How Rod Brind'Amour brought the depleted Carolina Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference finals

By Sam Nestler

Modified May 18, 2023 16:23 GMT

Rod Brind'Amour is one of the best coaches in the NHL.

The 52-year-old has had loads of success with the Carolina Hurricanes. He is fun to play for, and his team plays a consistent style of hockey that is tough to beat.

But after winning the Metropolitan Division and earning the second seed in the East, the Hurricanes have faced loads of adversity during this year's playoffs.

In the first two rounds, Carolina played without the help of Andrei Schvechnikov, Teuvo Teravainen, Ondrej Kase and Max Pacioretty. Yet, the Canes found a way to handle a motivated New York Islanders team in six games and make it look easy against the third-best team during the regular season, the New Jersey Devils.

So how did they do it? Rod Brind'Amour.

Rod Brind'Amour brings hard-working playing style to his coaching

When listening to interviews with Hurricanes players, one term comes up more than any other: consistent.

Brind'Amour was a consistently hard-working player during his career. He played two-way hockey, worked hard and played the same way every night. He was a character guy that every team wanted in their dressing room. That has now translated over to coaching.

His players know what to expect. They know their assignments in every situation. They understand that if they work hard and pressure the opponent, they will have success.

And most importantly, they know that if they do the right things, they will hear it from their coach. If they don't, they will also hear from Brind'Amour, who is one of the most energetic, intimidating and animated people in sports.

Brind'Amour expects big things from each and every player that puts on the Carolina uniform.

That could be his superstars or it could be the 12th forward who gets inserted into the lineup due to an injury. It doesn't matter. If you play under him, you are expected to provide the same effort and style of play as any other guy, despite your skill level.

That relentless pressure and consistent four-line hockey is why Carolina has been arguably the hardest team to play against for the past five seasons.

Since Rod Brind'Amour took over in 2018-19, the Canes have made the postseason and advanced past the first round every year, reaching the Conference finals twice.

But each time, they have fallen just short. To many, this feels like something special that has been building in Carolina. And with only eight wins to go to reach their goal, something special could reach its peak in 2023.