{"id":61806,"date":"2025-06-05T05:44:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T05:44:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/61806\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T05:44:31","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T05:44:31","slug":"hurricanes-coach-gm-vow-to-keep-pushing-toward-stanley-cup-championship-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/61806\/","title":{"rendered":"Hurricanes coach, GM vow to \u2018keep pushing\u2019 toward Stanley Cup championship goal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rod Brind\u2019Amour was 35 years old and late in his playing career when he won the 2006 Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

The look on his face that June night as he held up the Cup \u2014 after all but yanking it away from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman \u2014 was one of fulfillment and ecstasy he had long sought, but not achieved.<\/p>\n

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There was a hunger and a driving determination to reach the Stanley Cup Final and finally win the Cup. He was the team captain. He wanted it for himself, and for everyone in the organization.<\/p>\n

\"Hurricanes<\/p>\n

Hurricanes captain Rod Brind\u2019Amour accept the Stanley Cup trophy after Carolina\u2019s 3-1 win over Edmonton in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final Wednesday, June 14, 2006 at the RBC Center.<\/p>\n

And now?<\/p>\n

Brind\u2019Amour is 54 years old and seven years into his job as the Hurricanes\u2019 head coach. His teams have reached the Stanley Cup playoffs each season, but have not won the Cup.<\/p>\n

Is the hunger to win a Cup the same now?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s different coaching,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said Tuesday at a news conference at Lenovo Center. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I\u2019ll always be wired this way, but I still think like a player. I know I\u2019m not out there, but it\u2019s different this time around.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI genuinely want it for the guys. I\u2019ve done it. I want them to experience that, for the organization, for the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/p>\n

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour works with his players in the closing minutes of the third period against the Florida Panthers during Game 5 of their Stanley Cup series on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C.<\/p>\n

The Canes made it to the Eastern Conference Final this season for the third time under Brind\u2019Amour. For the second time in three years, the Florida Panthers knocked out Carolina. The Panthers lost in the Stanley Cup Final that year, but won it a year ago as former Canes coach Paul Maurice finally enjoyed that winning feeling and lifted up the Cup.<\/p>\n

The Canes\u2019 2024-25 season ended last week with a Game 5 loss to the Panthers at Lenovo Center. They trailed 3-1 in the series entering the game and were long shots to be able to recover from a 3-0 hole, but tied the score in the third period on a Seth Jarvis goal and had the noise level in the arena at full tilt.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI mean, that last game we played here might have been the loudest I\u2019ve ever heard where I was literally screaming, probably at the ref, but I was screaming and the guy is standing right here and I couldn\u2019t communicate,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cWe want it for all these people. At least that\u2019s how I feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do ever get one, does then the hunger go away? Maybe. Until then it\u2019s definitely what keeps me fired up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Take a step back\u2019<\/p>\n

In looking at the season in retrospect, Brind\u2019Amour had sizable holes to fill after such veterans as Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei and Teuvo Teravainen left in free agency after the 2023-24 season. Brind\u2019Amour, at first, was skeptical about the Canes\u2019 chances of continuing their playoff streak given the departures, but said he soon had a better feel for what he had.<\/p>\n

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The Canes traded for forward Mikko Rantanen this season, securing a proven scorer and former Stanley Cup winner with Colorado, only to send him to the Dallas Stars when his demeanor and attitude were more about sulking than winning.<\/p>\n

Once in the playoffs, the Canes had defenseman Jalen Chatfield and Sean Walker go out with injuries. At times there were four rookies in the lineup including forward Logan Stankoven, who came to Carolina in the Dallas deal but had playoff experience last season with the Stars.<\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/p>\n

