Only for Guild Members » Rod Brind’Amour helped deliver

RALEIGH Matt Hunwick Jersey Womens , N.C. (AP) the greatest moment in Carolina Hurricanes’ history – a Stanley Cup championship.His next challenge is to create more memorable moments as their coach.The captain of the Hurricanes’ 2006 Cup-winning team has his first head coaching job in the NHL, taking the next step in a career arc that during the past 18 years has brought him from team leader all the way up the coaching ladder – and all with Carolina.”It’s a job, but it’s not,” Brind’Amour said Wednesday. ”It means more to me.”The Hurricanes gave Brind’Amour a three-year contract, with team owner Tom Dundon declining to discuss the financial terms. But Dundon did praise Brind’Amour for his willingness to put his reputation on the line while trying to things around. Carolina hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009, a nine-year drought that ranks among the longest in NHL history.”He didn’t need the job,” Dundon said. ”He’s got a good life here, he’s well respected and the risk that he’s taking with his reputation and his legacy is real.”The Hurricanes have changed coaches three times and general managers twice since their last postseason appearance. Another of the franchise’s greats – Hall of Fame player Ron Francis, like Brind’Amour a former team captain – was stripped of the GM’s job during the season and last week had his contract terminated.Brind’Amour said Dundon and team president Don Waddell, who also added the title of general manager during the shake-up, have ”high expectations, which is huge.”For whatever reason, our expectations have fallen a little bit here, and we need to raise those Jeff Skinner Jersey Womens ,” he added.He also wants to raise the effort level from the players, pledging to push them in much the same way he pushed his teammates during his time as team captain.”We have a lot of guys in that room that need to give more,” he said. ”I think there’s more there. … They didn’t produce the way they could produce. … We’re going to demand more from our players, at the end of the day, and I think they want that.”That’s an approach that helped turn the Hurricanes into winners before, and now he wants to see if it will work again.Brind’Amour came in Carolina in January 2000 in a trade with Philadelphia – and never left. He helped lead the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup final in 2002, ascended to the captaincy before the 2005-06 season and ended that year by becoming the first Carolina player to hoist the Cup – in the process, creating the franchise’s signature image that remains on display throughout PNC Arena.”There are guys that wear the C,” former teammate Aaron Ward said, ”and there are guys that ARE the C.”The two-time Selke Award winner as the NHL’s best defensive forward retired in 2010 and ranks third in club history in assists (299), fourth in points (473) and fifth in games played (694). His post-playing career began in a front-office position – director of forwards development – but became an assistant coach in 2011, first for Paul Maurice, then Kirk Muller and Bill Peters – who opted out of the final year of his contract, creating the opportunity for Brind’Amour.”I actually remember asking (then-GM Jim Rutherford) at the time John Tavares Jersey , `Hey, put me upstairs with you,’ and he kept pushing me down” toward a future in coaching, Brind’Amour said. ”It’s the closest thing to playing. … You’re in the fight with the guys. I felt like it’s something I have a passion for, and the more I got into it … I wanted to take a chance on taking charge. I stuck my neck out, and here we are.”— NEW YORK — One thing is almost certain heading into Sunday’s game between the New York Rangers and Vegas Golden Knights: Whomever loses probably can’t do so in any weirder or agonizing fashion than they did Friday night.A pair of teams looking to bounce back from their roles in a historic NHL evening will square off Sunday afternoon, when the Rangers host the Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden.Both teams were off Saturday after blowing three-goal leads in a pair of shocking overtime losses Friday night, when the Golden Knights fell to the host New Jersey Devils 5-4 and the Rangers were beaten by the visiting Arizona Coyotes 4-3.Article continues below ...Remarkably, the Golden Knights and Rangers weren’t the only teams to squander a three-goal lead in a loss Friday night. The Carolina Hurricanes also did so in a 6-5 shootout loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.According to the NHL, it was only the second time in history at least three teams came back from deficits of three goals or more. Four teams did it Nov. 25, 1987.Not that the Golden Knights, Rangers and Hurricanes are looking to parse their Friday night “feat,” but Vegas’ blown lead against the Devils — who entered Friday mired in a 1-4-4 rut — was the most resounding of all.The Golden Knights (18-14-2) chased Devils goalie Cory Schneider by racing out to a 3-0 lead in the first 9:23 of the first period. But New Jersey pulled to within 4-2 by the end of the second and scored twice in the third before earning its first overtime win of the season.“We played a real good first 10 minutes of the hockey game and that was it,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant told reporters afterward. “New Jersey took over after that.”The Rangers (14-13-4) had a little longer period of prosperity Friday Authentic Jordan Eberle Jersey , when they opened a 3-0 lead over the Coyotes 5:48 into the second period and carried a 3-1 lead into the third. But the result was the same — a seemingly easy win slipping through their hands against a skidding opponent. Arizona snapped a four-game losing streak with the comeback victory.“Maybe because we’re going through this tough time, we’re not confident enough,” Rangers coach David Quinn told reporters after his team fell for the seventh time in nine games (2-5-2). “But we’ve got to get out of it in a hurry. We can’t have a three-goal lead and a 3-1 lead going into the third period and do what we did.”Neither team has announced a starting goalie for Sunday — the Rangers practiced while the Golden Knights had the day off — but it seems likely at least one backup will be in net.Marc-Andre Fleury made his 12th straight start for the Golden Knights Friday, when he took the loss after making 37 saves. He is almost sure to sit in favor of backup Malcom Subban on Sunday or Monday, when Vegas caps an Eastern Conference road trip by visiting the Columbus Blue Jackets.Subban hasn’t played since Nov. 19, when he was saddled with the defeat after making 25 saves in a 7-2 loss to the Calgary Flames.Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist started for the fourth time in as many games Friday, when he took the loss after recording 30 saves. Backup Alexandar Georgiev made his most recent start Dec. 1, when he received the defeat after he made 36 saves in a 5-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.Fleury is 31-18-9 in 59 career games against the Rangers, whom he’s faced more than any opponent. Subban has never opposed New York.Lundqvist earned the win in his only appearance against the Golden Knights on Oct. 31, 2017, when he made 30 saves in the Rangers’ 6-4 victory. Georgiev has never faced Vegas.