Growing ice hockey in North Carolina

APEX, N.C. — The Carolina Hurricanes have sold out 61 consecutive hockey games at PNC Arena, dating back to Feb. 24, 2023. The new franchise record is proof that hockey is growing in North Carolina as more and more people get into the game.

The proof can be found in the ticket sales — in female involvement, as we’ve seen in the case of Raleigh native Mary Derrenbacher — and in the case of UNC’s club hockey team getting promoted to a new league while also finding a new home in a developing stadium.

However, we can now add one more supporting puzzle piece in Apex Friendship High School senior and Apex Friendship club ice hockey team goalie Tyler Otte.

Otte has been playing goalie since he was 10 years old and grew up a huge hockey fan as a result of his parents. His mom is from Washington, D.C., and grew up a Capitals fan. His father grew up in New Jersey as a Devils fan. Tyler Otte, and his brothers, grew up in North Carolina and are huge Hurricanes fans. He now plays at Invisalign Arena for the Apex Friendship club hockey team, which isn’t affiliated with the school in any official capacity. 

“Growing up in North Carolina, you don’t really think you’re going to be able to experience it,” Otte said. “Especially with the growth of the game recently and across in buildings like [Invisalign Arena], it didn’t exist five years ago when I was just starting.”

To Otte, there’s no feeling like being out on the ice, playing with his friends and taking part in the game he loves.

However, that feeling could be even better if Apex Friendship High School, the Wake County school board, and the North Carolina High School Athletic Association adopted ice hockey as an official high school sport.

The high school students who play on the 12 teams from the Pure Division of Wake County’s Triangle Hockey League get no outside funding. The kids and their families pay for their own ice time, their own equipment and they balance the…