Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour gestures on the bench against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Hurricanes Coach Makes History With Win Over Devils

Originally posted on Breakaway on SI | By Jon Alfano | Last updated Apr 30, 2025 5:00 PM ET

Rod Brind'Amour might as well be synonymous with the Carolina Hurricanes, both as a player and as a coach.

As a player, Brind'Amour spent 10 years with the Hurricanes from 2000-10, and captained the team to its first-ever Stanley Cup back in 2006. Then after retiring, he worked his way through the organization to become head coach in 2018, and he hasn't looked back since.

Now in their seventh season under Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes have been one of the league's more successful teams throughout his tenure, making the playoffs each and every year. For context, the last time they made the playoffs before his arrival was in 2008-09, his penultimate season as a player.

The Hurricanes have had their share of struggles in the postseason, but they're usually a safe bet to get out of the first round. In fact, Brind'Amour became the first coach in NHL history to win a playoff round in each of his first seven seasons after Carolina closed out the New Jersey Devils in Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Crazy stat: #Canes Rod Brind'Amour is the first head coach in #NHL history to win at least one round in each of his first seven seasons behind the bench.

Just making the playoffs seven years in a row is an accomplishment in today's NHL, let alone that.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 30, 2025

If one wants to pedantic, the Hurricanes only won the qualifying round in 2020 before losing in the actual first round. However, the NHL still counts those series as part of the playoffs, so it's fair game.

It would also be easy to criticize Carolina's shortcomings in the postseason under Brind'Amour. The Hurricanes have only made it to the Eastern Conference Final twice under him and were swept there both times, first against the Boston Bruins in 2019 and then against the Florida Panthers in 2023.

While that all may be true, Brind'Amour is still the best head coach the Hurricanes have ever had. They never even made the playoffs in three-straight years before his arrival (at least not since relocating in 1997), and he now has them on a seven-year streak.

That's impressive on its own, and of course, he still has plenty of chances to get over that postseason hump.

This article first appeared on Breakaway on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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