With Game 1 of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final set to go Tuesday night, it has been an extended journey for the Carolina Hurricanes to get to this spot. The last time the Hurricanes played for the Stanley Cup was 2006. That was the last time Carolina won the Stanley Cup. The common denominator in all of that is head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
Brind’Amour captained the Hurricanes to their only Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history back then. Now 20 years later, he gets the chance to hoist the Stanley Cup again, but this time as a coach. Due to the management group that believed in him eight years ago and stuck with him throughout the tough times of not getting past the Conference Final round, it has been price.
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During his tenure in Carolina as head coach, prior to reaching the Cup Final in 2026, the Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019, 2023, and 2025, winning only one game. If you happen to return to 2009, the Hurricanes had a record of 1-17 of their previous 18 games within the Eastern Conference Final after their Game 1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
That was before they rattled off 4 straight wins to get back to the Stanley Cup Final. While the record isn’t the very best within the Eastern Conference Final, going through these hard times made him completely happy to have gotten past that round. But he understands the job just isn’t finished yet.
“Yeah, it was weird after the sport,” Brind’Amour said on Media Day. “You desired to be completely happy and excited for the fellows, and yet it was form of.. I don’t know, it was just not quite all that exciting. And I mean that on this proven fact that it was like this where we thought we must be for a very long time. And it’s just been an extended road, and I just thrilled for the fellows to have this chance now, and that’s like I said, that looks like for eight years we’ve been talking about getting this probability. So we’re finally here, and clearly we intend to make probably the most of it.”
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Rod Brind’Amour has that championship mindset that he has passed right down to players. There may be an understanding that while the hurdle of the Eastern Conference Final is over, the Hurricanes haven’t really completed anything. No person remembers who finished second. If you happen to are gonna lose, why not in the primary round?
“I don’t think we have now broken through, you already know what I mean?” Rod Brind’Amour added. “Like, you bought to win. So I do know everyone makes loads about getting this far, but no person’s gonna remember who is available in second. If you happen to’re gonna lose, you would possibly as well lose in the primary round. Like, it doesn’t really make a difference to me. It’s all about winning. So we haven’t done that yet. So, it’s a troublesome query to ask. Like I said, I’m really appreciative that we have now the chance to go ahead and win now. And so, that’s huge. Ask me in a pair more weeks.”
This can be a winner’s mindset, just like the one Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan had. It’s all well and good that the Hurricanes got past Round 3, but just one team wins the Stanley Cup, as Brian Burke famously said. The Hurricanes have a troublesome opponent within the Vegas Golden Knights, who, from the start, have had a mindset that winning matters.
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Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon famously said, “I’m within the winning business, not the hockey business.” He is correct. The Golden Knights have been told by their owner, Bill Foley, to win. That they had goals, they usually want to satisfy them. Carolina had those self same goals, but that is their first opportunity within the Brind’Amour era to play for the last word prize in hockey.
Knowing that the job just isn’t finished will keep Brind’Amour players hungry and focused on the challenge at hand. While it’s great to get to the Stanley Cup Final and be appreciative of the opporunity to play for the massive prize, there may be more work to be done for the Carolina Hurricanes.
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