32 Thoughts: The Podcast - Rod Brind’Amour

Episode Date: April 12, 2023

The Carolina Hurricanes are a hard team to play thanks to their coach. Elliotte sat down with Rod Brind’Amour in Ottawa the day after his son, Skyler, won the Frozen Four with Quinnipiac. They talk about Skyler’s journey in hockey, the make up of the Canes, why he got into coaching, the Stanley Cup run in 2006, being part of some massive trades during his playing days, his relationship with owner Tom Dundon, the culture in Carolina and the changes he feels need to be made to officiating in the NHL to make it an even playing ground.Email the podcast at [e-mail] or call The Thought Line at 1-833-311-3232 and leave us a voicemailOutro Music: Seafoam Walls - DependencyListen to the full track hereThis podcast was produced and mixed by Amil Delic, and hosted by Jeff Marek and Elliotte Friedman.Audio Credits: NBC Sports.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Sports & Media or any affiliates.

If you're not getting championed, but you're not doing it right, now we got issues, because now we're not going to win, and you're not going to have success, you know, it's simple. Okay, so you want a five second silence? Okay, just five seconds. Welcome to 32 Thoughts, the interview podcast presented by GMC and the Sierra AT4X. Jeff Merrick, Emil Delic, and soon, in moments as a matter of fact, you will hear from Elliot Frieden. Now, Rod the Bod is the hockey nickname, but for anyone who talks to Rod Brindamore about hockey for maybe more than five minutes, you might want to refer to him as Rod the Brain. He's highly intelligent, very smart, has strong opinions on the game of hockey,

many of which you'll hear here in this interview with Elliot, recorded last Sunday in Ottawa, a day before the Hurricanes game against the Senators. In this conversation, you'll hear his thoughts about reffing, get the checkbook ready, video reviews. This part is really fascinating. Also, Elliot talks to him about when he thought that coaching was something that could be a career option.

He discusses who he thinks should win the Selkie Trophy. He discusses Carolina itself and how it's a hidden gem in the NHL and also because he couldn't resist, right? He talks about his son Skyler winning a national championship last Saturday. Before we hear the interview, I want to thank a couple of mics, Sondheim and Brown from the Communications Department

for the Carolina Hurricanes for making this interview possible. So here he is, Rod Brindamore, head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, in conversation with Elliott Friedman on 32 Thoughts, the podcast. Listen to the 32 Thoughts podcast ad-free on Amazon Music, including with Prime. You gonna clap? I have a feeling I know what the answer to this question is going to be, but what is better

lifting the Stanley cup or seeing your son win the frozen four? That is a good question. Just because I just lived it. I would have said watching your son, you know, do something that he's been trying to do for a long time. I know selfishly, tough to beat winning the

Stanley Cup. That's still the greatest day of my life. But yesterday was pretty special watching him be able to do that. Some things are meant to me. Like I was watching that game last night and the fact that you had an afternoon game. Like would ever take an nhl game off no no that's my job yeah i totally agree i looked at the schedule and i'm like okay i'm gonna miss the semi-final because we have a game

and i'm like gonna miss out saturday night of course we play and then i look i go 12 30 in buffalo that's a little ways away but30, we don't ever have those. And I'm like, three-hour flight, do the math, and then I had to be there. So he knows I watch. I mean, he got his own thing going on, but it was just you only get so many moments in life to create memories and be there for something special. So something I'll remember forever now, watching that game. First of all, the game was great, so intense. So anyway, very happy that I was able to be there for something special. So something I'll remember forever now watching that game. First of all, the game was great.

So intense. So anyway, very happy that I was able to be there. When that overtime winner was scored, Kevin Biaxa grabbed a whiteboard in our little studio and he diagrammed the winning play. Yeah. And I'm wondering as a coach, did you see that unfolding as it happened?

Wow. We talked about this after the game. I went down and talked to the coaches after too. They run that play every game all year. And then it's just a simple center swing away, you know, hit the wing cross and then see if you can catch a step on a guy. And they've hit it quite a bit. But I just love that, you know, they had a plan, you know,

and then they've obviously practiced it and worked on it. Every team does this. Every level, NHL, you've got plays. And you run one every face-off, basically, but how often does it actually hit? That was my next question. But that's why you practice it, because that one time, it might. And you've got to have a plan, and you've got to execute.

