We’re feeling a bit full of ourselves right now…Sabres tickets sold out in the first 12 minutes, while Hurricanes tickets sold out in the last 12 minutes…before opening faceoff.

We snicker a bit as we hear about the tutorials for newly minted Carolina hockey fans, explaining such concepts as “delayed offsides” and “empty net goal” to the uninitiated. Never mind that most kids wearing Sabres jerseys in the Buffalo area wouldn’t know the difference between “pole position” and “aero push.” Or when you throw out the number “43,” the correct reply might not be Martin Biron but rather Richard Petty.

Ah, stereotypes! We think that Carolinians haul their stills and moonshine on the back of their pickups as they make their way to Lowe’s Motor Speedway or road trip it to Talladega or Darlington, right? And Carolinians are always trying to come up with that perfect pie recipe; after all, Aunt Bea has won best pie award at the church social 35 years running, and it’s time to knock her down a few pegs.

Yep, we’re feeling pretty smug.

But as the series shifts to Buffalo, be assured that there will be a contingent of Carolina Hurricanes fans in the building to cheer on their team. Sure, their numbers will be much fewer, if for no other reason than most available tickets were scooped up by Buffalo fans. And no, there aren’t any Carolina sports bars around here offering their famous barbecue or Durham’s flying burritos, so beef on weck and chicken wings will have to do.

Leading the parade to Buffalo will be radio station WBBB 96 Rock from Raleigh. The station re-commissioned an old beat-up Crown Victoria, painted it in Hurricanes colors and have been taking it around their town these past two weeks, asking Hurricanes fans to sign the car and write messages to the Buffalo fans. “We’ve been besieged with fans wanting to sign the car and send the message to Buffalo that our Caniacs can measure up to Sabres supporters anytime,” reports 96 Rock weekend host Demetri the Greek. “At this point, we’ve got a number of cars signed up to join the caravan to Buffalo. Wake County sheriffs will be escorting our contingent to the North Carolina border, and from there we’re on our own.”

The Crown Vic will be driven by 96 Rock promotions manager Brandon Warren and midday DJ Patrick McMahon, known on air as “Crash.” So where will this Crown Vic be parked and on display for us Buffalo folks to see? “We’re just gonna pull right up to the front of your arena and find a place,” Demetri replies. (Think we told Demetri about the Buffalo Police Department and their recent zero tolerance parking enforcement blitz? Nah.)

The car has been displayed at the RBC Center for games one and two, and Demetri said that they’ve pretty much run out of room on the car for any more messages. “One Sabres fan grabbed a black marker and tried to write ‘Go Sabres’ across the windshield. We pretty much chased him away,” Demetri laughed.

Regarding the Sabres fan contingent down in Raleigh this past weekend, Demetri said, “People here were actually shocked as to how many Buffalo fans there were and the way they made their presence felt. We have a lot of folks from your area living in this region, but this show of support exceeded anyone’s expectation.”

The contingent will stick around for game four on Friday night. If you see them or any other fans wearing Hurricanes shirts, give them a warm Western New York welcome and some friendly razzing. And be secure in the knowledge that our visitors from the Triangle will abide by the same formula that Leafs fans have followed religiously for years—c’mon down, spend your money at our restaurants, bars and hotels, have a good time and when it’s all over…that long, somber ride back home. Safe travels, Canes fans. Y’all come back again sometime!

TARO’S URGENT MESSAGE FOR FANS HEADED TO RALEIGH:

Some disturbing reports are coming back from Raleigh regarding incidents of hooliganism and bad behavior from Sabres fans who attended games one and two. We had a bad feeling listening to the local sports station on Saturday morning, as they were taking calls such as this one: “We drove all night from Buffalo and now we’re here in the parking lot, drinking beers and partying. It’s awesome, dude!” Another caller boasted, “We’re gonna kick some redneck butt afterwards! Woo-hoo!”

Sports radio shows and message boards in Carolina were deluged with ugly Buffalo stories from before, during and after the games. One poster wrote, “This was not your run-of-the-mill rowdiness. Every team has fans that embarrass them, but this was on a whole different level. I thought the angry Philly fans looking to provoke Canes fans were bad. By comparison their behavior was exemplary. When you make Flyers fans look good, you should reconsider your conduct.”

We’re enjoying the ride right now, we love to cheer for the Sabres, but we have to remember that we represent this city and each other when we travel to distant places to support our team. So for those of you who might be making the trip to the RBC Center for game five this Sunday, please behave—dial down the profanity and drunkenness and show the folks down there why we are called the City of Good Neighbors.