Brind’Amour, Hurricanes savor breakthrough Cup win after 20-year wait

LAS VEGAS -- Rod Brind'Amour took the Stanley Cup and tossed it into the air. The precious trophy hung there for a split-second, then he caught it, hugged it and hoisted it as coach of the Carolina Hurricanes 20 years after hoisted it as their captain.

“I thought he was going to spike it,” forward Seth Jarvis said with a smile. “I thought he was going to throw it on the ground. But it was incredible, and to have him be a part of this is amazing.”

Brind’Amour was caught up in the moment after the Hurricanes clinched their second title with a 3-0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Sunday.

“I don’t know,” Brind’Amour said in the middle of the celebration on the ice. “You don’t even know what you’re thinking at that point. It’s just … It’s more seeing all the players look at you and how happy they are for me. Like, it’s the other way around, you know? I was wanting this for them, and they felt it.

“This is why this is the most special trophy in the world, because, No. 1, how you have to acquire it, what goes into it, and then what it means to everyone, because they know. They know all the sacrifice that everybody has put in, and you just see it pouring out of everybody. It’s the greatest, greatest feeling in the world.”

Brind’Amour, known as “Rod the Bod” for his physique, embodies the Hurricanes. The 55-year-old has spent the past 26 years in Carolina -- 10 years as a player, one year in player development, seven years as an assistant and eight years as coach.

He’s been part of all but two of the team’s 104 playoff wins since the Hartford Whalers moved in 1997 -- 39 as a player, 63 as coach -- and became the fourth man to captain and coach the same NHL team to titles after Toe Blake of the Montreal Canadiens, Hap Day of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Cooney Weiland of the Boston Bruins.

“The luckiest part of this whole thing is that we hired him, and he literally is the most important part of it all,” owner Tom Dundon said on the ice. “You can’t do anything without the players, but I think everybody knows he gives you an advantage every day.”

It was Brind’Amour who instilled the Hurricanes’ aggressive style and strong work ethic. After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for nine straight seasons, the Hurricanes have made the playoffs in each of Brind’Amour’s eight seasons as coach. They have won 441 games in the regular season and playoffs combined, more than any other team.

This season, they became one of the most dominant teams in NHL postseason history. They went 16-3, posting the second-best record since the League went to four best-of-7 series in 1987. The Edmonton Oilers went 16-2 in 1988.

“Rod’s central to all of it,” general manager Eric Tulsky said on the ice. “He’s part of what puts these guys in position to play their best. He inspires them, he teaches them, and he’s the one who helps be ready to play every night.”

There was a lot of disappointment and heartbreak along the way. Carolina lost in the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, 2023 and 2025. But that only makes this sweeter.

“We’ve built something real special, and it’s been there for a long time,” Brind’Amour said. “It just never quite was able to crack through, and then finally we did here.”

Brind’Amour mentioned captain Jordan Staal, who has been with the Hurricanes for 14 seasons and won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the playoffs at age 37.

“We stuck with it,” Brind’Amour said. “I mean, this is eight years, and ‘Jordo,’ 14. I was an assistant coach watching him grind it out. I mean, it’s really gratifying.”

You could feel the bond between Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes amid the celebration. His players couldn’t say enough about him.

“He’s been in my corner since I got here, and he’s the reason I’ve stuck around as long as I have,” said forward Jordan Martinook, who came to Carolina in 2018-19. “There were times I didn’t know if I was going to stay, and then he gets on the phone and calls me and says, ‘You can’t leave.’ I couldn’t imagine not being on this team. And the fact that we got it done, he’s one of the best coaches I’ve ever had, and I’m just so happy for him.”

Brind’Amour stopped to talk to all kinds of people on the ice, including players’ parents. It was as if he were a proud papa too.

“As a player, it was like, ‘I want it. I want it. I want it for my buddies too, but I want it. I worked so hard for it,’” Brind’Amour said. “And then on the other end of it now, I know what it feels like, so I’m like, ‘I want it for them.’ And it’s like, ‘Come on, we’ve got to get it for these guys.’ And now it’s, like, so gratifying to sit back and see the joy that comes out of all this.”

NHL.com Senior Director of Editorial Shawn P. Roarke contributed to this report