Hurricanes announcer talks ride home with Stanley Cup on 'NHL @TheRink' podcast

Mike Maniscalco recalls his favorite moment on the flight home from Las Vegas with the Stanley Cup and details his dream-come-true championship call on the Carolina Hurricanes' radio broadcast on this week's episode of the "NHL @TheRink" podcast.

The Hurricanes' play-by-play announcer joins co-hosts Dan Rosen and Shawn P. Roarke for the episode recorded Tuesday and discusses the players huddling around the Cup as it sat on a card table on the plane, and how they were excitedly looking at all the names and pointing out their favorites.

Their names, of course, will soon be engraved on the Stanley Cup after winning it with a 3-0 victory against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

Maniscalco also discusses the idea to put a camera in the radio broadcast booth to video he and Tripp Tracy making some of their most iconic calls of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and pushing and shoving each other, too, creating viral videos along the way.

He credits Mike Sundheim, the team's vice president of communications, for the idea to add more content to the radio call.

Maniscalco talks about the impact Jordan Staal had on the Hurricanes and why it was fitting he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs and tells a story about when Rod Brind'Amour told a group of fans before the 2018-19 season, his first as Hurricanes coach, that they weren't just trying to make the playoffs that season. They wanted to be the best team in the NHL.

Eight years later, they are the best in the League.

Rosen and Roarke also talk with Maniscalco about the goaltending situation with Frederik Andersen and Brandon Bussi each playing a key role in the Cup Final, and the lasting impact of Logan Stankoven's goal in Game 2, which was the first turning point of the series.

In addition, Rosen and Roarke credit the line of Stankoven, Taylor Hall and Jackson Blake as being arguably the biggest difference for Carolina this season and from previous seasons, when it went on playoff runs but didn't get over the hump.

They also talk about the Golden Knights parting ways with John Tortorella, an announcement they made Tuesday, and who the Western Conference champions could be looking at as their next coach.

The "NHL @TheRink" podcast is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.