They clearly did. I mean, it was exactly how he draws it up, and away you go. This is not tampering, I don't believe, but would Rod Brindamore want to coach Skyler Brindamore? It's not tampering. I love it. I don't think that's the best move, you know, because, you know, as a parent, you want the best for your son, your daughter, whatever. I haven't pulled a card. I haven't said, hey, a favor. I mean, I probably could, but that's not what he wants. He's earned everything that's come his way since he's been a kid, trying out for AAA teams. And I was still coaching, but he had to make the team.

It wasn't because I was coaching. You know, he was good enough. And then all the way through the process, got drafted, sixth round, but did not to us, somewhere else, and got his scholarship on his own. It wasn't me messing around. So I'm not about to do that now. But if our staff said, hey, this would be a good guy to have,

I'd love to have him, obviously. It kind of takes me a bit of a different direction. I was talking to Jay Woodcroft a couple weeks ago, and Edmonton had a deal they were looking at and they took it to him and he said, I think we already have a guy here who fills that role. I don't necessarily think we need to do that. And Ken Holland pulled back. He wouldn't tell me who it was, but it did happen. What's your relationship like with the front office here in the hurricane? How much say do you get in what you do oh i think that's the best part

of the job i have is the relationship between myself tom the owner donnie i think we're all kind of in line and and it goes down to jeff daniels and tim gleason like it's we all have a say and feel like we're connected on what's going on and there's not a move that's done that impacts our team that we don't or we're not involved in whatever and even the minor leagues who we bring it into this organization they may do it anyway but very rarely that's what i love about it when we talk about players all the time and i think that's what makes our situation work and has there ever been a time like you've really disagreed with anything? Oh, all the time.

Yeah? All the time. We disagree more than we agree, probably. Give me a time that you were wrong, that you went back to them later and you said, thank God you guys overruled me on this one. I think it's the other way. I think you got to look at it the other way. I don't remember the ones I was wrong.

I got a lot more. I told you so. No. Right now, off the top of my head, I can't think of one. But I know there's been where I was wrong. I got a lot more. I told you so. No, right now, off the top of my head, I can't think of one, but I know there's been, I was wrong about that guy. I mean, we all are.

A lot of it more from the drafting perspective because you watch a kid at 18 or 17 and you think, oh, he's going to be this and maybe he doesn't or vice versa.

And that's everywhere, throughout every organization. Draft's absolutely the hardest thing, I think, to nail down. Other than when you have a top pick, that's about as easy as you can do. But after that, it gets really tough.

And I think, you know, it's not a crapshoot because there is a science to it, but there is a lot of luck involved. Okay. Tell me one thing about Tom Dundren that isn't true that people think and one thing that is true that people think. There's a lot of misconception.

Here's what I'll say. I've always said it before. I think he's one of the hardest working men in sports. He's the owner of our team. He's involved in every trade that happens from the minor league level to the draft. I mean, he's involved in everything. Every day he's talking about players. What do you think?

Can this guy help us? And down the list. So he's involved in everything. Every day he's talking about players. What do you think? Can this guy help us? And, you know, down the list. So he's involved all the time. Everyone thinks he meddles. Everyone thinks he's kind of like, I get the sense, but he doesn't ever do anything to do with our team as far as you got to do this or that. No, none of that. Whatever you got to do lets me do it.

But we have great communication on how we make our team better. And it's all about the players. Every conversation, how do we make it better for how we make our team better and it's all about the players every conversation how do we make it better for the players and that's what he's done in raleigh since he's taken over his game how to got to get a better practice facility how do we make it great for the player i'm gonna do it and we clearly now pay the players that's coming out of his pocket and that's the biggest thing because that's how you get a fair fight in this league. You know, it's tough when you don't have a fair fight. Now that you can at least pay the guys equal to the other teams,

that takes that out of the equation. And he's all about winning, number one, and making sure that players are taken care of. And I think that's really the key. I've heard you talk about this before, the night that you were traded. Cause when, when you talk like that, I think about the night when you were traded from

