The Hurricanes and Don Cherry are deep in hockey celebration beef

BEEF!

The Carolina Hurricanes have been making pearl-clutching, hockey purists mad all season for having the audacity of using team celebrations following home wins this season. Now Don Cherry has had enough on the back of the Hurricanes’ 8-2-0 run in their last 10 games.

Cherry, who’s made dressing in ridiculous suits his calling card, slammed the Canes for their celebrations.

“Listen, this is the National Hockey League. [Rod] Brind’Amour is a good coach, he played. These guys to me are jerks. And I’ll tell you one thing: They better not do this in the playoffs. What I don’t understand is Brind’Amour is a straight shooter, he always was. This is a joke! Young men, expressing themselves for the joy of winning! You don’t do this thing in professional hockey! What are these guys, jerks or something?”

Cherry’s co-host, Ron MacLean pointed out that the team did this after their opponent left the ice, in their own arena — but Cherry still wasn’t having it, making a quip about the Hurricanes’ lackluster attendance, “they still aren’t drawing,” he said.

It should be noted that Cherry is categorically wrong about home game attendance. In just over a year the team has moved from averaging 11,685 tickets sold per game (30th in the NHL), to 13,950 (28th, ahead of the Coyotes, Panthers and Islanders).

Cherry, who dresses loudly for attention, detests the Canes making it all about them — and the team took notice.

Photoshopping Abe in a Don Cherry suit is a nice touch.

So how bad are these celebrations, really?

Dubbed the “Storm Surge,” the Canes’ post-game victories are only as bad as you want to make them. They are always choreographed, like a touchdown celebration — and range from bowling, to baseball, to a limbo celebration on Saturday following the team’s win over the Stars.

As noted, the team waits for their opponent to leave the ice, and the tradition has kept fans in the seats after the final horn to celebrate along with the team.

Fans are loving the Storm Surge, and the team is experiencing a greater connection with fans than they have in years.

Don Cherry, who dresses like a sofa as his gimmick, will continue to detest the Hurricanes, one of the NHL’s youngest teams, having the audacity of drawing attention to themselves. Meanwhile the Canes have updated their Twitter bio appropriately.