(NEW YORK) — The Las Vegas Golden Knights and Carolina Hurricanes are in the midst of a baby boom as they battle for the Stanley Cup title, according to the NHL.
Several of the Golden Knights and Canes players are either expecting fathers or have recently welcomed babies with their partners.
They include the Golden Knights’ Noah Hanifin, Mark Stone, Nic Dowd, Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore.
Hanifin, the 29-year-old Golden Knights defenseman, told the NHL that he and his wife, Monique Hanifin, are “excited” about the imminent arrival of their second child.
“We have an 11-month-old now, so I’m a little nervous about having two under 1, that’s for sure,” he said. “But no, I’m excited. With the games going on right now obviously it’s close, but we’ll see what happens. It’s kind of out of our control.”
On the Hurricanes front, K’Andre Miller, Sean Walker and Jalen Chatfield all are dads to babies born during this postseason.
According to the NHL, Miller and his girlfriend, Addison, welcomed son Kashton back on May 2, on the same day the Canes took on the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round, which saw Miller take to the ice.
Just a few days later, teammate Walker and his wife, Taylor Walker, said hello to their baby daughter Quinn, ahead of Game 4 in that series on May 9.
Walker reflected on the close coincidence on the NHL’s “The Rink” podcast.
“We were both like, ‘What’s going on? This is crazy,'” Walker said. “We were just hoping it wasn’t going to line up on the same night. Again, what are the chances that it worked out perfectly? No one had to miss a game. Everyone was able to get where they had to be. Quite a whirlwind.”
The Golden Knights and Hurricanes face off again Tuesday in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup in Las Vegas.
The Vegas team looks to advance their 2-1 lead while the North Carolina team looks to tie up the best-of-seven game series.
Game 4 of the Stanley Cup airs June 9 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
ABC News has reached out to the Golden Knights and the Hurricanes for comment.
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