Philadelphia to Carolina. And I think you've told the story many times about how, what there were like 8,000 people in the building that night and the hotel you were living at, they didn't even know where the arena was. Yeah. Like, I, I wonder what you must think when you

go back 20 something years. Well, it's funny you just mentioned this because we played a game it was last week tuesday night in raleigh against ottawa i came out and about to start the game and it's sold out and i'm like not that it's ottawa but it's tuesday night against not a team that we've had any history with there's no rabbit you were born there so you don't want to slag off. No, I'm not meaning it that way, but I meant we got a packed house. And I'm like, you know how far we've come as an organization

because that's not how it used to be. On a Saturday night, yes, Friday night maybe, you know. But on a Tuesday night, probably not, and we're full. And it's come a long way. I know it doesn't sound like much to some people, but we've got a small market team that is, the town has supported us, and they're coming out every night. And I think it's because we have a good team,

and people can appreciate that. And I think that's the whole part about being relevant. We wanted to be relevant, and not just one year. We've got to do this every year, and we've done that here for a few years, and we need to keep doing that. I remember Game 7 of that Stanleyley cup final the crowd standing that whole night did you do the players notice that you don't notice them standing but you notice the emotion of it like it's so loud and you just the energy is off the charts and i think everywhere every building

has that but for some reason our building just, you get goosebumps thinking about it, wanting to score that goal. Or when you do, just how the roof just comes off the place. And it's a fun place to play. The atmosphere outside, the atmosphere in the building, and it's a great place to live. And it's always been that. But it's weird how now all of a sudden it's like, oh, really?

The secret's out, I guess. And I think that's one of the attractions of the area. We have a great fan support. We have a good team, but it's a wonderful place to live. It is. You know, Paul Stasny was talking about that, about how it's green. Well, it's easy to get around.

It's, you know, I don't know, it's 15 minutes to the rink. It's 15 minutes to the airport. And it's getting worse because everyone's moving down there. And so we are starting to get a little congestion, but it's good schools. You got the beach. If you want to go, you can go to the mountains. There's just golf. Guys love to play golf.

It just kind of has everything that you need. So one-stop shop. One thing about Dundon I did wonder is he doesn't like rentals. No. Do you like that? Do you wish he would bend a bit more on that one? Well, that's hard to say. If it's the right rental, maybe.

It has to fit. I think it's really more what he's saying. It has to be the right fit. Otherwise, we're not going to do something silly. And hindsight's everything. You could say, well, you just lost your top score and your other top score. Well, we didn't know that was going to do something silly. And hindsight's everything. You could say, well, you just lost your top score and your other top score. Well, we didn't know that was going to happen.

Right. And so I think everything changes if we'd known that was going to happen. But I agree with most things that he says. He's very smart. So it's tough to win an argument with him one-on-one. He likes to argue. Well, he doesn't like to argue. He likes to learn. And how he learns, I i think about our game is he'll question everything you do

so then you got to get him answers to what he's questioning and then if you can convince him he's like okay i just learned something and other things about him he's a great listener which i'm not i got to do better i'm always cutting him off but he stops he listens because he wants to learn on what's going on or at least how we think. So I think that's obviously a great quality. All right. A lot of places I want to go here. First of all, you were 15 years old when you left home and you went to Notre Dame Academy.

Yeah. When you look back, what's the thing that makes you laugh the most about 15 year old Rod Brendamore? Oh, I don't know what makes me laugh. I mean, I was pretty serious serious i was down then i knew what i wanted to do and which i guess is a blessing you know because most kids they think they know what they want to do but i i was like i knew what i wanted to do i knew how to do it which was i just okay i gotta put my work boots on and i was blessed to have great coaching and great parents along the way to help me coaching to me we get a lot of

credit in nhl for coaches right here all the time because you get great players even junior hockey players most of them are great when they walk into the locker room the coaches that coach these kids at 12 13 14 15 are the ones that need the credit because they're the ones that put the instincts they give the habits in all these kids that you get to work with and so at that age my dad coached me first and was great and then i went to notre dame like you said and barry mckenzie i think it's the best coach that's ever been on the planet someday i gotta get the list of kids that have come through him he's long retired but and the influence he had and where they ended up and the list of nhlers is incredible yes the list of NHLers is incredible.

The list of just kids going to college. He made them better people. And he's had a great influence just me, even how I coach, because what he did when he coached me for a couple of years. So anyway, long story to that answer at 15, I was real fortunate that I had good people around me all the way. Now, I remembered that when you got to the NHL in St. Louis

and you came after your season at Michigan State and you scored on your first shot, and you said to me, well, that's right, but there's actually more to the story. Well, a little more. I mean, I played my first game, scored on my first shot, and it's a little rebound tap-in, right? Make it sound good. It's a goal.

Hey, I'm 18 years old. I came out of college, and but make it sound good it's a goal it was hey i'm 18 years old i came out of college and i'm in the playoffs and scoring a goal and then here's the better story part is the next game was game one against chicago so i played game five of the first series scored the goal they sat me out the first four games just kind of get used to you know what was going on so now i score so they start me the next game, game Chicago. I score eight seconds into the game. Right after the opening faceoff, the puck just bounces up in the air. I just put my head down, rip a slapper, goes right in.

