With all due respect to Saturday's slate of NCAA Tournament games, the best basketball highlight of the day may have come from the NHL.
That's thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes, who decided to celebrate their 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild with an amazing tribute to March Madness. They went all-out and committed to the celebration, bringing a basketball and a hoop out onto the ice and then running a full sequence that concluded with a dunk from defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. Yes, an actual dunk from a player wearing hockey skates.
SLAM DUNK!! 🏀 pic.twitter.com/aMQO6Ohcy4
— Hockey Is For Everyone (@NHLCanes) March 24, 2019
March Madness. Best one pic.twitter.com/Z5LjkNQIwC
— Sara Civ (@SaraCivian) March 24, 2019
Boomshakalaka!!! pic.twitter.com/t3OFqar4a1
— Hockey Is For Everyone (@NHLCanes) March 24, 2019
The Hurricanes have been running these crazy postgame celebrations all year long, leading some people to brand them as a "bunch of jerks" -- a label they've since embraced.
There have been some really great celebrations throughout the year, but this may be the best of them all. It also may be the most dangerous of them all when you consider the risks of having one of your blue liners go airborne for a basketball dunk, but nobody got hurt and we can all fully enjoy this wonderful display. (Okay, maybe not all of us; Don Cherry will likely need your thoughts and prayers at this time.)
Brett Pesce: "I don't think I've ever had so much fun playing hockey."
— Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) March 24, 2019
Yep. Just take a look at all the 😀 in this photo. pic.twitter.com/CN0NWVED6Q
Now it's time to start asking the question: Are the Hurricanes the best basketball team in North Carolina this March?