The image of Rod Brind鈥橝mour screaming triumphantly while raising the as the Carolina Hurricanes鈥� captain had been the franchise鈥檚 defining image for the past two decades.
Now there’s another: Brind’Amour raising the Cup again, this time as the Hurricanes鈥� coach who has made his longtime home.
The Hurricanes adding a remarkable chapter to Brind’Amour’s enduring presence with the franchise. In a region generally best known for rabid college sports rivalries, he is the embodiment of Hurricanes hockey.
With his team celebrating on the ice in Las Vegas, backup goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov skated to Brind’Amour and handed him the Cup. Brind’Amour wrapped his arms around it like a hug, then raised it above his head with another yell 鈥� this time in a suit instead of the red jersey 鈥� in a bookend moment to the one from 20 years earlier.
鈥淚 don’t even know what to say right now,” Brind’Amour said. “I鈥檓 so happy for these guys. I won it as a player. I wanted it, but I wanted for these guys as a coach because it just means so much. You see how happy they are. I鈥檓 an old guy now, but I had my one. Trust me, I鈥檓 glad we got another one, but it鈥檚 for these guys. This is what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�
Brind’Amour was the 35-year-old two-way center as the heart and soul of that 2006 title run, known for grinding on-ice work and weight-room training.
The owner of the retired No. 17 jersey in the Lenovo Center rafters.
The guy who proclaimed when becoming head coach of a franchise lost in a nine-year wilderness without a playoff bid.
Now he鈥檚 the coach who built that has finally reached its zenith. He joins Toe Blake with Montreal, Hap Day with Toronto and Cooney Weiland with Boston as the only other people in NHL history to both captain and coach the same organization to a Stanley Cup.
Doing it more than a quarter-century after arriving as a player shocked to be traded to Carolina makes it only sweeter.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 just wear this (Hurricanes) hat, take it off and wear someone else鈥檚 the next day,” Brind’Amour said in May during his eighth playoff appearance in as many seasons. “That鈥檚 just not what it is. It means a little more to me because I鈥檝e been here for so long. We have the roots and the history, so I鈥檓 very lucky in that way.鈥�
Brind’Amour’s arrival triggered a title climb
Brind鈥橝mour 鈥� born in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and raised in Campbell River, British Columbia 鈥� arrived in a January 2000 trade from Philadelphia. That jarring charge had an inauspicious start; he reached Raleigh amid a heavy snowstorm that had paralyzed the area.
Just two years later, Brind鈥橝mour helped Carolina make an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup Final. Then, in the NHL鈥檚 2005 return from a season-cancelling lockout, Brind’Amour became captain as the Hurricanes beat Edmonton in seven games for his unforgettable Cup-hoisting moment.
Brind鈥橝mour was part of another East final run in 2009 before retiring in 2010. He held a front-office role before spending seven seasons as an assistant coach and then taking over the bench in 2018.
The challenge was daunting. There was the on-ice frustration from the long playoff drought. There was also flagging fan interest.
The Hurricanes had gone from averaging 16,573 fans for regular-season home games in the 2008-09 season to as low as 11,776 by the 2016-17 season. That stood at just 12,412 the year before Brind’Amour’s promotion.
How Brind’Amour revitalized the Hurricanes
Brind’Amour quickly went about building a team capable of sustained success, one with an approach in befitting his personality. Use an aggressive forecheck to win puck battles. Maintain possession and generate scoring chances to keep the pressure on in the offensive zone.
The mantra was simple: keep working, it’s the only way to give yourself a chance to win.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just the eight years we鈥檝e been doing this Roddy,鈥� captain Jordan Staal said before Game 6 against Vegas. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the game we鈥檝e built and it doesn鈥檛 ever change.鈥�
Brind鈥橝mour acknowledges the value of having been a player 鈥� 鈥淚 have sat in their seat,鈥� he said this month 鈥� in understanding the challenges they face and how to motivate them. He also talks about leading a team that fans can be proud of with its performance and effort.
And Brind’Amour continued a set-the-example leadership style, even in his own workout habits as he pushed into his 50s. It left an impression ; the defenseman recalled coming in early to work out and finding Brind’Amour deep into bench squats.
鈥淚’m like, 鈥榃ho is this guy?鈥欌�� Miller chuckled last month.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 hurt that your coach is in shape like that,鈥� forward Taylor Hall said before the final. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just the kind of guy he is. He鈥檚 a role model for us, and we kind of follow his lead.鈥�
Building for sustained success led to a second Cup title
It’s all added up to the Hurricanes making the playoffs every year of Brind’Amour’s tenure. They reached the East final in 2019, 2023 and 2025 .
Average regular-season home attendance is roughly 18,800 for the past two seasons combined. And in 2023, the team packed nearly 57,000 fans into Carter-Finley Stadium 鈥� home to N.C. State’s football team across the street from the Lenovo Center 鈥� for .
Overall, Brind鈥橝mour has been a player or coach for 102 of the franchise鈥檚 104 playoff victories since the former Hartford Whalers relocated to North Carolina in 1997.
That now includes Brind鈥橝mour having his name etched on the Stanley Cup for a second time.
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