RALEIGH, N.C. — Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind`Amour intends to resume the practice of coaches participating in the post-series handshake line between teams, despite having agreed with Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice`s suggestion that only players should participate after their recent Eastern Conference Final series.
Maurice has publicly stated his belief that the long-standing hockey tradition should be exclusively for the players, keeping the focus on their efforts. This stance led to a notable conversation between Maurice and Brind`Amour as players exchanged handshakes on the ice after Florida`s victory in Game 5 in Carolina last Wednesday, which secured the defending champion Panthers` return to the Stanley Cup Final for a rematch against Edmonton.
Speaking at his season-ending press conference alongside general manager Eric Tulsky, Brind`Amour mentioned he “wasn`t expecting” Maurice`s perspective but ultimately “understood his point of view” after Maurice provided his reasoning.
“So I get his point, that it is about the players,” Brind`Amour commented on Tuesday.
He later added, “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. So that that’s my take. I think you’re entitled to whatever one you want. 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.”