So now they think I'm a wonder kid. I got two goals and two shots, two games. Then the third game, I score again. I think I told you this. And they disallowed it because they didn't have replay, but it went under the bar now. This is before replay. So anyway, I was off to a hot start and cooled off after that,

but at least it was a way to get in and feel accepted, obviously, when you're contributing. They don't care how old you are or where you come from. If you're contributing, you know, you're welcome in the league. So Brett Hull's on that team at that time. Adam Oates on that team at that time. Brian Sutter's your coach. Yeah. I'm just curious, like, what was it like when you first walked in?

Because that's a tough crowd. I mean, real tough. And here's this kid. And I remember when I came into that room, they put me in a side room. Because, you know, here's this college kid. There's too many players? Well, they didn't have a room for me. And I'm like, I'm not playing yet.

I was the first, you know, so I'm basically changing in the lounge. You know, and I'm like okay and i remember coming out to practice first shooter greg mellon yeah dave mills he's the goalie and i'm like i see there's a lot of net over here and i'm like i don't really know if i should just go so i'm kind of throwing muffins in there i wasn't really i was a little nervous to really like rip them and And Craig Cox, I don't know if you remember Craig Cox. Oh, of course, tough, tough guy. I got lucky in the sense that his agent was my agent. Okay. So he obviously, but my agent told him, hey, take care of this kid.

Now, maybe not the best guy to take care of in some avenues, okay, but on the ice and in practice, he was like just being real nice. And I remember he used to call me Brandy, and he says, you can shoot harder than that. So it just made you feel welcome. And then I started shooting a little harder. And I was like, Millsy, there's a lot of room over there. Started putting a few by him, but it was great guys.

Bernie Federico was there at the end, so I got to play with him. It was a great time to come into the league. Obviously, there's a lot of stylistic changes between the NHL now and then. But what was maybe your biggest adjustment, the thing that was hardest for you to do? Well, the biggest adjustment I ever had to make was going from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League to college.

I remember the first game I played in college, I was like, oh, my goodness. I felt kind of overwhelmed. When I went from college to the NHL, I was expecting that. I was expecting, oh my goodness. I felt kind of overwhelmed. When I went from college to the NHL, I was expecting that. I was expecting this overwhelming feeling. And I'm like, wait a minute, where is it? It wasn't quite like I thought it was going to be.

So the college game really prepared me, I think, to play at the NHL level. I don't know if that answers your question at all. It does. I think just playing with that level of college with their men too. There's a lot of older players. And I think that just helped me to walk right in and play at the NHL. You were part of two huge deals. Did you see them coming when they happened?

The story of the St. Louis trade. And also then the Philly trade. St. Louis trade's crazy. If that would happen today, it was that arbitration case. Yes, Scott Stevens. So I have a pretty good year. And then my second year in St. louis i faltered off a little bit so all of a sudden i'm at training camp and here i am being told that i'm up myself and curtis

joseph for the arbitration case because they went and poached brandon channing and so the devils are asking for no that's not a good enough package we want scott stevens so we're at i'm at a charity golf tournament for the blues and there's a decision coming down and back then they didn't have the setup like you guys have here yeah they did an interview with me the reporter and goes okay i need you to decisions coming down at five but i'm not waiting around i want you to give me two interviews one where you get traded and one when you don't i have seen that i had i had to like give the hate that i had to leave and then oh i'm happy to be here and they're gonna air one at five o'clock you know like this is what happened i'm

like so obviously we didn't i didn't get moved so now i'm i'm on a team where the they didn't want you myself and curtis joseph were sitting there and they're like they're all bummed out because they lost scott steven and they got to keep myself and curtis Curtis Joseph. So you knew the writing's on the wall. I mean, now it's where are you going to end up next, right? So off to Philadelphia. And then the Keith Primo one, did you see that one coming at all? Well, there's a story there that I got hurt. First time I'd played eight years in a row and blocked a shot in preseason.

