The Carolina Hurricanes pose after winning the Stanley Cup Final, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)
After eight consecutive trips to the playoffs, with each ending in disappointment, the Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions at last.
Led by longtime defensive standout Jaccob Slavin and even-longer-time center and team captain Jordan Staal, the Hurricanes shut out the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-0 on Sunday, to win Game 6 and capture the Stanley Cup that had for so long eluded them.
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The Hurricanes slowly gained control of the wild back-and-forth series, winning each of the last three contests. Jubilant Caniacs rejoiced as their beloved Canes hoisted the Stanley Cup 20 years after they first did so in 2006.
Slavin, who also won the gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, was astounded by God’s goodness to him in an on-ice interview after Sunday’s clincher.
“I’m just grateful,” he told the media, via CBS 17 News. “Grateful for the win, grateful for the opportunity to glorify God on this stage, the biggest stage in hockey. Got to do it at the Olympics and now the Stanley Cup. God’s so kind. He gets all the glory. I’m just thankful and grateful.”
He continued to praise God when asked what it’s like to win both a gold medal and a Stanley Cup in less than four months.
“It’s pretty crazy,” he said. “It’s pretty crazy, but again, going back to that perspective of ‘those things are definitely rewarding; it’s amazing, but I can’t take them with me when I die.’ Just gonna lay them at the feet of Jesus and give Him all the glory for it.”
Slavin has been with Carolina for the entirety of his 11-year career. During that time, he’s proven to be one of the best defenders in the NHL as the anchor of Carolina’s stifling defense. Once again on Sunday, his defense led to offense as he registered an assist on Carolina’s opening goal of the night.
During those 11 years, Slavin has also proven to be one of the most outspoken followers of Christ in the NHL.
“As Christian athletes, we look at what Jesus did for us on the cross,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in March. “I think, going into a game, we know that we are sinners saved by grace, so we’re playing from the identity of, ‘All right, I’m out here as a chosen vessel of God to glorify God.’ … You’re gonna do your work for God’s glory. The reason why is because He’s worthy of it.”
In September 2022, during another of his many appearances on the Sports Spectrum Podcast, Slavin spoke about his quiet confidence.
“I know God loves me. I know God’s approved of me. And I know I’m His servant,” he said. “So I can go out there in freedom to play the game with the abilities that He’s given me to play it in. I can go out there in confidence, knowing that whether I suck or have the best game of my career, it doesn’t matter to Him.
“He wants my heart in the right spot and He wants me just to serve Him and to glorify Him.”
It took some offense for the Hurricanes to capture the Stanley Cup as well, and Staal certainly provided that. The captain became the oldest player (37) to capture the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, scoring eight goals (with four assists) during Carolina’s dominant 16-3 trek to the title. Six of those goals came in the first five games of the Final.
Staal is also the first player to win the Stanley Cup 17 years apart; he first won the Cup at the age of 20 as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008-09, his third year in the league. He was traded to the Hurricanes in June 2012 and was with the team through six losing seasons before beginning the team’s playoff streak in 2018-19.
When asked by ESPN on the ice after Sunday’s game what he’s learned over the last 17 years, Staal said, “Perseverance, trust in God, my family — I don’t want to get emotional — but those things for sure.”
Throughout the ups and downs of his lengthy NHL career, Staal has learned that living for hockey always left him feeling deeply unsatisfied.
“I really did have hockey as my identity, and it definitely pushed me to the player that I was,” Staal told Hockey Ministries International in 2016. “But at the same time, it left me empty. I think I finally more or less realized that once I made the NHL, once I won that Stanley Cup (in 2009) and fulfilling all my dreams that I could ever think of, and then waking up a week later and realizing, ‘That’s it?’ It didn’t quite sit right at times.
“And now I understand looking back, that hole you might search for can only be filled by God. It’s definitely something that’s been nurturing in me and that I’ve tried to nurture and tried to grow in my faith and fill that hole with Jesus.”
He’s come to learn that hockey isn’t the most important thing in his life, but when it’s viewed as a gift from his Heavenly Father, it can bring incredible joy — such as on a Sunday night in Las Vegas with Lord Stanley’s Cup.
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