Washington (AFP) – Rod Brind’Amour, who captained the only Stanley Cup championships squad in Carolina Hurricanes history, was named Tuesday as the new coach of the National Hockey League club.
The 47-year-old Canadian spent 20 seasons playing at center in the NHL for St. Louis, Philadelphia and from 1999 to 2010 with the Hurricanes. Since 2011 he has served as an assistant coach for Carolina.
Brind’Amour replaces Bill Peters, who resigned last month as coach of the Hurricanes to accept the same role three days later with the Calgary Flames.
The Hurricanes also named Don Waddell as president and general manager. He had been serving as the acting general manager.
Brind’Amour will be charged with trying to revive a Hurricanes team that went 36-35 with 11 overtime losses and missed the NHL playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, finishing 10th overall in the Eastern Conference.
Since Brind’Amour sparked Carolina’s run to the Stanley Cup in 2006, the Hurricanes’ only trip to the playoffs came in 2009.
“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. “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.”
Brind’Amour, a first-round pick by St. Louis in the 1988 NHL Draft, ranked 16th in games played with 1,484 when he retired in 2010. He scored 452 goals and set up 732 others. He was selected for the 1992 NHL All-Star Game and played for Canada at the 1998 Winter Olympics.
In addition to winning the Cup with Carolina, Brind’Amour also reached the final with Philadelphia in 1997 and Carolina in 2002.
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