Hurricanes
Brind'Amour on why every game matters vs. NY Rangers
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour before NY Rangers series
All right, we'll take questions for Rogers. Please wait for the microphone. Go ahead. Chip any update on uh Tony and maybe anything further on Pesh, Tony should be good to go. I'm not worried about him and pass. Like I told you yesterday, I mean, I, I'm not counting and then for this series. Yeah, but I'd hope so. I'm hopeful, right. We talked about this a little bit yesterday and Jorda mentioned it again today. The idea that the way that you guys had to get offense against the Islanders is gonna be different than the way you'll have to get it against the Rangers, the way you had to defend against the Islanders different than you might have to defend against the Rangers. Do you see it as that sort of, I don't know if black and white is the right way to say it, but the difference is just sort of tactically between the two series and what you guys wanna do and what the Rangers wanna do. Uh Yes and no. I mean, I think two teams play very similar. We, we, we, we have very similar, you know, game plans and um really up and down and you go through every segment, whether whatever it is, um, I think, uh, creating the offense and doing all stuff is just hard work and that's the exact same, uh, that it's been throughout the playoffs here and, you know, they give you no room because they're a good team. So it's, I, I think it's actually the opposite. I think it's gonna be more similar than you think. Cuz that, that's what playoff hockey is you talked about over the past few weeks, about enjoying the things that Kozy does versus not liking them when he was against you. Is it a flip flop with, with Vincent Trocheck having had him and then the way he is and the way he plays well, we, we knew he, listen, he was a great player for us, you know, wanted to keep him. Um, this wasn't a, a trade or something like that. It's just business, you know. Uh, yeah, he, and then clearly he's been a great player for them. It's not shocking. We knew that. Um, and so, yeah, they got a, they got a good one and then on his wing, uh, is Panarin one of the hardest guys to, to kind of game plan for. Well, there's a few in the league, right? And yeah, he's definitely one of them. He's got the super high IQ and the talent and he's got a really innate ability to get puck in that, right? Like when you're on him. He finds a way to just snap him in there. And um yeah, he's definitely uh you know, great player Rod with a colleague of mine is working on a story about challenging when a goal like maybe for interference or an offsides kind of thing, which obviously there's one, there's one question about does anybody really know what constitutes interference? But Kenny, can you walk me through a little bit about how you handle that process of, you know, how quickly you, you know, this is coming together. Is it just a gu, a gut call or kind of how do you work it? Hm. Well, everyone's processes are pretty much the exact same when you got your video guys in there and they're the ones that really are the ones making the decision because they're the ones that are playing it back and I mean, we're looking at it on a screen but they're, you know, they know kind of how we think about it. We know the rules because everybody's talked about them, but there's so much gray area and then they say there isn't, but there is right. You're told that on that, that you gotta be 100% sure to take a goal off the board. And so it should be egregious. But you've seen some of the goal experiences where they're barely touched and had no impact on the play. So, is that egregious? I mean, you know, pucks by the goalie on some of these and you get hit and then it's still, you know, like it's a judgment call and so somebody's opinion, my opinion and your opinion might be different on these. So there's, you know, it's an area that they're gonna have to look at, to shore up for sure. I mean, I think we, we wanna see goals. Right. And especially those ones that when you're fighting around the net, if it's, you knock a goalie over, that's, that's goal interference. But if there should be a little more onus on just the common sense part of it and when you watch a game and is that a good goal? Yeah, that's a good goal. Um, in my opinion, that's my opinion. And that's why this whole thing is tough because, you know, it is come down to opinions. I mean, I si, I would say I would agree with Johnny Cooper on that list. What he said, Rod, I know in, in any game when you're running a bench, I'm sure you're completely focused. But is, is there a difference between playing game 51 in February? And how do you get caught? Is there a possibility in the playoffs? Even? You would get caught up a little bit in the give and take the emotions of the swing of a game? You go down two goals? Does it feel different to a coach even at times compared to what it might feel like? In a regular season game, knowing that this game could swing a series, that kind of thing. Yeah. Well, it does. I mean, it has more impact because of what you just said, it could, it could be the series and, and you say, oh, it's just one game, you know, that, for example, if a play determined that game and you say, well, it's only one game. Well, that's, that could be the series then because you gotta try to, you know, four wins and there's one of them like, seriously. So, of course, it has more impact than a game. 51 where you still have 30 more games to make up for that, or you've already had a good 50 that you can cover for it. So, well, I think you, I think it's, I think it is emotional game. So you, you do get caught up in that a little bit. I don't think you get caught up in it, but that's, it's just, it's part of it. I mean, this game is, uh, you know, emotional and there's big stakes here. So every little play matters. I know you're focused on the task at hand. But is it a relief to have the A HL affiliate done going forward? Well, it's big for the organization. You know, we, we managed it really well this year I thought, um, but, you know, it's, it was tough and so you don't, it certainly wasn't something you want to continue, I don't think um can manage it though. I mean, like I said, I think we did a good job with it. We were probably fortunate we didn't have a bunch of injuries that you're grabbing guys that were in different systems and trying to make it work. Uh But yeah, I think it's good for the organization, for sure. Roddy. Uh I know a lot of people were expecting to see, see this series between the Rangers and the Canes and, you know, arguably two of the best teams in the NHL. Um What are your thoughts about this kind of like getting this series out of the way right now? Just getting to the second round and yeah, uh listen, you said Rangers uh uh were the best team and we were on their heels all year. Um whether you play them in the first round or the second or third, I mean, you gotta get through the best at some point. And so, uh let's have at it now. Um you know, I think it's gonna be exciting. Go ahead. Chip. Yeah, Ro just to help you out to begin with. Uh I know you didn't agree with everything John Cooper said about the goaltender interference, but, but beside that, you know, just question that I have for, you would be uh every coach learns something different every year that they're in coaching. Have you changed anything in the way you go about preparing your team or handling a team during the playoffs in your first five. I don't know, I mean, you certainly evolve as you get older and more experienced through it. But I don't know how much you change, what your way of thinking or, you know, I don't know if I've changed, tweaked anything. Probably. I think, I don't want to necessarily tell you what we've changed. But we, we definitely, there's, there's a little, um, you know, the way we actually approached the whole year I think is a little, was a little different this year than in past years. And we'll see if it pays off. It. Does that extend to sort of your use of rest during the postseason? Because I would say that's the biggest thing that I, that's a part of it for sure. Um, I think you, you know, I, I can get into a little, but I think part of that strategy always has been like, you know, we do, we play as hard as we can every night and, but there's a certain level of, of how hard you push, even though you want to play as hard as you can. It's, you know, you gotta get to that finish line and it wasn't so important to maybe be the first guy at that finish line and, and we wanted to be, and we pushed to be, but it's how we talked about it, you know, how we focus on it. So to your point during that stretch, did you, you know, maybe look at the bigger picture and I think maybe we've changed a little bit in that regard. Do I can't remember? Were you, were you, were you weren't a, I half the morning skate guy as a player? Um, I was more I had to. So, is it strange for you as a coach to sort of get away from that so much? Um, not really because I, I it's what the players want and so you can just go off of what they feel as long as, you know, the results are there. I mean, if you, if you felt like holy, we're sluggish on the stars could be on morning skate, then you'd have the morning skate. But that was actually the opposite when we went through it all. So it's like, ok, there's no reason to do this if we're gonna play like that or why do we need a morning skate? So, all right. Thanks Rod. Thanks, everyone.