Captains of the Carolina Hurricanes: A Retrospective

Rod Brind’Amour

No matter how much respect I have for Justin Williams (and I have a lot), there is one name that comes to my mind when I think of “The Captain”: Rod Brind’Amour.

Despite their captain being engaged in a contract holdout, the Carolina Hurricanes managed to win their first two games of the 1999-2000 season.  This proved to be an anomaly as the team stumbled to a 14-16-7 record as 1999 drew to a close.  The start of the new year brought much of the same as the Hurricanes traded wins and losses before falling into a 5 game losing streak.

They broke that skid with a 4-1 win at home over the equally unimpressive Buffalo Sabres.  The following day saw the end of the personnel drama: Keith Primeau was out; Rod Brind’Amour was in.  Being familiar with the new addition from his time in Philadelphia, I was excited.  Brind’Amour was a strong two-way player who could put up points.  More importantly, he was playing.

My friend Bryan and I were at Brind’Amour’s first game as a Hurricane, a 3-2 overtime win over the Montreal Canadiens.  I vividly remember this game, not only for his Carolina debut but also for the arrival of January 2000 North American Blizzard.  Needless to say, the drive to Halifax County from Raleigh was slow throughout and squirrely at times but hey, the Canes won.

Through his first four seasons as captain, Brind’Amour averaged 63 points per season, including an 82 point performance in 2006-07 (the 4th highest output of his 20-year career).  His play dropped off sharply in the 2009-10 season, a year that saw him relinquish the ‘C’ to Eric Staal.

Brind’Amour’s tenure as captain is best-remembered by me for the playoff success that the Hurricanes saw.  Having been part of playoff runs in 2001 and 2002, he played a huge role in leading the Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup, including the game-winning goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

He followed that up by scoring two goals in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, opening the scoring for Carolina and adding the game-winner after Edmonton backup Ty Conklin misplayed the puck behind his net.

Following the Hurricanes’ feast-or-famine playoff history, the team followed up their championship with two non-playoff seasons before making a return in 2009.  Brind’Amour’s offensive output dipped noticeably from where it was in 2006, though he continued to contribute at the dot and with his veteran leadership.

After retiring, Brind’Amour joined the Hurricanes in the dual role of assistant coach and development coach.  After Bill Peters opted out of the final year of his contract following the 2017-18 season, Brind’Amour was named as the Hurricanes head coach.  His first season in that role saw the Hurricanes post their second-best season (following only the 2005-06 season in which he was captain) and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

Memorable moment: There are several to choose from but none better than seeing the pure joy on Brind’Amour’s face as he raised the Stanley Cup in 2006