Couch Coaches United

No one can deny Rod “the bod” Brind’Amour has not made his impact on the Carolina Hurricanes, very few NHL players can say they not only led their team to the first, and only Stanley Cup in franchise history, but also coached them back to the brink of a Stanley Cup following a nine year playoff drought; the key phrase is “back to the brink of a Stanley Cup”.

As a player for the Hurricanes, which includes captaining Carolina to their only Stanley Cup in 2006, Brind’Amour played in 694 games recording 174 goals, and 299 assists for 473 total points. Brind’Amour is also one of three players in the history of the NHL to win back to back Selke Trophies in 2006, and 2007 (Patrice Bergeron, and Pavel Datsyuk being the other two).

Rod Brind’Amour took over as Head Coach of the Carolina Hurricanes heading into the 2018-2019 season in which the Hurricanes finished fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 46-29-7, proceeding to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to Boston 4-0.

Carolina would go on to lose in the first round of the playoffs the following year to Boston 4-1 after yet again finishing fourth in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 38-25-5.

Despite finishing first in their division the following two seasons, Carolina lost in the second round of the playoffs each year; Tampa Bay 4-1 in 2020-2021, and New York Rangers 4-3 in 2021-2022.

The 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs elimination in the Eastern Conference Finals should have raised a major red flag to Carolina fans. Once again the Hurricanes finished first in their division with a record of 52-21-9, along with a goal differential of +53. Carolina, under Brind’Amour’s leadership faced off against the Florida Panthers in the Conference Finals, swept.

This is now three Conference Finals Series that the Hurricanes have gotten swept, and to date with the Hurricanes currently down 2-0 in the Conference Finals against Florida, Carolina is now 0-14 in Eastern Conference Finals games dating back to the 2008-2009 season which just so happens to be Brind’Amour’s last playoff appearance as a player where they were swept by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Overall as a coach, Brind’Amour is 325-160-49 in the regular season (.609 win percentage), come playoffs leading into this year Carolina is 38-36 (.513 win percentage), and has a goal differential of +12 over the course of 74 total playoff games.

As previously stated, Carolina is currently down 2-0 to Florida in the Eastern Conference Finals losing Game One 5-2, and Game Two 5-0, where the score was 3-0 heading into the second period.

Year after year the Hurricanes are considered to be a contender in the NHL yet come playoff time their dominance diminishes. Why? Carolina has consistently tried the same method that does not achieve the ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup despite adding piece after piece to their roster such as players like Taylor Hall, Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov, Shayne Gostisbehere, and even Frederik Andersen who thought he had escaped the playoff terrors he experienced in Toronto. That is a story for another time.

Yes there is a basis to having a style of play, and culture as a team; however once the playoffs start and it becomes a best of seven game series, in order to win a Stanley Cup a team must be able to adjust their gameplan in whatever way necessary to beat their opponent, whether it be playing more of a shut down defensive system, or adjusting their strategy on the power play.

The main problem in Carolina’s system of play is they play a very shutdown, physical defensive first minded style of play to a fault. There is no doubt Carolina has offensive talent and the ability to score however when it really matters such as the Conference Finals they tend to play too conservative which depletes their offensive results, and even time the offensive zone for that case.

A simple look at the recent Stanley Cup Champions puts this on display, Florida, Vegas, Colorado, Tampa Bay back to back, each and every one of those teams had a strong defense, however each and every one of those teams were able to turn that off and turn on the offense when needed. That is what it takes for a team to win a Stanley Cup.

It is common knowledge that Rod Brind’Amour is a great coach, and it is also common knowledge that the Carolina Hurricanes are a great team. However, the system they have right now, and for the past six, going on seven seasons has not worked and will not work. Often times in situations such as this if a Stanley Cup is not won the Head Coach is the first one on the chopping block regardless of how much both the organization and coach himself have said they want to remain with the team.

Where could Brind’Amour end up if Carolina decides to part ways with their coach? Which the fact that Brind’Amour and Carolina just agreed to a five year contract extension May of 2024 makes this situation even more interesting as that proves Carolina does believe in Brind’Amour, although patience is a thing and does wear out.

The only current open coaching slots remaining are Boston, Pittsburgh, and Seattle. Brind’Amour does have a history with the Philadelphia Flyers as a player, however with the recent hire of Rick Tocchet as Head Coach that does not appear to be an option unless Brind’Amour would be open to taking a less than Head Coach role.

Carolina heads to Florida for Game Three Saturday night at 8PM ET, and Game Four Monday night at 8PM ET looking to avoid their fourth time in a row being swept in the Conference Finals.

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