Nine years of postseason drought. Eight years under head coach Rod Brind’Amour. Seven disappointing playoff exits. The price to return the most historic trophy in sports, the Stanley Cup, to Raleigh.
Only needing one win to secure the hardware, the Hurricanes wrestled control of what had at first looked like a competitive series, shutting out the Golden Knights 3-0. Carolina’s touted defense showed up while Vegas shrank in the spotlight.
Captain and center Jordan Staal led the Canes’ physical play in the Final, scoring six goals and posting a historic 68.0% face-off percentage. For his efforts, the 37-year-old was named playoff MVP, making him the oldest Conn Smythe trophy winner in the league’s history.
“It’s an unbelievable ending to a great story,” Brind’Amour said. “I’ve talked about him enough but I’m so proud of him … I’ve seen this guy grind it out for 14 years and never waiver”
Defenseman Jaccob Slavin, another long-time Hurricane, headlined the defensive effort, shutting down multiple goal-scoring opportunities and standing as an impassable wall at the blue line.
“He was remarkable tonight,” Staal said. “He stopped like four or five grade-A [chances], and it was nonstop. It was every shift really. He was a massive reason why it stayed at zero.”
On any occasion the defense failed, goaltender Brandon Bussi had a save ready. He didn’t have the best control of his rebounds, but he seemed to occupy every space in the crease at once.
Standing strong on a breakaway, spinning around to grab a puck that bounced off his back, jumping around for a flurry of point-blank saves. All for a 22-save shutout every bit worth the praise that Carolina fans have been heaping onto him in his rookie season.
“Every start that he’s had for us has been like that … no stress, making saves, from day one that he showed up,” Brind’Amour said. “Sometimes you get lucky in sports … That was a lucky waiver pickup that just happened at the right time, and here we are.”
Bussi joined the team off waivers this season before going on to post the best record by a goaltender through their first 25 games. He didn’t get the start at first in the playoffs, but he was ready when his number was called for the last four games.
“[It’s a] good story about people that take advantage of opportunity,” Brind’Amour said. “It didn’t just happen, he had to make it happen, and he certainly did.”
On the attacking end, the Hurricanes’ talent shined. Winger Taylor Hall opened the scoring on a breakaway with a snipe from the left faceoff circle. It was a shot that belongs to a highly-skilled player. The kind of player who might not be expected to do the dirty work day in and day out. But not Hall, who bought into the Hurricanes culture in his first full season with the team.
“It’s a great story, we got a bunch of these guys that have grinded it out, “Brind’Amour said. “Him coming over with the pedigree he had, it could’ve been easy to just be like ‘I’m not doing this,’ but it was the opposite.”
Up and down the roster, Carolina has talented players that have flown under the league’s radar. Some of that can be attributed to the Hurricanes’ owner, Tom Dundon, who became the majority shareholder in 2018 shortly before appointing Rod Brind’Amour as head coach.
“I gotta give him a lot of credit for this whole thing,” Brind’Amour said. “Number one, he gave me an opportunity … and then you know, his commitment to trying to build a winner is there … He went out and got us players we needed, and here we are.”
Many of those players have been the difference for Carolina this year. The surprise success of Bussi, the veteran presences of Hall and winger Nikolaj Ehlers, center Logan Stankoven’s 16 playoff points. All part of the vision that Brind’Amour has been building toward for almost a decade.
“I remember the day that my first acquisition was [winger] Jordan Martinook,” Brind’Amour said. “I remember grabbing him, had lunch with him, and I’m like ‘Hey we’re gonna try to build something, we need the kind of player you are, the personality.’”
If the Stanley Cup was the goal, then Brind’Amour has built something.
Brind’Amour won the Stanley Cup for the Hurricanes as a player 20 years ago, and now he’s taken another group of players to that cherished moment.
“It was for the group, like I wanted them to feel what it’s like and I wanted it so bad for them,” Brind’Amour said. “To watch them finally get it … just to see the look on their face, it’s worth, it’s priceless … I’ll never forget that.”
20 years with a long road in between. From almost a decade of missed playoffs to three heartbreaking conference finals losses, no one would say it was easy. But all of that is history as the Stanley Cup comes home to Raleigh.
