Greensboro native Chris Huffine celebrates second Stanley Cup with Hurricanes

Chris Huffine, a Greensboro native who has been with the Carolina Hurricanes since 1997, has now been part of two Stanley Cup runs with the same franchise. His latest championship came as the Hurricanes beat the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 on June 14 to claim the 2026 title, a second league crown for a team that finished the postseason 16-3.

For Guilford County, Huffine’s story is more than a championship footnote. He started with the Hurricanes when the franchise was still in Greensboro, before the move to Raleigh, and his career has stretched across nearly three decades of Carolina hockey history. He also was on the staff for the Hurricanes’ first Cup win in 2006, when he coached Rod Brind'Amour and first lifted the trophy himself.

Huffine called the latest celebration a “surreal moment” and said that in 2006 he “could not believe” he was touching the Stanley Cup. He said he grew up watching his older brother play hockey, and at the time he entered the organization, he did not see many opportunities for the sport in the South. Now, Huffine said, the growth of hockey in Greensboro and across the region is “surreal,” and he believes the Hurricanes helped push that growth along.

That long view gives his career unusual local resonance. Huffine has watched Brind'Amour and other current Hurricanes staff members grow from players into coaches, part of the reason he describes the organization as family and a brotherhood. His brother David Huffine said the family connection remains strong, noting that when Brind'Amour raised the Cup, Chris was the next person he handed it to.

The championship also set off a larger celebration across North Carolina. The Hurricanes announced a parade and championship celebration for Saturday, June 20, at 11 a.m. in downtown Raleigh, and Raleigh Mayor Janet Cowell declared that day Carolina Hurricanes Day. Jordan Staal won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, adding another headline to a title run that carried North Carolina back to the center of the NHL.

For young athletes and coaches in Guilford County, Huffine’s path shows that a hockey career does not have to start, or end, on the ice. A Greensboro native who came up with the franchise in its local years is now part of two championship teams, proof that the people building pro sports success from behind the scenes can come from right here at home.