Preseason games, don't get me going on that right so i'm out now and i tried to come back too early and this is again the care has changed like we take care of the athletes now like i mean almost overkill but i got hit in the in the foot in new jersey game we bust back i went to the emergency room by myself to get an x-ray at two in the morning because that's what you did and they said oh it's not really broken you could probably play take a week off when you hear that that means you're good to go so i tried to play through it then i'm just limping around and two weeks later i gotta get this thing x-rayed i can't play and my bones are all shattered and so now i gotta get pins put in so now i'm out long time that so now i'm just coming back it's december and the flyers call me into the office

and i've said this now so i can this is 30 years ago so i think we're okay to yes you know we can and paul homer calls me i love paul homer he's one of my favorite coaches he's the assistant gm he says what do you think of keith primo and i'm like well i just played with him in the world cups and so i i think he's a great player you go well lynn ross for here i go oh i don't know about that deal i mean lynn ross is lynn ross primo primo and he goes well there's a whole bunch of other players too and i'm like ah i go i wouldn't do the deal and then i said well man I'm glad to go I thought you were calling me in to trade me and then he goes oh no no we think too highly of you

that we trade and I went oh and it was like okay I went home I said I've been here eight years and they never called me in them on and never said we think highly of you I said I'm gonna be out of here as soon as I got healthy I was the one that got how soon was that conversation before the trade i just coming back so probably two weeks or a week i only played three games when i came back some deal was done i talked to jimmy about it they they knew the deal was going through they're just waiting for me to kind of be healthy so you know, that is an unbelievable story. It's business. I get it.

I remember Phil Rizzuto, the Hall of Fame shortstop from the Yankees, he once told a story, I heard him tell, that he was called in spring training once and whoever it was, the general manager said, we have to remove a player from the roster. And Phil Rizzuto started saying, well, what about this guy? And they're like, no, we need that guy for this reason. What about this guy?

And he said that they didn't hit him. They were telling me that I was the guy. Yeah. I'm trying to imagine that conversation. Well, I mean, I remember like yesterday, because I was still, actually I was still on crutches, so it must have been early November. Because Primo was holding out.

That's what it was. So there was all this chatter about where's he going to go. And they waited till I was kind of back and then they did the deal. Now I'm sure that they were trying to get Lynn Ross, right? Yeah. Well, I mean, I'm sure, but okay, that wasn't going to work. So then we moved to other pieces and that was it. Wow.

So you go to, you go to, and you win a Stanley Cup there. I'm always curious who you take your coach at. You mentioned Barry McKenzie, one of the greatest coaches you ever had. And I'm sure you take a little bit from each coach. All of them. You said you and LaViolette initially, it wasn't always easy. Because he was your biggest fan. Yeah.

Well, and him now, now too and it's funny how any player you talk to who was your best coach and they'll all say whoever played you the most and whoever you know and lavie played me the most at the end so of course but i loved how he did it i love how he treated everybody and made everyone had to do the same way right and this is how we do things and treat everybody fairly and bring a family feel to the organization and the team. And that's really about caring. We talk a lot about that and that's really what it is.

I mean, we're such a team sport. You're fighting all the time for those little margins and where are they? Where can you get them? And I think that's what Labby does a real good job of. What do you remember about the night you guys won the cup? Pretty much everything. I mean, it was. night you guys won the Cup? Pretty much everything. Do you ever watch the game?

No. Well, I have, and every once in a while someone puts it on, game seven, and I got to sit there. My family's watched it a few times when it's on, and they leave. They're done with it, right? But it's great memories to see it. Grindemore with the net empty. Pronger shrugs it away.

The Carolina Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup. I remember going into game seven, and it felt like the weight came off. And I didn't realize it was a weight on, meaning all the way through playoffs, I'm in 35, and Glenn Wesley's's 37 and Hedy's 35 and you know we go down the list of guys that we haven't won and this is it like we know and I mean it might not be but you know without saying it like guys this is our last shot here and going into game seven you knew it was over so tomorrow is no tomorrow and so And so I remember coming into the game going, wow, this is it right here. And just felt real at ease.

And we were at home, which was good. It was a big deal back then. It seems to be still a big deal, but not as much. And then obviously the crowd, like you talked about, right from coming out in the warm-up, and the place was just electric. And you kind of wish any everybody could experience that as a player because it's so special and obviously winning you wish everyone could do that's kind of why i love coaching i want it so bad for the guys we

have to be at least one time have that experience because it sticks with you forever what was the best part about the celebration or the moments well i do remember a lot i remember my family being out there my kids um my dad was out there real special because again all of a sudden it's all the people that helped you get there and there is happy and there is much a part of it as you are and as the team is and that's really what comes out you see it every year when guys win and i think that's what makes stanley cup so special because everybody that's really what comes out you see it every year when guys win and i think that's what makes the stanley cup so special because everybody that's in it understands and i mean everyone the families understand how much sacrifice goes into it's not even the playoff it's not that grind there it's the years and years of grinding to get to that point and that's what makes it so

special and i think why our sport stanley cup's the greatest championship because of what it takes to win you know what everybody remembers about that stanley cup Stanley Cup, is the greatest championship because of what it takes to win. You know what everybody remembers about that Stanley Cup final with you? Is the cup grab. Right. The cup grab. The lift, you mean? Or just when the commissioner hands it to you.

