The Carolina Hurricanes won their second Stanley Cup title by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 in Game 6 on Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Head coach Rod Brind'Amour guided the team to the championship, joining a select group of NHL figures who have both captained and coached the same franchise to a title.
Unique Training Method
Forward Sebastian Aho revealed that Brind'Amour incorporated a hidden exercise into the team's offseason routine: lifting a 35-pound cinder block to simulate hoisting the Stanley Cup.
The workout was documented in an in-season team video. Head strength and conditioning coach Bill Burniston explained the significance behind the training method.
"We call that our blue collar press," Burniston said. "I grew up in a blue collar neighborhood.
Maybe one of the most important blue collar jobs is the mason. The mason builds the foundation of buildings, your homes and what have you.
And basically what we ask guys to do is one press and think of those blue collar moments that got them here, and somebody that's helped you get here."
Players Praise Their Coach
Jordan Martinook expressed gratitude for Brind'Amour's support. "He's been in my corner since I got here," Martinook said.
"He's the reason I've stuck around as long as I have.
There's times I didn't know if I was going to stay and then he gets on the phone and tells me, 'You can't leave.'
I couldn't imagine not being on this team. And the fact we got it done, he's the best coach I've ever had."
Brind'Amour reflected on the difference between winning as a captain in 2006 and as a coach. "It's still awesome, it's just as awesome," he said.
"But as a player it was a little different, because I had dreamt of winning the Cup my whole life so that was like a piano had come off my back.
This time around, I wanted it for the group. I wanted them to feel what it's like.
I wanted it so bad for them.
To watch them finally get it, and when I was grabbing (the Cup), just to see the look on their faces, it's priceless, because you knew how happy they were for me."
Seth Jarvis highlighted the respect the roster has for Brind'Amour.
"He's lived it as a player, he's been through it, he's lifted it, and now to lift it as a coach, we have the utmost respect for him," Jarvis said.
"Everything he says goes. He's a big reason why we won."
Captain Jordan Staal pointed to Brind'Amour's playing experience as motivation.
"He's played before, so he understands the feel of a team and looking across the room and looking in everyone's eyes and understanding that they need to bring it, and you need to bring it for them," Staal said.
"He understands that. The motivation to run through a wall for him is there."
Former Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, whose team eliminated Carolina in the previous two playoffs, congratulated Brind'Amour.
"Rod has excelled at developing an identity game, and having the Hurricanes be very consistent over the years playing that exact game," Maurice said.
"Good for him."
Peter Laviolette, who coached Brind'Amour during the 2006 championship run, expressed no surprise.
"I think Roddy has done an amazing job as coach of putting a winning culture forward and establishing such a high standard of play over the last 6-8 years with Carolina," Laviolette said.
"While there has been some level of success, it hadn't reached ultimate success … until now! Championships are hard to win.
Based on such a incredibly steady body of work year after year, the Carolina Hurricanes, and Rod, are so deserving to be 2026 Stanley Cup champions."
Former general manager Don Waddell, who appointed Brind'Amour as head coach in May 2018, recalled his certainty about the promotion.
"Rod is always totally prepared," Waddell said.
"Guys love to play for him because he cares and doesn't ask to do anything that he didn't do as a player.
He respects his players and the feeling is mutual."
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin credited Brind'Amour's authenticity. "One of the words that I love to describe Rod is respect," Slavin said.
"He respects us, he respects the game. He respects what it takes to be an NHL player.
He had an unbelievable career, so for guys coming into our team, they get a guy who's real, who is real with them, who will treat them well.
But he's also going to let them know what's demanded and expected of them.
I think what keeps him successful is one, his work ethic, but two, just how real he is."
Former Hurricanes player Eric Staal, who won the 2006 title alongside Brind'Amour, joined the celebrations. "He's a genuine, honest, hard-working, good guy," Staal said.
"If you're a good person, and you're honest, I'm sure there are a lot of guys that aren't gonna like what he's gonna say, but he's gonna be upfront and honest, and he's gonna push these guys to a level that he obviously has.
I am not surprised at all."
