The image of Rod Brind’Amour screaming triumphantly while raising the Stanley Cup as the Carolina Hurricanes’ captain had been the franchise’s defining image for the past two decades.
Now there's another: Brind'Amour raising the Cup again, this time as the Hurricanes’ coach who has made the sun-soaked Southern market his longtime home.
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The Carolina Hurricanes pose for photos after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
FILE - Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour celebrates with the Stanley Cup after winning Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals over the Edmonton Oilers, in Raleigh, N.C., June 19, 2006. (AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz, File)
The Carolina Hurricanes celebrates after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Candice Ward)
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour, right, lifts the Stanley Cup after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Candice Ward)
Carolina Hurricanes right wing Jackson Blake (53) celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carolina Hurricanes right wing Jackson Blake, second from right, celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour speaks to media following a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
The Hurricanes won their second championship by beating the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Sunday night to close out a six-game Stanley Cup Final, adding a remarkable chapter to Brind'Amour's enduring presence with the franchise. In a region generally best known for rabid college sports rivalries, he is the embodiment of Hurricanes hockey.
With his team celebrating on the ice in Las Vegas, backup goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov skated to Brind'Amour and handed him the Cup. Brind'Amour wrapped his arms around it like a hug, then raised it above his head with another yell — this time in a suit instead of the red jersey — in a bookend moment to the one from 20 years earlier.
“I don't even know what to say right now," Brind'Amour said. "I’m so happy for these guys. I won it as a player. I wanted it, but I wanted for these guys as a coach because it just means so much. You see how happy they are. I’m an old guy now, but I had my one. Trust me, I’m glad we got another one, but it’s for these guys. This is what it’s all about.”
Brind'Amour was the 35-year-old two-way center as the heart and soul of that 2006 title run, known for grinding on-ice work and weight-room training.
The owner of the retired No. 17 jersey in the Lenovo Center rafters.
The guy who proclaimed “I bleed Hurricane red” when becoming head coach of a franchise lost in a nine-year wilderness without a playoff bid.
Now he’s the coach who built a perennial contender that has finally reached its zenith. He joins Toe Blake with Montreal, Hap Day with Toronto and Cooney Weiland with Boston as the only other people in NHL history to both captain and coach the same organization to a Stanley Cup.
Doing it more than a quarter-century after arriving as a player shocked to be traded to Carolina makes it only sweeter.
“I don’t just wear this (Hurricanes) hat, take it off and wear someone else’s the next day," Brind'Amour said in May during his eighth playoff appearance in as many seasons. "That’s just not what it is. It means a little more to me because I’ve been here for so long. We have the roots and the history, so I’m very lucky in that way.”
Brind’Amour — born in the Canadian capital of Ottawa and raised in Campbell River, British Columbia — arrived in a January 2000 trade from Philadelphia. That jarring charge had an inauspicious start; he reached Raleigh amid a heavy snowstorm that had paralyzed the area.
Just two years later, Brind’Amour helped Carolina make an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup Final. Then, in the NHL’s 2005 return from a season-cancelling lockout, Brind'Amour became captain as the Hurricanes beat Edmonton in seven games for his unforgettable Cup-hoisting moment.
Brind’Amour was part of another East final run in 2009 before retiring in 2010. He held a front-office role before spending seven seasons as an assistant coach and then taking over the bench in 2018.
The challenge was daunting. There was the on-ice frustration from the long playoff drought. There was also flagging fan interest.
The Hurricanes had gone from averaging 16,573 fans for regular-season home games in the 2008-09 season to as low as 11,776 by the 2016-17 season. That stood at just 12,412 the year before Brind'Amour's promotion.
Brind'Amour quickly went about building a team capable of sustained success, one with an approach in befitting his personality. Use an aggressive forecheck to win puck battles. Maintain possession and generate scoring chances to keep the pressure on in the offensive zone.
The mantra was simple: keep working, it's the only way to give yourself a chance to win.
“It’s just the eight years we’ve been doing this Roddy,” captain Jordan Staal said before Game 6 against Vegas. “It’s the game we’ve built and it doesn’t ever change.”
Brind’Amour acknowledges the value of having been a player — “I have sat in their seat,” he said this month — in understanding the challenges they face and how to motivate them. He also talks about leading a team that fans can be proud of with its performance and effort.
And Brind'Amour continued a set-the-example leadership style, even in his own workout habits as he pushed into his 50s. It left an impression on offseason trade acquisition K'Andre Miller; the defenseman recalled coming in early to work out and finding Brind'Amour deep into bench squats.
“I'm like, ‘Who is this guy?’” Miller chuckled last month.
