The Case for the old Carolina Hurricanes Captain: Rod Brind’Amour’s Bid for the Hockey Hall of Fame

The Carolina Legend

Whatever Brind’Amour’s legacy to the average hockey fan is irrelevant to Carolina Hurricanes fans. The man was more than their captain, he is a folk hero. “Rod the bod”, the great leader and motivator who carried an above-average team, and a rookie goaltender, to the side of Stanley Cup.

There where other Carolina greats, players like Ron Francis, often regarded by many as one of the greatest players the game has seen, and Glen Wesley, a defensemen who was a mainstay during some of Carolina’s greatest moments. But these players didn’t carry with them the character and will of a man like Brind’Amour

Rod Brind’Amour was already a well respected hockey name when he arrived in Raleigh, and he became the city’s adopted son. He embraced a too often overlooked market. He played a sport that very few North Carolina’s understood, and he helped them fall in love with it.

Rod was the catalyst for much of what the Hurricanes are. He made the team that used to be in Hartford, become Carolina’s team. for many young adults who hold this team dear to their hearts, Rod is the Michael Jordan to our bulls, the Tom Brady to our patriots, the Mario Lemiuex to our Penguins. He was the guy we thought of first, the guy who led us further than anyone thought we could go.

Rod was tasked with replacing a legendary Ron Francis as the captain of the Hurricanes and he never looked back. He became the kind of player a small-market team needs; the player who is gonna show you, not tell you, but show you that they are willing to lay it all on the line for this cities team.

An overlooked career, an illustrious honor. Hockey’s everyman who was defined, not by his penchant for flair or the dramatic, but by his work ethic, determination, and willingness to grind. a career built, not by the gifts of the hockey gods, but by his own two hands.

Rod Brind’Amour is the epitome of sacrifice for success, the poster boy for leadership and the will to win, and the face of a bastard franchise that is quickly disregarded by the NHL. Number 17 has done everything necessary to earn a place in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and it would be a crime against the game itself to not recognize the gift that Rod has been to the game.

Question for CC Readers: Do you think that 2019 is finally the year that Rod Brind’Amour joins the Hockey Hall of Fame?