RALEIGH, N.C. — Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final is Thursday at the Lenovo Center. The Carolina Hurricanes will look to rebound after a last-minute Game 1 loss.

What You Need To Know

Former Carolina Hurricane and big fan, Bates Battaglia, will be watching his former team and teammate

Battaglia played on the Canes’ 2002 Stanley Cup Final team with current coach Rod Brind’Amour

Battaglia owns Teets and Lucky B’s in Raleigh

One former Cane and big fan, Bates Battaglia, will be watching his former team and teammate.

Battaglia played on a line with current Head Coach Rod Brind’Amour during their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002.

Battaglia said you won’t find better fans than the diehard Caniacs, and the team won’t find a better coach than his former teammate Brind’Amour.

He said he is confident because when “Roddy” speaks, players listen, and there’s nobody better at motivating this team.

“It’s kind of incredible,” Battaglia said. “I came down to North Carolina thinking, ‘well, what’s Carolina about as far as hockey?’”

It didn’t take long for the then-rookie forward to find out in 1997.

Battaglia said he learned how much hockey meant to fans as a member of the 2002 team that reached the Stanley Cup Final but lost in five games to the Detroit Red Wings.

“I’ll never forget that. That was the most fun I ever had playing hockey,” Battaglia said.

The tough, hard-nosed player was a key cog in the famed BBC line with right winger Erik Cole and Brind’Amour.

“It’s awesome seeing Roddy doing what he’s doing. It’s not a surprise. When I played with him, he was a leader. He’s a leader now. He ran the locker room then. He’s running the locker room now, and he’s put the team in a position to do great things,” Battaglia said.

Battaglia also wanted to position himself for success in life after hockey.

He and his brother, Anthony Battaglia, opened Teets on Glenwood Avenue and a dive bar nearby, Lucky B’s.

The retired NHL player said the Glenwood South district has been ideal for drawing crowds.

“My brother and I decided to name it after our grandfather, and it just kind of came together over COVID,” Battaglia said about Teets.

Battaglia’s grandfather, Sam “Teets” Battaglia, had ties to the mob in Chicago, working as a loan shark with notorious gangsters like Al Capone. Bates Battaglia, 50, said it was his grandfather’s way of putting food on the table for his family.

“Growing up, I didn’t know a whole lot about it. My dad didn’t really relay that story. But, as we got older, we got to know about it,” Battaglia said.

With Hurricanes’ flags and banners up and down Glenwood Avenue, as well as homages to the team across the city, Battaglia said there’s nowhere else he would rather be.

“This is a hockey town. Like, we are the, you know, the only professional sport here. Twenty years later, here we are again, and hopefully the same result. It’s been a great ride so far but we’ve got a little more to go,” he said.

Battaglia said there is nothing he would rather see than the Hurricanes raise another banner and lift their first Stanley Cup since 2006.