Hockey Team Sets Up Shop in Triangle

Something other than thunderstorms blew into town Monday.

The Triangle's first major league sports franchise officially opened for business yesterday. There's not much furniture, and there are lots of boxes to unpack, but the Carolina Hurricanes are here. With more than 2,000 season tickets already sold, the players already think the Triangle is a winner.

"We have more players that own houses in Raleigh/Durham right now than we did the whole time we were in Hartford," "We have players who have come in on their own and they've immediately bought houses and are very excited about being here."

The Hurricanes have committments on more than half the luxury boxes in the new Entertainment and Sports Arena to be built next to Carter-Finley Stadium. The arena is scheduled for completion in 1999, when the Hurricanes will move from their two-year, temporary home in Greensboro.