Carolina head coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour walks towards the locker room after the Florida Panthers\u2019 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, May 20, 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to take some time, take a step back,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said of assessing the season. \u201cIn the moment of it, man. When you take a step back and look at what transpired this year I\u2019m like, \u2019This might be one of the best seasons we\u2019ve had in 20 years.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u201cI look at all the uncertainty going into the year. There always seemed to be something going on with us, which was good. Obviously, with the Rantanen stuff and all that went on.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Canes got through the \u201cRantanen stuff\u201d and finished second in the Metropolitan Division. Once in the playoffs, they beat the New Jersey Devils and then the Washington Capitals, the Metro winners. Brind\u2019Amour said the Canes were \u201chitting our stride\u201d \u2013 winning each series in five games \u2013 before running into the Panthers.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall we\u2019ve raised the bar to a point where when you lose in the semifinals it\u2019s disappointing,\u201d he said. \u201cYou take a step back and it\u2019s \u2018Wait a minute, there\u2019s four teams playing and we\u2019re feeling like crap because we lost.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where you want to be. This is the level, the standard, you want to have as an organization. It doesn\u2019t change our goal. We\u2019re trying to get to be that best team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carolina<\/p>\n

Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour and general manager Eric Tulsky take questions from media during a press conference on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, N.C.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

Looking to next season, veteran defensemen Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov are pending unrestricted free agents and general manager Eric Tulsky said Tuesday the Canes are negotiating with both.<\/p>\n

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Tulsky, who joined Brind\u2019Amour at the press conference, said the offseason priorities are shoring up the defense and adding players who fit the \u201cculture\u201d \u2014 and oft-used word in sports these days \u2014 that Brind\u2019Amour has built and nurtured.<\/p>\n

\u201cRod is an incredible steward of the locker room,\u201d Tulsky said. \u201cWe want to find players who can play and will fit but will fit off the ice, too..\u201d<\/p>\n

The NHL salary cap will be raised to $95.5 million for the 2025-26 season and Tulsky said there is a \u201cfull buy-in\u201d to spend to the cap if there\u2019s a way to get better. Tulsky said the Canes would continue to take \u201cbig swings\u201d if there is an opportunity to bring in a great player to bolster the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI a hundred percent agree with Rod on expectations,\u201d Tulsky said Tuesday. \u201cOver the last five years, no team has more regular season points than us. Only two teams, Florida and Edmonton, have more postseason wins than we do. We set the bar very, very high. Every year we expect to be at least competing for the Cup and our goal is to win one or more.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt does stink to finish and feel like you came up short. But, man, what an honor to be on a team where you get to the final four and feel like you came up short. I love where we are, and we\u2019re going to keep pushing to get to where we want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

About that handshake line …<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t expect Brind\u2019Amour to be skipping any more handshake lines at the end of a playoff series. Florida\u2019s Maurice convinced him the line should be a \u201cplayers only\u201d thing, but Brind\u2019Amour said Tuesday he enjoyed congratulating players on the other team and sharing a moment with them \u2013 especially former Hurricanes such as Pesce of the Devils this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some impactful memories and moments as a coach going through it,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cMoving forward, I\u2019ll probably go back to it because it\u2019s a sign of respect.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rod Brind\u2019Amour was 35 years old and late in his playing career when he won the 2006 Stanley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5107],"tags":[1711,1772,2866,194,29,5176,192,147,2913,198,1235,5,195,1447,520,270,151,4,63,804,1535,6949,1177,14,104,4445,2865,244,109],"class_list":{"0":"post-61806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-hurricanes","8":"tag-brady-skjei","9":"tag-brent-burns","10":"tag-brett-pesce","11":"tag-carolina","12":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","13":"tag-carolinahurricanes","14":"tag-colorado","15":"tag-dallas-stars","16":"tag-dmitry-orlov","17":"tag-edmonton","18":"tag-eric-tulsky","19":"tag-hockey","20":"tag-hurricanes","21":"tag-jalen-chatfield","22":"tag-logan-stankoven","23":"tag-mikko-rantanen","24":"tag-new-jersey-devils","25":"tag-nhl","26":"tag-panthers","27":"tag-paul-maurice","28":"tag-rod-brindamour","29":"tag-sean-walker","30":"tag-seth-jarvis","31":"tag-stanley-cup","32":"tag-stanley-cup-playoffs","33":"tag-teuvo-teravainen","34":"tag-the-canes","35":"tag-the-panthers","36":"tag-washington-capitals"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114629172666208847","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}