Spotlight- Rod Brind'Amour

Some players are the foundation on which a whole organization can build upon.  Dedication, perseverance, and skill are intertwined to provide the profile of a complete player.  Players whose regard for the team and the circumstance defines leadership and displays the actions needed to achieve ultimate goals. 

Such is the path that was laid ahead of Rod Jean Brind’Amour.  The first thing I recall when I bring up the mental images of the sturdy and persuasive Brind’Amour, is his hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2006 after outlasting a charging Edmonton Oilers squad.  Iconic and everlasting, as when you witness a captain bringing the Cup to his forehead and thrust it in the air in triumph-especially when it is his very first time.  This is my point.  You have seen the look before.  As he battled behind the net to spring loose a puck that would find its way onto a team-mates stick a microsecond later; when he aided defensemen in clearing the front of his team’s net; as he pursued a weakened link in any number of team’s defenses.  Brind’Amour displays the fire a team captain needs to have to aid a team’s journey through adversity and to overcome challenges lesser teams succumb to.  The 2006 Carolina Hurricanes thrived in the playoffs, and though taken to the wall by the Oilers, the mental endurance to achieve the greatest of goals was drawn from their indomitable captain.  This was a franchise that had survived a move to a non-traditional market from New England, and it needed substance. You could see the spirit and resolution in those eyes. 

Rod was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, but shortly thereafter traversed the continent with his family to settle in Campbell River, British Columbia.  Growing up on skates, but never one-dimensional, Rod’s potential was recognized but never forced by those around him.  He was given choices and after being drafted by the New Westminster Bruins of the Western Hockey League, he instead chose to move to Notre Dame College in Wilcox, Saskatchewan.  Within a nurturing hockey program and given the stimulus of a college education, Brind’Amour excelled.  He led the Hounds to the AAA Midget Championship in 1986-87, and the Saskatchewan Junior Chapionship the next season.  This was highlighted by being awarded the Centennial Cup MVP and teams took notice.  He was drafted by the Blues 9^th overall in 1988, well ahead of where the NHL Central Scouting Bureau had him projected.  Personally not ready for the NHL, Brind’Amour felt that educating himself at Michigan State University was the best option.  He earned the CCHA’s Rookie of the Year honour scoring 59 points in 42 collegiate games, and was impressive enough to be added to St. Louis’ roster in the 1989 second-round playoff series against the Chicago Blackhawks.  Rod scored two goals in 5 playoff games, including one on his first ever NHL shot.  He continued attending Michigan State University through several summers, studying business administration and marketing.

Hockey players are extremely conditioned athletes.  In the sporting world, hockey ranks as a supreme combination of fitness, skill, and bravado.  Rod’s fitness levels are unmatched in the National Hockey League, taking on an almost mythical, legendary-like proportion.  Larry Wigge’s 2006 book “The passion and heart of a champion”, tells the story of ‘Rod the Bod’ as a member of the St. Louis Blues, early on in his career.  Members of the organization would supposedly turn off the lights on Rod in an attempt at dissuading his extreme workout routines after games and practices.  Then they started locking the door in further attempts.  Eventually management thought that Rod would be burning himself out in a short period (two seasons, 43 goals, 110 points, a +25 rating, and 139 penalty-minutes), and they sought out a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.  Rod went on to play 7+ seasons as a Flyer, topping 30 goals in 4 of those seasons.  He was a named an alternate captain on the club, and the mid-1990’s saw Philadelphia as a frequent playoff contender.  The ‘Legion of Doom’ line, with Eric Lindros and John Leclair, was at its height and the Flyers were indeed a force to be reckoned with.  Brind’Amour was a point-producing faceoff hungry centre behind Lindros, and the Flyers were only a step away from sheer dominance.  Rod racked up 24 goals and 51 total points in 42 playoff games as a Flyer.  This included a share of the NHL lead with 13 goals in the 1997 playoffs, when the Philadelphia fell to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final.  Rod played in the 1992 All-Star game.

Philadelphia caught their fans off-guard, with the trade that sent Brind’Amour to Carolina for Keith Primeau.  Both players are known as leaders and extremely well-liked in hockey circles.  They both became captains of their franchises after the trade; only Rod won the Stanley Cup.  Rod has donned the ‘Maple Leaf’ in World Cups and the Olympics, providing Canada with focused intensity and strength up the middle.  This is the 9^th season Rod has pulled on a Hurricanes’ jersey, and he recently passed both Mike Bossy and Joe Nieuwendyk to enter the top 50 scoring leaders in NHL history with 1,128 points.  He is entrenched in the top 40 with 1,348 games played and has scored 434 career goals as well.  This season in Carolina, Rod is a league leader in face-offs, winning an outstanding 62.38%.  He has scored 7 goals on 45 shots and has accumulated a healthy 14 points in 24 games as well.  Carolina has played very inconsistently this season and much work will need to be done in order to write another playoff appearance for the Hurricanes.

Brind’Amour drew much from his time skating with franchise leader Ron Francis.  The Hall-of-fame centre Francis is highly regarded, and a two-time Stanley Cup winner in Pittsburgh.  Now the torch must be passed to another group by Brind’Amour.  Eric Stall is the most likely recipient, an alternate captain and pivotal member of the Carolina Stanley Cup win in 2006. 

Brind’Amour’s career is hardly finished.  His physical fitness has allowed him to keep cadence with the league as he approaches forty years old.   His ability to provide his team with an element that vital to success, defense, is apparent with the two recent Selke Trophies as the NHL’s best defensive forward.  It is not that he has transformed himself; Brind’Amour has always been a respected defensive player, he is just dominant in that aspect late in his career.  Through determination and a zeal for competition, Rod will continue to be relevant and give his team a chance to achieve as champions.

29 November 2008

Robin Keith Thompson