Congratulations to Jimmy Rutherford, Peter Laviolette, all the players on the Hurricanes. Rob Brindamore, I'm proud to present this to you. Everyone says I took it from Gary, and that's not what happened. I couldn't hear a thing. You're excited. Yeah, and I'm like, I thought he said go ahead, and apparently he's supposed to do a little more.

I don't know. And I'm just like, I'm not waiting around. I just couldn't wait to get it. So it wasn't disrespectful, but somehow it's come off that way over the years that I just took it from him. No clue what was going on. Couldn't hear a thing. And I just didn't want to miss my chance, you know. Did you think that you would coach as long as you have?

No. Didn't even think I was going to coach. I didn't really want to. I've done the grind for so long as a player meaning the travel and missing the family and missing the kids do their things and i'm like i need to be home i want to coach my kids not miss stuff but i want to stay in hockey so let's just do management i can make my own that was kind of what i was hoping to do and then one thing i do another and i was doing it a little bit.

I was coaching. I had the best gig. I was assistant coach, but I was only staying at home. So I wasn't on the road. But I wasn't, I mean, now I'm not really doing anything. I mean, I'm kind of helping, but I'm not influencing enough. You either got to be all in or all out. Yes.

And so let's just do this. And Tom gave me the chance. I mean, I was at the point, I'd been an assistant coach for a long time. And I'm like, eh, I got either, you know, I can't think of the correct words here, but it's get off the, you know what? And so Tom gave me the chance. I'm still here. You're going to hate this because you hate talking about yourself. But there are a lot of people who know the kind of workings of

this team or around this team that say you are the person that makes it all work. The culture of the hurricane. Yeah. I know you love to credit the players. Well, it's all the players. But they say the cult, even the players say the culture comes from you.

Well, that's to deflect it from them, which is smart. It's actually, like I talked about, the organizational, and I know it sounds corny and yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's a belief on how we got to do things. And talked about, the organizational. And I know it sounds corny and yeah, yeah, yeah, but it's a belief on how we got to do things. And it starts with the players. I mean, I know you have a bad manager.

It's not going to be good. You have a bad coach partner, but you got to have players. You can have the best of all those. If you don't have the players, what are you going to do? I mean, you might do a little, but you're not going to be successful. So I just look at the leadership we have, and I've talked about it at length, but Jordan Stahl is one of the best leaders you could have as someone you want to build culture to or around.

That culture word gets thrown around all the time, but it's just talking about having good people that do it right. And consistently, because everybody can do it right once in a while. The trick is can you do it right over and over and over? And when people are telling you it's not right, or there's an easier way or there's a different way, then that's Jordan Stahl, and on and off the ice. So he represents himself and the Hurricanes, not just the way he plays,

but follow that guy around on a daily basis. So now there's your guy, and now you stick Ajo and you stick Jarvis or you stick all these young guys and just let them watch. What am I doing? Nothing. I'm just putting them around good people. And that's how you build culture, I think.

Is it harder to lose as a player or a coach? Oh, way harder as a coach. Because you can't do anything about it? Can't do anything about it. But as a player, I would go home, not sleep, but I'd play all my shifts over in my head. I could have done that different. You know, I just missed that phase off, or how did I miss that one, empty net.

As a coach, you go through 20 guys' mistakes. You're like, I didn't get the message through here or whatever. So you got 20 guys' mistakes to deal with. And now you expect to win every night. It's the NHL. you know deal with and now you expect to win every night it's nhl but when you don't win it just and you gotta slip the screws but it's uh i think it's way harder as a coach which is why i don't know how long i'm gonna do this to be honest well that's the thing i want i wanted to ask you is like you've kind of indicated it's carolina or nowhere it's gonna be it would be

hard yeah i'll be honest i'm not gonna say to say I would never do it, you know, because I have some good friends in other places that I really respect. But I have a hard time right now envisioning, the way I coach anyway, to do it somewhere else. I've always had a hard time, and I know it's guys' jobs, but I'm wearing whatever shirt, golf shirt with their logo, and then they're fired. The next day they're putting the other hat on, and they're like, this is the best. But I'm wearing whatever shirt, golf shirt with their logo. And then they're fired.

