"That's not what happened": When Hurricanes HC Rod Brind'Amour passionately denied being swept by Panthers despite final 4-0 series count

By ARJUN B

Modified May 20, 2025 05:15 GMT

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The 2023 NHL playoffs saw an intense matchup between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Panthers ended the series with a 4-0 sweep over the Hurricanes. However, Carolina coach Rod Brind'Amour argued that the final result didn’t reflect how close the games really were. He insisted that despite the sweep, it didn’t feel like they were truly outplayed.

During his post-Game 4 press conference on May 24, 2023, Brind'Amour said:

"Well, that’s the unfortunate part of this. He’s going to look back,and everyone’s going to say, “You got swept.” And that’s not what happened.” Brind'Amour said.

“I watched the game. I brought in there. I’m cutting the game. We’re in the game. We didn’t lose four games. We got beat. But we were right there. This could have went the other way. This could have been four games the other way," he added.

Rod Brind'Amour went on to cite specifics, pointing out that two of the four losses came in overtime, with each game decided by just one goal — falling 3-2 in overtime in Game 1, 2-1 in overtime in Game 2, 1-0 in Game 3 and 4-3 in Game 4.

"We took huge steps this year, coming this far. Like I said, with what we were missing — it's pretty impressive," Brind'Amour said on referencing injuries his team battled through.

Fast forward two years, the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes are gearing up for a rematch in the Eastern Conference Final of the 2024-25 playoffs.

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Florida captain Aleksander Barkov on facing Carolina Hurricanes

This season, Carolina reached the Eastern Conference Final by knocking out the New Jersey Devils in five games, followed by another five-game series win over the Washington Capitals in Round 2.

"I remember every single game against them for the past many years have been really tough. It's really hard to play against these guys and they know it and we know it. It's going to be a really fun, hard series. Really looking forward to that,” Aleksander Barkov said. (via sports.yahoo.com)

Meanwhile, the Florida Panthers took down the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games to open the playoffs before edging out the Toronto Maple Leafs in a hard-fought seven-game battle in Round 2.