Raleigh erupted with boos and "Mikko Sucks" chants as Rantanen returned, with fans even shouting "Logan's Better."
If you didn't know how Carolina Hurricanes fans felt about Mikko Rantanen, well, now you do.
In the Finnish wingers first game back in Lenovo Center since his trade deadline departure, the fans certainly let him hear it.
From the moment he touched the ice on his first shift all the way until the final horn in Carolina's 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars, the Caniacs just absolutely tore into Rantanen.
They booed him every time he touched the puck, they chanted "Mikko Sucks" -- a lot -- and they even chanted "Logan's Better," in reference to Canes forward Logan Stankoven who was acquired from the Dallas Stars as part of the Rantanen trade.
"When I was playing in Kamloops with my junior team, Bedard came to town and we beat them pretty handedly, but the same chants were going on there too," Stankoven said when asked if he had ever heard a "Logan's Better" chant before. "So it's actually pretty funny and kind of a full circle moment. It's funny to listen now. But we have really supportive fans here. It's great.
And it probably all reached a fever pitch in the third period, as the Canes were up big-time over the Stars, when Rantanen took a slashing penalty and the whole crowd was able to focus right in on him.
"I get it," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour, who admitted he hadn't even thought of the likely bad reception prior to the game. "A lot of it was blown up, but I have no ill will against him at all. But fans are going to do what they gotta do. I was honestly surprised they kept it up. That was right to the end. We have passionate fans."
There was a lot that went into Rantanen's decision to not re-sign with the Hurricanes last year after the team acquired him in a blockbuster deal with the Colorado Avalanche, but it's clear that, regardless, the Hurricanes fanbase took it as a slight to themselves and the organization that they love so dearly.
It doesn't matter that Rantanen hasn't ever spoken ill whatsoever of the team, the city, the fans or anything really. The fact of the matter is, they don't like him and they wanted to make sure that he knew just that.
"I like him a lot," said Andrei Svechnikov. "He was an amazing guy, amazing to me and I respect him a lot. But, you know, I loved what the fans were doing as well."
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