The next day, they're putting the other hat on. And they're like, this is the best. I'm like, well, what were you just selling at the other place? And I get it. That's how it works. But I'd have a hard time with that, I think. Now, Tom gives me a call tomorrow and says, we lose again. And he's like, OK, making a switch. I don, I don't know that I, I don't know if I

could stay away from the game. That's the other part. So who knows what would happen? I don't think that call's coming anytime soon. I have to. I got to turn it around here pretty quick. Well, you know what? Let's talk about that for a second because, you

know, you lost two players, two important players, and it would be easy to say this is not our year, but I can't imagine Rod Brendamore saying this is not our year. We, we imagine rod brendamore saying this is not we listen you know we lost pasturetti and sveshnikov that's 70 goals let's say conservatively out of your line maybe we didn't replace it because we thought we would have them so that's gonna be tough now we replaced it in other areas in my opinion we got brent burns this guy's as advertised and we have a host of other guys on the back end that are picking it

up and then some other guys have taken a step forward that we didn't expect in Marty Natchez and in Ajo but we still lost a big chunk goal so it's easy to say oh it's not our year that's not how we're thinking we've put all this work in and I say we the players from july to now they're not just gonna throw in the towel and we just got to figure away different ways of doing it every year around hall of fame time i get a call from someone in the hurricanes who says pump me up you even rolled your eyes before i finished the question does it matter to you uh no oh well it would be a huge honor. So I don't want to discredit that. I didn't grow up ever thinking about that. Do you know what I mean?

That was never, I want to be in the Hall of Fame. It was win a Stanley Cup and play in the NHL long enough that I could support my family. That was kind of like, I don't want to have to do what my dad did for a living. That was all. I was like, I'm not doing that. But all I want to do is raise the cup. So check, check. Right.

So I'm good. I'm good with that. If you know what I mean. Yes. So we're, everything's gravy now for me on that end. Second one I heard from our coach and the other coaches obviously out there really respect the

job you do. He had a great line about you. He said, as long as Rod Brindamore is behind a bench, nobody will be in more trouble with the referees. That could only be second best than behind Brindamore. That's, I get a bad rap there.

I just, I get, here's my thing is I want to help these guys. I'm pushing the league. We need to have review on penalties. These guys are the best at what they do. There's zero chance anyone could do what they're doing. You could throw 10 refs out there. It's not going to get right because it happens too

fast. It's fast. And yet, they've done this technology thing and they've stuck it where we get the view within five seconds and the whole building and the whole people at home and they're sticking on the bench. Now we can tell if they mess us up. So you want video review for penalties? Yes.

And do you want to go through this? Sure. Do you want to go through this? Sure. Do you want to go through this? This is how quickly you do it. Take two of the officials off the ice. We don't need four on the ice. What have the lines been really doing? Offside.

We got review for offside, if you're wrong. I'm not taking jobs away. That was the other thing. I mentioned this five years ago when everyone, oh, losing jobs. No. I'm preserving jobs because wear and tear, less wear and tear. Two guys on the ice you're not in the danger areas you get hit with pucks okay you're in the neutral zone calling the game

you have two guys in the box on review on every time there's a penalty put your hand up the one guy's going already checking to see if that was the right call you go to a tv timeout for 30 seconds just put the red light on the whistle goes and they just quickly look at it we already take how many tv timeouts in a period three period three per period no no no three minutes per period you got nine per yeah so it's like it's like it's like six minutes per period okay so just hear me out when you have that penalty call the one guy's already just gives him a thumbs up is the right call because maybe then he's like oh wrong drop it at center but we're taking a 30 second timeout so we come back out of that i mean it's quick

we got it right we got the call right and they get if by some chance it's got to go longer take another just add it to add a minute but guess what at that 13 minute marker we've had three penalties now we're not taking a three minute stoppage and play which sucks the life out of the building just when you go there you're like who did you who did you just wait i'm not done this is this is this is so now we're not actually taking any more time right because we've had four penalties we've taken two minutes off when we stop at the 13 minute marker we just take a one minute time out because we're making sure we're getting paid the commercials are going but guess what we've just done we've got all the calls right now we're not it's not going to help the ones that we miss which that's part of the game but the ones that you want to get right you made

