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Stanley Cup Final

Watch: Rod Brind'Amour lifts Stanley Cup 20 years apart as captain, coach

Portrait of Mike Brehm Mike Brehm
USA TODAY
Updated June 15, 2026, 12:51 p.m. ET

Rod Brind'Amour got to lift the Stanley Cup in 2006 as the Carolina Hurricanes captain.

Twenty years later, he got to lift it for the first time as a coach.

"I'm so happy for these guys," he told ABC after a series-clinching 3-0 win against the Golden Knights. "I wanted it as a player. I really wanted it, but I wanted it for these guys as a coach. It means so much to see how happy they are."

Brind'Amour's team finally broke through in his eighth year as a Hurricanes head coach and three series losses in the conference final.

His hard-forechecking system can be wearing, but Carolina got through the first three rounds in 13 games, so it had plenty of rest. And the coach made adjustments to get the team to rebound from a 2-1 series deficit against the Knights.

Here's video of Brind'Amour celebrating as a captain and as a coach:

Brind'Amour, nicknamed Rod the Bod, reprised the Stanley Cup lift shirtless in the dressing room.

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