“It doesn’t hurt that your coach is in shape like that,” forward Taylor Hall said before the final. “That’s just the kind of guy he is. He’s a role model for us, and we kind of follow his lead.”
It's all added up to the Hurricanes making the playoffs every year of Brind'Amour's tenure. They reached the East final in 2019, 2023 and 2025 before pushing past Montreal this year.
Average regular-season home attendance is roughly 18,800 for the past two seasons combined. And in 2023, the team packed nearly 57,000 fans into Carter-Finley Stadium — home to N.C. State's football team across the street from the Lenovo Center — for a Stadium Series outdoor game.
Overall, Brind’Amour has been a player or coach for 102 of the franchise’s 104 playoff victories since the former Hartford Whalers relocated to North Carolina in 1997.
That now includes Brind’Amour having his name etched on the Stanley Cup for a second time.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
The Carolina Hurricanes pose for photos after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
FILE - Carolina Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour celebrates with the Stanley Cup after winning Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals over the Edmonton Oilers, in Raleigh, N.C., June 19, 2006. (AP Photo/Ryan Remiorz, File)
The Carolina Hurricanes celebrates after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Candice Ward)
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour, right, lifts the Stanley Cup after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Candice Ward)
Carolina Hurricanes right wing Jackson Blake (53) celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carolina Hurricanes right wing Jackson Blake, second from right, celebrates his goal with teammates during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour speaks to media following a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series in Raleigh, N.C., Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)
After years of preparation, a supersized World Cup has finally arrived.
This year's tournament — which is hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — was expanded to 48 teams that will play in 16 stadiums in a record 104 matches over the 39-day tournament.
Mexico gets the World Cup started Thursday and will be a heavy favorite when it hosts South Africa in Mexico City. The second game of the day will be between South Korea and the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Mexico. All four teams are part of Group A.
Canada and the United States will host their first games Friday. The Canadians will play Bosnia-Herzegovina in Toronto while the Americans face Paraguay in Inglewood, California.
Fox is the exclusive U.S. broadcaster of the World Cup with all 104 matches in English on Fox or FS1. All matches are also available on the Fox One app. Telemundo and Universo will broadcast all of the matches in Spanish. Peacock is the streaming home for Spanish language broadcasts while Telemundo also has an app that includes all the matches.
Boosted by a home crowd and a star-studded opening ceremony with performances that include Andrea Bocelli and homegrown talent like Alejandro Fernández and Maná, Mexico hopes to play better in this World Cup than in 2022, when it failed to advance out of the group stage for the first time since 1978. El Tri will be led by veteran Raúl Jiménez and 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora. Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa will be competing in the World Cup for a record sixth time. South Africa is playing in its fourth World Cup and first since it hosted the tournament in 2010.
The games in Mexico will be played at high elevation. The Azteca stadium in Mexico City is at roughly 7,300 feet while Guadalajara sits at 5,138 feet, meaning visiting teams will have to make a significant adjustment to the altitude.
South Korea is one of the best teams in Asia and has qualified for 11 tournaments in a row since 1986. The Koreans made it to the round of 16 in 2022 before losing to Brazil. Son Hueng-min, 33, is the captain and might be playing in his last World Cup. The Czech Republic is back in soccer's biggest showcase for the first time in 20 years.
FIFA has faced pressure for sky-high World Cup ticket prices and sales tactics that fans say left them with worse deals than they wanted.
The attorneys general in New York and New Jersey, which is hosting eight World Cup matches including the final, announced last month that they are investigating whether FIFA’s ticketing practices violated consumer protection laws.
Some seats for the July 19 final are going for nearly $33,000.
In the deeply polarized U.S., few things unite elected leaders outside the White House quite like skepticism of Gianni Infantino and FIFA, the governing body for the world’s most popular sport.
It’s a sentiment that cuts across the divide and spans from Washington to state capitals and city halls.
There are mayors like Zohran Mamdani of New York and Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Democrats who’ve balked at ticket prices. Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana, who played Division 1 soccer at the U.S. Naval Academy, said FIFA has been “detached from regular people around the world.”
AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup
Sweden's Alexander Isak (9) celebrates with Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres (17) after he scored to put Sweden up, 3-1, during the World Cup Group F soccer match between Sweden and Tunisia in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Sofia Yaker)
Ivory Coast's Yan Diomande (11) celebrates after teammate Amad Diallo (15) scored their first goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Ivory Coast and Ecuador in Philadelphia, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Netherlands' Jan Paul van Hecke (6) tangles with Japan's Yukinari Sugawara (2) during the World Cup Group F soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)
Germany's Nathaniel Brown celebrates with Felix Nmecha, right, after scoring his side's fifth goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Curacao in Houston, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)
Spain's Lamine Yamal works out during a training session, Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Chattanooga, Tenn., ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Curaçao goalkeeper Eloy Room (1) is beaten by a shot from Germany's Jamal Musiala (10), left, to score their fourth goal during the World Cup Group E soccer match between Germany and Curacao in Houston, Sunday, June 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Qatar's Pedro Miguel, yells as he celebrates after teammate Qatar's Boualem Khoukhi, right scored his sides first goal during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Qatar and Switzerland in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Curaçao head coach Dick Advocaat looks on during a training for the national soccer team in Boca Raton, Fla., Tuesday, June 9, 2026, ahead of the World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Members of the Sweden national soccer warm up during a training session in Santiago Nuevo Leon, Mexico, Saturday, June 13, 2026, ahead of the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Japan's Yukinari Sugawara does a cartwheel before the start of a training session ahead of his team's FIFA World Cup soccer tournament Group F match against the Netherlands, Saturday, June 13, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Dancers perform during the opening ceremony before the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Toronto. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Brazil goalkeeper Alisson Becker, right, makes a save against Morocco's Ayoub Amaimouni, center, during the World Cup Group C soccer match between Brazil and Morocco in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
Morocco goalkeeper Yassine Bounou (1) punches the ball away from Brazil's Gabriel Magalhaes (3) as Morocco's Ayyoub Bouaddi (6), Chadi Riad (18) and Issa Diop get in on the play during the World Cup Group C soccer match in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Qatar's Mohamed Manai attempts to get the ball as Switzerland's Manuel Akanji defends during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Qatar and Switzerland in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Qatar's Pedro Miguel, yells as he celebrates after teammate Qatar's Boualem Khoukhi, scored his sides first goal during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Qatar and Switzerland in Santa Clara, Calif., near San Francisco, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Eakin Howard)
Paraguay's Miguel Almiron reacts after the United States scored a third goal during the World Cup Group D soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Paraguay fans watch the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Paraguay in Asuncion, Paraguay Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
United States celebrates after an own goal by Paraguay's Damian Bobadilla during the World Cup Group D soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Jayne Kamin-Oncea)
Paraguay's Junior Alonso, right, and United States' Sergino Dest battle for the ball during the World Cup Group D soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
United States' Folarin Balogun (20) celebrates scoring his side's third goal against Paraguay with teamate Chris Richards during the World Cup Group D soccer match in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Canada goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau punches the ball clear as Bosnia's Tarik Muharemovic attempts to head the ball during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia in Toronto, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Canada's Cyle Larin (9) celebrates after scoring his sides first goal of the game in the second half of the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Toronto. ( (AP Photo/Sam Balkansky)
Canada's Cyle Larin (9) celebrates with teammates Alistair Johnston (2) and Promise David (24) after scoring his sides first goal of the game in the second half of the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Toronto. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Bosnia's Jovo Lukic, left, celebrates after he scores the opening goal during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia in Toronto, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Bosnia's Esmir Bajraktarevic, left vies for the ball with Canada's Richie Laryea during the World Cup Group B soccer match between Canada and Bosnia in Toronto, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Czechia's Tomas Soucek celebrates a goal that was called back during the World Cup Group A soccer match against South Korea in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
South Korea's Seol Young-woo (22) celebrates with his team after a goal during the World Cup Group A soccer against Czechia in Zapopan, near Guadalajara, Mexico, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)
Mexico fans celebrate in the second half during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
South Africa's Nkosinathi Sibisi, right, and Mexico's Raul Jimenez battle for the ball in the second half during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)
Mexico's Raul Jimenez hugs teammate Roberto Alvarado, right, after scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Mexico's Raul Jimenez celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the World Cup Group A soccer match between Mexico and South Africa in Mexico City, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
United States defender Chris Richards, front left, gives autographs to fans after the nationall team's first practice at its World Cup soccer tournament training base in Irvine, Calif., Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)
Canada's Cyle Larin speaks to media during a World Cup soccer training session in Toronto, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (Sammy Kogan/The Canadian Press via AP)
People chant and cheer during a protest in reaction to FIFA's ban of Iran's pre-revolutionary flag inside World Cup stadiums Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Hanson)
Marktweg Street in The Hague, Netherlands, is decorated ahead of the start of the soccer World Cup, Tuesday, June 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Patrick Post)
A dancer performs along Reforma Avenue in Mexico City, Saturday, June 6, 2026 ahead of the FIFA World Cup. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
