Hurricanes coach channels former NBA star with 'practice' talk
Brind'Amour makes reference to Iverson rant on its 17th anniversary
by Adam Kimelman @NHLAdamK / NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
Rod Brind'Amour, prior to becoming coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, spent nine of his 20 NHL seasons as a center with the Philadelphia Flyers. On Tuesday he channeled a different former star athlete from the city.
In response to a question about the status of Hurricanes forward Jordan Martinook, who is dealing with a lower-body injury, Brind'Amour responded, "I think he's going to be dealing with this for however long as we play. He's a trooper. I don't expect him to not play. But we're talking about practice."
If the "we're talking about practice" part sounds familiar, it's a line that was made famous by former Philadelphia 76ers guard Allen Iverson, who punctuated a rant during a press conference with the phrase 17 years ago today -- May 7, 2002.
Brind'Amour had been traded by the Flyers to the Hurricanes in 2000, but Iverson's memorable moment reached far beyond Philadelphia.
The Hurricanes play the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at TD Garden on Thursday (8 p.m.; NBCSN, SN, CBC, TVAS).