Rod Brind'Amour Interview

All right, let's check in on the NHL bubble in Toronto, where Justin Williams tweeted out earlier today. I guess the Carolina Panthers are in the NHL bubble too, maybe an exhibition game for state supremacy later.

And it shows a picture where the Carolina Panthers are set to be on the ice at a particular time, which of course they probably meant the Carolina Hurricanes, who are being coached. As they have the last year or two by Rod Brindamore, who's now with us, the head coach of the Canes, joining us from Toronto. Let's just check on that first very quickly, coach. You haven't seen Christian McCaffrey or Matt Ruhl up there, have you?

No, I haven't. It'd be nice. I'd definitely take them on my team if they're available to play. I'm not sure we can put them on our roster. Yeah, that was an interesting tidbit we saw when we checked in and they were signing rooms to teams and we were looking for our room and we were the Carolina Panthers.

So a little disrespectful, but that's all right. We've got to go earn it this couple months. That's the goal. See, you're naturally a pretty regimented guy, but I'd imagine just from a safety perspective, everybody's routine has to be broken down pretty specifically, doesn't it?

Give me a sense just for how exactly things look in Toronto right now. Well, everything is definitely on the clock and you've got a time and a spot to be here and there. For example, to eat, well, we've got a window from this time. Maybe it's 12 to 2 to eat and you have to eat at this restaurant. Dinner's the same.

Breakfast, they have a room for us. It's just us. So they're really just trying to keep our group together and not intermingle with other teams and safety issues. So I think you've got to applaud that and kind of make this work. So it's just a matter of following the guidelines. Obviously, there's other things. I mean, we get tested every day.

I just got back to my room. There's a time, you're tested at this time. And they're just trying to keep people separated as best they can. And you've got to give them credit for trying to do it this way. And it goes for everything that we do, whether it's ice times or practice, obviously, games, the locker rooms. I mean, there's a lot to figure out.

That's all I can tell you. And you realize that when you get into something like this, that's what really has to go on to manage 12 teams and their staffs. And it's a huge undertaking. And at the end of the day, all we have to do is just show up when they tell us and go do our thing.

So that's kind of it in a nutshell. And, you know, everybody's been doing it. I don't know about you, coach, but during the pandemic, I realized I've taken so much for granted.

And I think a lot of people can agree with me, whether it's just trying to go to the gym or get a haircut or go to a restaurant slash bar and sports, especially just having it on. We've taken that for granted. But I also think even right now, after four months of the pandemic, we've taken for granted the human side of what you guys are trying to do. You see NFL players opting out of the season, Major League Baseball players doing the same thing. How difficult was it the last day or two when you're with your family here in North Carolina and ultimately you had to say goodbye for possibly a few months? Yeah, that's the toughest part, I think, of any I think any pro athlete.

And I can't think of any jobs right off the top of my head about, you know, and just in other professions. But it's leaving your families, right? I mean, that's just that's never any good. But I think there's also part of the job and you know it. And these guys understand that you only have X amount of years to actually play this game and you are playing a game for a living. And this year especially, I think it takes on such a bigger meaning. You know, we're not just playing now and the players, I say we, I don't do anything but stand behind the bench. But the players are the ones that, you know, like I say, have a short window to do what they do.

And they're actually now providing a lot of joy and potentially joy and give other people something to cheer about and bring people together. And so it's a little bigger meaning. And so it's tough. It's a sacrifice.

Everybody's doing it. But, you know, it's a short, short window in the real grand scheme of things. It might only be, you know, in the worst case scenario, it's a week, right? I mean, but in the big picture, I think if we can get through this and, you know, the team that wins this, I guarantee you're going to say it was worth it. So why not be us?

That's kind of the mentality. I know all the teams say that, but somebody's got to win it. The team you have is the New York Rangers. You finished with more points in the regular season before things were halted than New York. But the Rangers, they won all three of the regular season meetings with you guys. What has made them a difficult matchup for you guys, you think? Well, yeah, well, the obvious answer is they do have two of the probably the most dynamic players in the game.

And there's been a jet in there. And so when those guys are clicking, it's, you know, they beat everybody. So that's that's a tough one when you have that kind of talent there up front. And then their goaltending was off the charts against us. And we actually played four times in love. So you were kind there and saying we only played three times.

I forgot we're trying to block that outcome. Yeah. Right. Right.

I did, too. Right. So but their goaltending was the difference in all the games. And so a matter of fact, it was two of the losses that we did. We actually dominated. So it's but goaltending is a big deal.

And they've got they actually have three. But they only can play one. And, you know, so we'll see how it goes. But that's the answer to your question why we kind of didn't play as well. We did play pretty well. We just we couldn't get the puck by their goalies. So that'll be interesting to see how that shakes out. But if we play the way we can and if we create enough offense chances, then I think we'll be OK. So we'll see.

That's why you got to play the games. Rod the Bod, Brendan Moore with us here on Sports Up Tried. I say it that way because I'm looking forward to getting back in the gym. I hope I hope that things are safe up there where you can get a little bit of a workout in the gym. But when you are working out in a gym setting, are you a headphones slash music guy?

Yeah, I'm a bit of both. I have a little routine that I use. You know, a big stationary bike guy to start my workout. So I spend quite a bit of time every day on that. And that's where I'll use the headphones and listen to some podcasts.

And then when I get into the nuts and bolts of the workout and I got to move over to the headphones and, you know, listen to some music. So we're lucky. We've you know, this is another thing.

You talk about details, but just even a gym, like you mentioned, we had to bring our own stuff from Raleigh and put it into a hotel room and get rid of the beds. And so we've got a makeshift little room that we can work out in. But, you know, you just you got to do what you got to do.

And we found a way. So so far, so good talking about music, though, I while working out, I realized recently that a song had snuck into my workout playlist that's from the Disney movie Frozen. And it turned out not to be a bad song. So I kept it in there because I got a pretty good workout while the song was playing. What's an embarrassing song you're afraid to admit is in the workout playlist?

Oh, well, this is I'm not embarrassed. I've got a lot of old music. So and the guys know what I'm an 80s guy. And I just I've never updated my phone and the music.

So I really don't have anything past probably 2000 into my phone. I've got Abba in there. I'll crank that out every once in a while. Guys hear that.

And I don't I'm not shy about it. We always have a rule in the locker room anyway. And the first guy to the gym gets to put the music on. And if you're in there working out, that's you know, so they often hear my stuff. Coach, when you say Abba, are you talking about dancing queen?

You're listening to dancing queen while working out. Well, that there's they've got a few ones. They've got a few good songs.

That one I usually skip over, to be honest with you. But I do have it on my thing. So it's incredible. Anyway, I'm not embarrassed.

I think they were they had some good hits. What's the most creative means you've gone to to get a workout in? I think Jordan Martinok or somebody else was telling us that he was lifting like milk jugs in their house full of like water or sand. Have you gone that far yet?

Well, golly, I probably have back in the day. Right now, I mean, if you can, you know, for me, I mean, I got a lot of different push up routines. So you can have push ups anywhere and you can there's a whole, you know, workout of just on push ups if you ever really want to get serious about it. So if I don't have any equipment, that's usually my go to is push ups and core stuff that you can do without any you know, you don't need a gym and you can do leg circuits without body, you know, just your body weight and get a decent workout. I call that the executive hotel workout if you're ever in a jam or so. There's definitely things you can do.

I'd buy that book if you put out the book about the executive hotel workout. Coach, it's just good to hear from you. And I wish you the best of luck. We're all rooting for you guys down here in the Carolinas.

Go bring back the cup. We'll talk soon. Appreciate it. As always. Thanks, man. Take care.