Brind’Amour, Tortorella have taken different paths to Stanley Cup Final

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rod Brind'Amour and John Tortorella traveled divergent paths to arrive on the same stage, the grandest in the NHL, the Stanley Cup Final.

For Brind'Amour, it took eight years of growing and a lot of battle scars to earn the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup as the coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. 

For Tortorella, it took a shade over two months, some minor changes and a lot of momentum to get the Vegas Golden Knights here. A couple of months ago, he could have been assigned to work this series as an analyst for ABC and ESPN instead of being a coach in it.

Brind'Amour and Tortorella aren't keen on making it about themselves, or talking about themselves, but their teams, regardless of how long each has been coaching them, are direct reflections of who they are, and how they lead and coach.

What is likely to be a hard-fought series begins with Game 1 at Lenovo Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC). Brind'Amour and Tortorella will be two of the biggest stars in it and they aren't even playing. 

"Everyone makes a lot about getting this far, but nobody's gonna remember who comes (in) second," Brind'Amour said. "So, if you're gonna lose, you might as well lose in the first round. Like, it doesn't really make a difference to me. It's all about winning. We haven't done that yet."

Brind'Amour did as a player, and captain, with the Hurricanes in 2006. 

Tortorella did as the coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. 

Ancient history to both.

Brind'Amour's path back to the Stanley Cup Final as a coach began in 2018-19, his first season behind the Hurricanes bench after serving as an assistant for seven.

"Once he took that job as the head coach, he set the standard for the organization that we want to be the best team," Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho said. 

The Hurricanes established an identity under Brind'Amour as being relentless in their pressure all over the ice, as being a team that thrives on shot volume, on shooting from everywhere, playing the odds that the more you do that, the more likely you are to score. 

They have never wavered from that style, even through the disappointments of losing in the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, 2023 and 2025, each a quick series leading to questions about the style: is it too demanding, too hard to maintain through 82 games and a long playoff run?

"Because it works," Carolina captain Jordan Staal said. "That's the big thing. The guys truly believe that if we play the way we're supposed to, then we'll have a great chance to win.

'Roddy,' not only does he have all these messages, but he backs it up with his own work ethic, his day to day and how he carries himself and all the things that he does for this organization. It just makes it that much easier to follow up."

It's even easier when that message and the consistency of the culture is passed through a core that has been here as long as Brind'Amour has been the head coach.

Staal, Aho, Andrei Svechnikov, Jordan Martinook and Jaccob Slavin have all been Hurricanes for every game under Brind'Amour. Frederik Andersen, Seth Jarvis and Jalen Chatfield came on board in 2021-22. 

They have the same calluses as Brind'Amour. They have lived the same highs and lows. 

Many more joined last season and lived through that playoff run that ended with a five-game series loss to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.

"'Roddy' has been the biggest difference in my time here in Carolina, and the way this organization has turned around in the last eight, nine years," Slavin said. "It's awesome to have him as a coach. I talked about it with my wife, I can't imagine having a different coach because we've had him for so long. The core that we've had the whole time he's been here, we've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this organization, into getting to the point where we are now. It took a lot of work to get here, but to do it with 'Roddy' is special, just because of what he means to this organization."

Tortorella meant nothing to the Golden Knights until he arrived on March 29 as the replacement for Bruce Cassidy, who was fired as coach with eight games remaining in the regular season.

The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023 with Cassidy at the helm and 10 players who are expected to dress in this series, including backup goalie Adin Hill. They already had the winning pedigree when Tortorella got to Vegas. 

So, Tortorella didn't have to reset the culture or change the playing style. Instead, he had to get the players to reinvest in their belief of how good they are and how good the team could still be this season. 

"This team knows how to play," Tortorella said. "We (made) just subtle little changes here and there, but to me, it was a mindset."

It was a sharp change for the better.

The Golden Knights went 7-0-1 in their last eight games in the regular season. 

They came back from down 2-1 against the Utah Mammoth in the Western Conference First Round and won in six. They were tied 2-2 against the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Second Round and won Games 5 and 6. They swept the Presidents' Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

"We knew we're a great team and if we just do it now we can still make a nice run," Vegas forward Tomas Hertl said. "It's tough to say easy, but I think it was for us getting on the (same page) because we didn't change much. And when you get a couple wins, we started feeling good about ourselves and everybody got on the (same page) because we know we have the team to do it. We just chipped at it game by game, we started feeling better and better, and eventually, we got to the Colorado series and it was like, 'Oh, look at our team.' 

"Why couldn't we do it before? Sometimes the change is needed, players need a little refresh in their heads. That's maybe what happened with us."

The Hurricanes have never needed that under Brind'Amour, but not all coaches who guide their teams into the Stanley Cup Final follow the same path.

For some, like Brind'Amour, it's built from scratch with good times and hard times along the way, and an unwavering belief that eventually you'll get there. 

"It's a long road," Brind'Amour said. "I'm just thrilled for the guys to have this opportunity now. It feels like for eight years we've been talking about getting this chance. We're finally here."

For others, like Tortorella, it's being the right guy for the right team at the right time, understanding when to coach, when to listen, and when to get out of the way.

"The intensity he brings, he wants it," Vegas defenseman Shea Theodore said. "He wants it just like we all want it."