Few players in NHL history were as solid for as long as Brind'Amour, one of the best two-way players in the League for 20 seasons.
The St. Louis Blues selected Brind'Amour with the No. 9 pick of the 1988 NHL Draft, and he turned pro after playing one season at Michigan State University. Brind'Amour made his NHL debut during the 1989 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring a goal in his debut April 11 and again in his second game nine days later. He had 61 points (26 goals, 35 assists) as a rookie in 1989-90, but after dropping to 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists) in his second season, Brind'Amour was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 22, 1991.
Few players in NHL history were as solid for as long as Brind'Amour, one of the best two-way players in the League for 20 seasons.
The St. Louis Blues selected Brind'Amour with the No. 9 pick of the 1988 NHL Draft, and he turned pro after playing one season at Michigan State University. Brind'Amour made his NHL debut during the 1989 Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring a goal in his debut April 11 and again in his second game nine days later. He had 61 points (26 goals, 35 assists) as a rookie in 1989-90, but after dropping to 49 points (17 goals, 32 assists) in his second season, Brind'Amour was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sept. 22, 1991.
Brind'Amour blossomed offensively in Philadelphia, averaging 1.03 points per game during the next five seasons and scoring at least 24 goals in his seven full seasons with the Flyers. But a broken foot sustained during a preseason game ahead of the 1999-2000 season sidelined him nearly three months, and 12 games after he returned the Flyers traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 23, 2000.
Though Brind'Amour wasn't the offensive force with the Hurricanes that he had been in his early seasons with the Flyers, he was productive while rounding out his two-way game and becoming one of the best in the NHL on face-offs. In 12 seasons after face-offs became an official NHL statistic in 1997-98, Brind'Amour never won fewer than 54.2 percent of his draws.
The Hurricanes named Brind'Amour captain before the 2005-06 season and he responded with his best offensive season since 1998-99, finishing with 70 points (31 goals, 39 assists) and winning the Selke Trophy as the League's best defensive forward. The Hurricanes had their best regular season since moving to Carolina from Hartford in 1997 with 112 points and won the first Stanley Cup championship since entering the NHL as the Whalers in 1979. Brind'Amour scored 12 goals in the playoffs, including the winning goal in Game 1 of the Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers.
Brind'Amour won the Selke again in 2006-07, when he finished with 82 points (26 goals, 56 assists). He played three more seasons, retiring in 2010 with 1,184 points (452 goals, 732 assists) in 1,484 NHL games, as well as 111 points (51 goals, 60 assists) in 159 playoff games. He remained with the Hurricanes as their director of player development and in 2011 joined the coaching staff as an assistant.
The Hurricanes retired Brind'Amour's No. 17 on Feb. 18, 2011. Carolina hired him as coach on May 8, 2018, and in his first season guided the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2009. The Hurricanes won their first two series before being swept by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Final.
NOTES & TRANSACTIONS
- Centennial Cup All-Star Team (1988)
- Centennial Cup - MVP (1988)
- CCHA Rookie of the Year (1989)
- NHL All-Rookie Team (1990)
- Played in NHL All-Star Game (1992)
- Traded to Philadelphia by St. Louis with Dan Quinn for Ron Sutter and Murray Baron, September 22, 1991.
- Traded to Carolina by Philadelphia with Jean-Marc Pelletier and Philadelphia's 2nd round pick (later traded to Colorado, Colorado selected Agris Saviels) in 2000 NHL Draft for Keith Primeau and Carolina's 5th round pick (later traded to NY Islanders, NY Islanders selected Kristofer Ottosson) in 2000 NHL Draft, January 23, 2000.
- Signed as a free agent by Kloten (Swiss), February 16, 2005.
- Officially announced his retirement, June 30, 2010.