You have to just love when the actions of adults become extremely petty.

Following a 5-2 victory for the New York Rangers over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in Raleigh, Brendan Lemieux decided to treat the crowd to a solo ‘Storm Surge’.

Since October 2018, the Hurricanes have kept fans hanging after the final buzzer with their elaborate celebrations following victories on home ice. Now commonly referred to as the ‘Storm Surge’, each begins with all members of Carolina’s team hitting the ice and engaging in a slow thunderclap over their heads along with those in attendance. While that is always the same, it’s what the team does afterwards that is regularly unique and gets the hockey world talking (whether it be human bowling, a Duck Hunt demonstration or mini football game).

Iceland’s national men’s soccer team brought the ‘Skol’ viking clap to the masses during their magical run at the 2016 Euro Cup in France. It’s been adopted by many sports teams since, including the Hurricanes.

These unorthodox displays — by hockey standards — have received plenty of support since their inception. To the surprise of nobody, there have been ‘Storm Surge’ haters too. Don Cherry, for one, made his thoughts about what’s going on in Carolina very clear.

Following Lemieux’s sarcastic claps on Friday night, it appears that there is at least one more individual that isn’t too crazy about what the Hurricanes are doing.

While it can be understood the game’s third period was a little chippy and Lemieux was likely still wound up immediately following the heat of the battle, it’s quite bold to mock a fanbase after recording a shot on goal, two hits and no points in just over ten minutes of ice time. To each their own, I guess.

The debut ‘Storm Surge’ — led by Carolina’s Justin Williams back on Oct. 7, 2018 — came following an 8-5 win over New York, the Hurricanes’ first victory on home ice in the 2018-19 season. Since then, the Rangers have gone to PNC Arena on three occasions and left each time with a win. As a result, they’ve effectively stopped the ‘Surge’.

Lemieux wasn’t in the lineup for New York when Carolina did their very first post-game celebration back in 2018. Therefore, he’s never been on the receiving end of a ‘Storm Surge’ because he hasn’t been on a team that’s lost in Raleigh since it’s become their tradition.

And, honestly, all of this information just makes his actions on Friday night all the more confusing.

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