The ‘tarps off’ craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game

With 10 minutes left in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, the mood in Lenovo Center had soured.

The electric energy of the first two periods had fizzled as Carolina remained scoreless, and trailed Vegas 2-0.

Then, the shirts came off.

“Tarps off for the boys?” read a prompt on the Jumbotron.

The answer to that question was a no-brainer to hundreds of men across the stadium. In seconds, bare-skinned fans waving their shirts like rally towels were almost as easy to spot as the thousands of red Hurricanes jerseys in the stands.

Everything inside the arena noticeably shifted.

First came a goal by Logan Stankoven, bringing the score to 2-1. Then, Mark Jankowski and Jordan Staal scored to erase the Vegas Golden Knights’ lead before Vegas’ Mark Stone tied the game again at 3.

And after two shirtless fans sounded the siren to ring in the overtime period, a power-play goal from Seth Jarvis brought the Hurricanes their first victory of the series and catapulted them one step closer to a championship win.

To a superstitious fan, those 10 minutes could only be explained by magic. But to the Hurricanes, that’s just the power of their fan base.

“That’s the best thing about them — they’re crazy,” Jarvis said Friday after Game 2. “It’s an amazing atmosphere to play in. It’s not warm in there, so to take your tarps off and get the crowd going and get the energy going — that’s what kick-started our whole little press there.”

As the Hurricanes flew to Las Vegas for Game 3, the “tarps off” trend continued to take off in Raleigh, with photos of shirtless fans going viral, and the Hurricanes even launching official Tarps Off merchandise.

Origin of ‘Tarps off’ craze

But the trend isn’t unique to the Canes, or to the NHL. For decades, fans across the sports world have gone shirtless as a rallying cry in their team’s most critical moments.

It gained even more virality in college football in 2025 after an Oklahoma State fan accepted a bet from his sister to stand shirtless alone in an empty section of the stadium, waving his shirt above his head, per USA Today. And it’s since spread to the MLB this season, largely embraced by St. Louis Cardinals fans.

But the Hurricanes’ “tarps off” invitation wasn’t pre-planned, said Jason Danby, the Hurricanes’ Vice President of Entertainment and Production Head of Entertainment. The viral moment was a spur-of-the-moment decision in the middle of the second period to renew the crowd’s energy, Danby told The News & Observer.

And because of the notorious boldness of Hurricanes fans, it worked.

“Our fans are just a little bit more active, engaged and willing to put themselves out there,” he said. “Courage encourages courage.”

And while Danby was reluctant to name the shirtless crowd as the sole cause of the Hurricanes’ comeback, he said it was an effort to encourage fans to have more skin in the game — literally — as the team put their necks on the line in the critical match-up.

“It takes more courage to play hockey, being a very dangerous sport,” Danby said. “So if we can encourage our fans to show a little bit of courage themselves and go tarps off for the boys in support of what they’re doing, then I think it fits the environment here in a way that’s pretty special.”

Ahead of a critical Game 5 in the Lenovo Center on Thursday, Danby predicted the team wouldn’t be using the “tarps off” prompt at all. That’s because, he said, the Canes would be so far ahead that they wouldn’t need the rallying cry in the first place.

“My gut feeling is telling me our team isn’t going to be down,” he said. “But if they are, it’s our job and our privilege to help encourage our crowd.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 8:57 PM with the headline "The ‘tarps off’ craze arrives in NC: Shirtless Canes fans have skin in the game."

Faith Wardwell

The News & Observer