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The Carolina Hurricanes fell short of the Stanley Cup Final once again, losing in five games in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Florida Panthers. Now, the Panthers are headed back to their third Cup Final in a row while the Hurricanes are left to once again evaluate why they can't get over the hump.
Following Game 5, a 5-3 Florida victory in Carolina last Wednesday, a bit of an awkward moment occurred between Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour and Panthers bench boss Paul Maurice. The two, who go way back to Brind'Amour's playing days, appeared to exchange some words on the ice before skipping the post-series handshake line.
As it turns out, Maurice was informing Brind'Amour of a new tradition that he wants to start where the coaches all sit out of the handshake lines after the series. Both coaches ended up sitting out, but Brind'Amour may be having some second thoughts about that.
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The Hurricanes head coach still wants to be apart of the handshakes the next time he is in the postseason, via Greg Wyshynski of ESPN.
“Sitting back on it and reflecting, I've had some pretty impactful memories and moments in that line as a coach going through it,” Brind'Amour said. “Moving forward, I think I'll probably go back to it just because it's a sign of respect. That's the way I look at it. We're not out there on the ice battling, but we're right in there with these guys. He won, so I kind of went, ‘OK, I'm going to follow your lead in that.' But I do think it's important, to me anyway, to show respect to the players.”
Brind'Amour and the Hurricanes should be back in the playoffs next season, barring something unexpected this offseason. If and when they do get there, expect him and the rest of his staff to be involved in the handshake lines when they finish a series, win or lose.
