The Carolina Hurricanes sold the popular ‘Bear Skate’ mug

D Carolina Hurricanes Officially hanging up their “Bear Skates” for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

According to Adam Hoffman, vice president of food and beverage at Lenovo Center, the novelty drinking mugs shaped like Hurricanes hockey skates are completely sold out and will not be restocked. Plastic skates were introduced in Game 1 of Carolina’s playoff series Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night and instantly went viral on social media. Skates sold out eight minutes into the second intermission.

Hoffman said no more Bear skates will be available for purchase for the remainder of the NHL postseason. The team ordered the skates through a special promotional items vendor and “there’s no way to turn it around fast enough” to get more of them, Hoffman told ESPN on Monday.

“We really thought we did enough shopping, and then this thing blew up. The fans went crazy for it, which is great. We love that we made something that they wanted to have,” Hoffman said. “I don’t want to say that we weren’t prepared for them to buy as many as they did, but obviously we didn’t think it would blow up the way it did, the way it did, which is great.”

According to WRAL-TV, the Hurricanes sold 4,687 skates during Game 1. It started with 300 sellouts at their fan plaza party before the game. The staff went to the arena’s warehouse and brought their entire inventory of skates to Game 1 when it became clear that demand was outstripping supply.

Now that they’re sold out, the skates have become instant collector’s items. The skates were listed on eBay Monday for $150 and $200.

The skate-shaped mug holds about 28 ounces of liquid. It sold for $19 by itself. With a drink, the skate sold for $12 and whatever drinks were inside it was worth it. Hoffman said he believes fans who bought skates at Game 1 won’t be able to return them at future Hurricanes home games per arena policy.

Hoffman said he didn’t expect the skates to become so popular so quickly.

“No, we certainly didn’t. If we had, we would have bought more of them to begin with,” he said.

The Hurricanes created the Beer Skate after enjoying success with other hockey-focused beverages such as a “Beer Hockey Stick” and a “Beer Zamboni”. Working with their supplier, the skate mug — with boots filled with liquid and a transparent skate “blade” — seemed like the next logical evolution.

“Frankly, people have been drinking beer out of Boots for quite some time,” Hoffman said.

The process of designing and manufacturing the mugs took several months, including getting approval from the NHL to brand them with the Hurricanes’ colors and logos.

The Hurricanes’ bear skate was one of several novelties that had fans buzzing during the Stanley Cup playoffs. the buffalo There was the “Bear Sabre,” which sold out quickly. D Utah Mammoth Introduced the “Task Mug”, a collectible mug shaped like a mammoth task.

Although they won’t return for the 2026 playoffs, Hoffman wouldn’t rule out another run by the Bears skating for Carolina in the future.

“We’ve already started talking about it. I don’t know if I can say one way if it’s going to happen or not, but there could be a repeat of the same. That’s probably the best way to call it,” he said. “Do we try to do something a little different with it or do we put it back? Is it so popular that we feel the need to re-release the same thing? So, we’re trying to figure that out now.”

The Hurricanes face the Flyers in Game 2 of their series Monday night in Raleigh, North Carolina.