National Hockey League: Carolina Hurricanes Captain Rod Brind’ Amour retires
After 21 seasons in the NHL, Captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, Rod Brind’Amour bids farewell to his NHL career. This is the end of an era for the Canes as the 39 year old captain, who led them to their only ever Stanley Cup victory, opts out of the arena in favour of a desk job.
At the time of the announcement, Rod had a season remaining with the Hurricanes under his contract. The Hurricanes got Rod into a buyout and would be paying him 1 million dollars each year for the next two years. The total payments work out to be two thirds of his remaining salary under the original contract. The payment would still count against the Salary Cap for Carolina Hurricanes. Not a major concern for the Hurricanes as they still have more than enough room in terms of the Salary Cap.
General Manager for the Hurricanes, Jim Rutherford said that the retirement process went smoothly with the buyout option and as soon as that was settled they moved on to an employment contract with Brind’Amour. Nature of the front office job on offer is not known yet.
Brind’Amour said that he was fortunate to have been able to play the sport he loves for so long and for the opportunities given to him over the years by the organization. He said that he weighed his decision against how much he wanted to play and if he wanted to play somewhere else if he had to. Rod analyzed his team, what direction it was going in and if he had a place in it. “I said 'I'm done. It's over.' I don't want to play anymore and certainly don't want to play anywhere else,” Rod said at a press conference.
Rod said that the decision was made easier for him after a discussion on the subject with Rutherford. They both realized that the aging captain could not continue to benefit his team in the arena but Rutherford insisted that he stay with the team even if not as a player.
The defensive forward, Brind'Amour, in his impressive career, has scored 452 goals and 732 assists in 1,484 points regular-season games. He has won the Selke Award for NHL’s best defensive forward two years in a row. His career best was 97 points in the 1993-94 Season for the Philadelphia Flyers with 35 goals and 62 assists. Rutherford said that any player who could land the Selke award twice in a row deserves to be mentioned along with the bests of the game. Rutherford, who was not on the hall of fame committee, believed that Rod could very well be on his way to it. “Those two back-to-back years were really special”, he said.
Also working in his favour were his achievements as captain, a position taken over by Eric Staal. He filled a leadership void for the Hurricanes tactfully. Rutherford commenting on his ability said that in contrast to other captain, Rod often dealt with things on his own instead of taking those problems to the coach or General Manager. In addition he said that this was an important factor in the decision to offer Rod a front office position and not simply “a gift to him”. Rutherford said that he still had a lot more to offer the hurricanes in addition to the already so much that he has done for the team.
Rod too was intent on continuing his career with the Carolina Hurricanes. He said that he considered it his home, and the home his children have known and grown up in. “I didn’t have any intention of going anywhere else”.
Without a doubt, Rod’s departure from the sport leaves behind a void to be filled, for fans, the sport and especially for the Carolina Hurricanes. Eric Staal has some pretty large shoes to fill.
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