the call they should be the right call and these guys would they're the best in the world they take them two seconds to look oh that's not what i thought i saw or this head whipping thing that goes on when guys hit that it's impossible to tell live that's why guys are doing it imagine if you got it you knew it was getting reviewed would you think you'd have the head whip no you wouldn't because you get embellishment now right and we just you get what i'm getting at yes we don't want a game to end on penalties that are not penalties you're okay with missing something honestly you can live with that but the one that is not a penalty that causes a goal those are the ones that that i get frustrated with so my half my

time i'm screaming because i just if it's wrong this is why all they had to do is get a second look at you're taking two guys off the every night you get a little rest so this your four-man crew is going around they're only actually on the ice for half the games they're in their stuff by the way because if there's a melee they can come right out and break things up and one guy drops the puck the whole game so you get consistency so at one end it's not one linesman's just jamming it down and at the other end the guy's making both guys stop and they get confused on you know you always complain about the just have one guy do it every face off. So he's doing it the same both ways. Offsides, you're letting it go anyway.

Now we've come – that's the best thing the NHL has done is let those ones go, right? Because how many times are they wrong on that when you review it? I think very rare. And it's so tiny. So tiny. They're doing a great job with that, right? But they're letting them go. Where they used to kill some that weren't offside, and you're well you just killed the scoring chair you killed the flow so the league's moving

that direction they're all worried about it's going to take too long if you're actually just making up time where you were taking time anyway what are you doing we all want to get it right if that's our goal it's all everyone in the room says we just want to get it right is this not a way to do that at the end of the day it's not losing jobs it's preserving jobs it's giving these guys that are great at what they do no one else can do this there's zero chance you and i could go out there and call a game zero i would just never even know i would just let everything go because but they do an amazing job imagine if they had they knew they could quickly go check or had you in their box on the headset with me going was that the

right call you know let's take a peek quick okay we got time because we're taking it on out of a commercial i just think we get them right that's it long story on that and we're saving refs from getting hit in the corners and getting in the way how often does a puck when they're trying to clear it hits the ref goes up you don't need to be down there we don't even need to be at the goal line because everything's reviewed when the goal goes in. We do a great job of reviewing those goal line things. Anyway. That's phenomenal.

I said this five years ago in the Boston series when I got asked this. I'll never forget it. First time, I was like, we need to have this. And everyone, they didn't let me finish the whole thing like you have. I mean, you'll probably edit all this, but that's okay. You'll edit this whole thing. This is my witness. He's the editor. This edit all this, but that's okay. You'll edit this whole thing.

Albo's my witness. He's the editor. This is all going to air. No chance. Nobody wants to hear about this. No, it's going to air. My suggestion, and it's just to help out, or take away the video then. Don't show us replays.

Why are you doing that? Have you ever taken it to the league, said? When do I talk to the league? I'm not doing that. This is my chance to talk to the league right here. Do you think I can get in trouble? No, you won't get in trouble. This is a suggestion, and it's to help them.

We get the best refs in the league. Why do we have to kick them out at 50 or 55? Isn't there an age limit? I think it's more a can you keep up kind of thing. Okay, well, guess what? If I'm just going from the neutral zone to the neutral zone, I can go into the other zone, but I don't have to. The call of game, you get these good guys around for longer

is what I would think. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think you're wrong. Well, we'll see. We'll see. Last question for you. It's Jeff Merrick, and he talked about Selke voting. Is Selke the best defensive forward

or the best 200-foot forward? Overall forward, 200-footer, for sure. It's a guy you want on the ice to win a game and defend a game in the last second. You know what I mean? That's the guy you want on the ice. That's your Selke. And the guys that have won that now in the last 20 years,

that's basically what it's come to. You need a goal, he's going out. You need to stop a goal, he's going out. That's it. That's basically how I look at that award i'm glad that's gone to that because there's so many good defensive minded players that know how to play can put the puck in the net and it wasn't like that originally it was kind of not taken away from any of those guys but i like how it is now rod you're incredible thanks so much

you're the best I appreciate you you do a great job for hockey and that's that's what it's all about it pales in the comparison of the job you do

really appreciate your time of course alright well that was that was 15 minutes no it was 15 minutes I didn't plan it. There you go.

Don't you show me how I gotta figure it out Don't you curse me out I need a slap in the mouth In the mouth In the mouth The only thing that's hidden Is that we're not infinite

The only thing that's hidden Is that we're not infinite