For the first time in 10 years, the Carolina Hurricanes are headed back to the postseason.
With their 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night, coupled with the Montreal Canadiens’ loss to the Washington capitals, the Canes officially punched their ticket into the playoffs and seem destined to face the Caps as the #1 Wild-Card team in the first round. Plenty of members in the organization deserve credit for the turnaround, but but perhaps none more than head coach Rod Brind’Amour, who manned Carolina to a 45-29-7 record through 81 games and has more importantly been a driving force behind making hockey popular again in the state. His hard word was paid off after the game when he discovered his team will officially be playing spring hockey and the moment couldn’t have been any better.
Talk about raw emotion!
That’s what it’s all about.
You can credit systems, or conditioning drills all you wants but when it comes down to it, the key behind the 48-year-old’s success has been just letting his guys have fun. While many were critical of the team’s infamous ‘Storm Surges’, Rod defended his guys and really doesn't see an issue with the whole thing.
While Rod was bursting at the seams with excitement, his goalie Petr Mrazek seemed, well, a little more psyched about it.
Things are going to get wild in Raleigh over the next few weeks.
(H/T Carolina Hurricanes)
