“They’re the standard, obviously,” admitted the Hurricanes’ head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, after the Florida Panthers defeated his men in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Through the statement, he might have also acknowledged the coaching acumen of the Cats’ boss, Paul Maurice. However, it’s not like ‘Rod the Bod’ agrees to every opinion that Maurice holds on other things, and the fans seem to be on board with the Canes’ coach’s views.

After the Panthers eliminated the Hurricanes from the playoffs last week, the two coaches were seen having a lengthy conversation over a somewhat awkward handshake. Neither Maurice nor Brind’Amour, however, joined the customary handshake line. “The last thing that a player in the Carolina deserves is fifty more guys in suits. They have no idea who they are. That’s not a negative. There should be something beautiful of just the camera on those men who played, shaking hands and we should respect that,” Maurice explained later. However, Rod Brind’Amour doesn’t agree.

The Carolina coach recently made his feelings clear on Maurice not wanting the coaches in the handshake lineup. In a post by B/R Open Ice on X from June 3, Rod Brind’Amour’s POV was shared with the caption, “Rod Brind’Amour spoke about his viral moment with Paul Maurice skipping the handshake line, saying he’s had some “impactful moments” as a coach in the line and will continue to participate in it in the future.”

However, Rod went on to note that he did understand Maurice’s stance nonetheless. “I understood his point of view. He explained it to me. I wasn’t expecting it, but I understood what he said and why. It is the players. Of course it is…not along for the ride though,” Brind’Amour underscored that while he did share Paul’s sentiments, the two coaches stood on different planes when it comes to acknowledging the hockey players’ efforts.

To elaborate on his perspective, Rod highlighted how he was there on the ice to shake the hands of the Devils’ players after defeating them in Round 1 of the playoffs. “I had four or five guys that were Hurricanes and I still think of them like that. So it meant something to me to go through there and shake their hand.” For Brind’Amour, while the coaches may not be hustling on the ice, they are still “right in there” with the players, and a handshake is a way to show respect to them.

And with that statement, it seems like Rod Brind’Amour has enamoured even those who might believe that Paul Maurice might be a better coach. “Always liked Maurice but skipping the handshake line and expecting others to do so is a clown move. He’s wrong on this one,” one fan cleared their stance on the matter without beating around the bush.

The Hurricanes lost Game 5 of the Eastern Finals 5-3. But the lines had been drawn long before. At the Hurricanes’ home in Games 1 and 2, the Florida Panthers outshot Carolina 10-2. With that came an end to the pristine 5-0 playoff record at home for the Canes. So while Rod Brind’Amour may have followed Paul Maurice’s lead after Game 5 because, well, he was the winner, he plans to continue with the tradition nonetheless. “I think moving forward, I’ll probably go back to it just because it’s a sign of respect,” Brind’Amour clarified, earning the admiration of fans in the process.

Hockey fans show up to stand in Rod Brind’Amour’s corner on this one

Unlike Maurice, the Hurricanes’ HC doesn’t think about the handshake line tradition from the perspective of how it would look on TV. “For me, I’m not thinking about a TV moment. I get enough of that every time there’s a penalty,” he said. It’s true. In Game 5 itself, TNT reporter Jackie Redmond found Brind’Amour fuming over some of the penalty calls that were being taken in the game. And while that stirred its own controversy, forcing Redmond herself to jump to the coach’s defense, with his latest statement, he’s invited heat for the Panthers instead. “panthers fan get upset Rod is more of a coach than Maurice,” sneered one fan in the comment section of the X post.

“Yea that was about the most egotistical things I’ve ever seen a coach do,” grumbled another in criticism of Maurice’s actions. “You tell him Rod,” chimed in another with appreciation for the Canes’ boss. With an almost diabolical ECF stat, the Hurricanes can easily claim to be one of the most unfortunate teams in the playoffs. However, that still couldn’t make the fans come after Brind’Amour with calls to get him sacked. Instead, most Canes fans made it clear that without Rod, things would be even worse. His latest only bolstered the feeling. “Massive respect to Brind’Amour for sticking to his guns – have always really liked the guy,” one fan spoke for the community.

Now that’s what you call making things heated off the ice. Which of these two stalwart hockey coaches has your backing? Tell us your take on the matter in a comment!