Campbell River’s favourite hockey son has been named as the NHL’s top coach.
Carolina Hurricanes bench boss Rod Brind’Amour has won the 2020-21 Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year.
Brind’Amour is the first Whalers/Hurricanes head coach to receive the honor.
The 50-year-old has deep connections to Campbell River. He has a hockey rink and a street in the Ocean Grove neighbourhood named after him.
He’s found a home as Hurricanes head coach, after getting the job on May 8th 2018.
In his first three seasons behind the bench, he has led the team to a 120-66-20 record. His .631 points percentage is the highest by a head coach in franchise history.
Brind’Amour is the only head coach in franchise history to lead the team to three consecutive playoff berths, and the Hurricanes have won a postseason series in each of those seasons.
Carolina ranked third in the NHL with a 36-12-8 record in 2020-21, marking the highest single season points percentage in franchise history (.714).
The Hurricanes also won the Central Division for their fifth division title in franchise history and the first since 2005-06.
They were the only NHL team to rank in the top three on both the power play (25.6 percent) and penalty kill (85.2 percent), marking the first time in franchise history that the team finished top-five in both categories.
As a player, Brind A’mour amassed nearly 1200 points during a stellar NHL career that spanned 21 seasons, and won the Frank J. Selke trophy as the league’s top defensive forward in 2005-06, and 2006-07.
He also led the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup in 2006.
(With files from the Carolina Hurricanes, www.nhl.com/hurricanes)
