Raleigh woman performs national anthem in ASL at Hurricanes games

The Carolina Hurricanes’ run through the Stanley Cup Final brought more than sellout crowds and television ratings to Raleigh. It also put Karin Desalu, a Raleigh woman who lost her hearing at 10, on the ice to perform the national anthem in American Sign Language during home games, giving Deaf and hard-of-hearing fans a more visible place in the arena experience.

Desalu said the performance was emotional and that she spent weeks preparing and practicing constantly. She has described ASL as a “3D language” that relies on body language and facial expressions, and she said support from the Deaf community was empowering and inspiring. One of the most meaningful moments came after the anthem when a hearing security guard congratulated her with “deaf applause,” a gesture she said stayed with her.

The moment was part of a broader NHL accessibility push that began with a season-long partnership the league announced with P-X-P in December 2022. That effort brought ASL interpretation to signature events including the 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic in Boston, the 2023 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh on Feb. 18, 2023, and the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. NHL senior executive Kim Davis said the league was pursuing “representation, performance and substance,” a framing that put accessibility inside the main event rather than on the margins.

By 2026, the league said its ASL coverage had expanded into a first-of-its-kind alternate broadcast dedicated entirely to the Deaf community for the Stanley Cup Final. The telecast returned for a third year, was Sports Emmy-nominated, and was available on ESPN+ and Sportsnet+. AT&T Newsroom said the broadcast included real-time play-by-play in ASL, visual crowd-noise cues and custom emotes aimed at making the game easier to follow for Deaf viewers.

The local reach was not only cultural. ABC11 reported the Stanley Cup Final generated a $13.4 million economic impact for Wake County, underscoring how a championship run can ripple beyond the rink. In Raleigh, Desalu’s performance tied that payoff to a more immediate question for fans: whether one of the biggest nights in the city’s hockey history could also be one of its most accessible.