Why is the Carolina Hurricanes mascot a pig? We have the whole Stormy story

Even if you don’t follow the Carolina Hurricanes closely, there’s a good chance that you’re at least familiar with the professional hockey team’s mascot: Stormy the Ice Hog.

The mascot, who always has a smile on his face and a sparkle in his eyes, can regularly be found cheering on the Canes, making private appearances in the community or sending iconic, meme-worthy tweets.

But have you ever wondered why Stormy is a pig, or how the Canes franchise decided to make their mascot a hog? And what about his name — how was that decided?

If you’ve found yourself asking those questions, you’re not alone. We received a similar question from a reader as part of The News & Observer’s Asked & Answered series, which fields questions from readers, our community and our newsroom — and works to find answers.

To answer this question, we dug through The N&O archives to find stories from early on in Canes franchise history that mentioned the team’s mascot origins and revealed possible reasoning behind his eventual piggy form.

Here’s what we found.

Why is Stormy the Ice Hog mascot a pig?

Stories from The N&O archives leading up to the Canes’ 1997 debut in North Carolina indicate that the team mascot’s hog form is likely an ode to both the North Carolina pork industry and the team’s name-that-almost-was.

When the Canes franchise relocated to North Carolina from Hartford, Connecticut, in 1997, then-team owner Peter Karmanos “considered re-naming the hockey team from Whalers to Ice Hogs,” The N&O reported on Sept. 24, 1997, the day after the mascot — unnamed at the time — was to make its debut to fans.

Though the team was actually named the Carolina Hurricanes instead of the Ice Hogs, the hog motif came to fruition through the mascot — “a furry, cuddly creature” that “gives the team a connection to North Carolina’s pork industry,” The N&O reported on Sept. 24.

From the Stormy archives:

▪ The Wendell Murphy Connection. At the time, The N&O reported, North Carolina was “home to 9.8 million hogs, compared to 7.3 million people.” And, then-team general manager Jim Rutherford told The N&O that pork mogul (and former state legislator) Wendell Murphy, who financially supported the construction of the Canes’ eventual home arena in Raleigh, had “become a friend to the Hurricanes,” helping the team “realize how important the hog industry is to this state and to us being here.”

▪ An umbrella? Before the mascot announcement was made and the hog was revealed, though, guesses published in The N&O were more closely tied to the team’s name of Hurricanes — perhaps the mascot would be an umbrella? Then former WRAL meteorologist Greg Fishel or “a guy who walks through the crowd, hoses you down, then follows you home and knocks down your house,” a Sept. 23, 1997, N&O story pondered.

▪ The ‘cue jokes are coming from inside the house. A clue closer to the eventual reality came in an ad placed by the Canes in The News & Observer on Sept. 22, 1997, which read: “If our newest member were any hotter, he’d be barbecue.” (Fast forward more than 25 years later, and Stormy’s tweets show that he’s — understandably — still sensitive to the idea of pork-based food products.)

▪ An unfortunate debut. The mascot — unnamed at the time — made its debut as a hog on Sept. 23, 1997, an event that wasn’t without incident, as a plan to reveal the mascot in a “grand entrance” from inside a Zamboni machine ended in the human wearing the mascot costume having “an anxiety attack that led to a seizure,” The N&O reported the following day. (The man was treated and later released from the hospital.)

How did Stormy the Ice Hog mascot get his name?

Though the Canes revealed their hog mascot on Sept. 23, 1997, the creature remained nameless for almost a month after.

N&O stories from Sept. 23 and 24 indicate that the team launched a naming contest for the mascot on Sept. 24.

The hog’s name was then formally announced at the team’s Oct. 22, 1997, game — a night in which the Hurricanes “may have begun making a name for themselves as an exciting professional hockey club,” The N&O reported on Oct. 24.

The announcement of the mascot’s name, Stormy, was made prior to that game.

Of course, the name is closely tied to the team’s Hurricanes name. And it was considered appropriate by onlookers at the time, as The N&O reported, “because it has indeed been a stormy first season in North Carolina for the former Hartford Whalers.”

More information about Stormy the Ice Hog

▪ On his page of the Hurricanes’ website, Stormy is described as weighing “tons of fun” and being “as tall as your average ice hog in skates.”

▪ His favorite movie, the webpage says, is “Wild Hogs,” and his favorite book is “Charlotte’s Web.”

▪ You can keep up with Stormy on Twitter at twitter.com/NHLStormy and learn more about him at nhl.com/hurricanes/fans/stormy.

Triangle Asked & Answered: What do you want to know?

Have a question about something in our community? The News & Observer’s Service Journalism team wants your questions for our Triangle Asked & Answered series. Reach out to us by filling out this form or by sending an email to ask@newsobserver.com.