Rod Brind’Amour, who captained the Hurricanes‘ only Stanley Cup championship team in 2006, has been named the team’s coach.
RALEIGH, N. C. — Former team captain Rod Brind’Amour has been promoted to head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, the team announced Tuesday.
The Hurricanes also announced that team president Don Waddell will take over as the full-time general manager after serving as the acting GM.
Brind’Amour captained the Hurricanes‘ only Stanley Cup championship team in 2006. He will replace Bill Peters, who opted out of his contract last month following his fourth year and subsequently was hired by the Calgary Flames.
„Rod is the greatest leader in the history of this franchise, and has earned the opportunity to take charge of our locker room,“ Waddell said in a statement. „We spoke to a number of candidates for this position, but our conversations with staff and players consistently returned to the same person.
„Rod’s fresh ideas, ability to motivate and understanding of what it takes to bring a championship to Raleigh will help our young team take the next step toward competing to bring the Cup back to North Carolina.“
The Hurricanes were 36-35-11 in 2017-18, their ninth straight season without reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Brind’Amour, who will be the franchise’s 14th head coach, has been an assistant under Peters and Kirk Muller with Carolina since 2011. He spent half of his 20-season NHL career with the Hurricanes before retiring in 2010.
He ranks third in franchise history in assists (299) and fourth in goals (174).
Brind’Amour, 47, entered the NHL with the St. Louis Blues in 1989 and, after two seasons, joined the Philadelphia Flyers. He spent the next eight-plus seasons with the Flyers before being traded to the Hurricanes in January 2000. He played in 1,484 career games, scoring 452 goals — including 67 game winners — to go with 732 assists and 1,100 penalty minutes.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
