LAS VEGAS — When Rod Brind’Amour lifted the Stanley Cup on Sunday night, it marked a return to a familiar moment. Brind’Amour first touched the Cup as Carolina’s captain in 2006, at age 34 and in his 17th NHL season. He waited 15 seasons to win it again while wearing a suit behind the bench; he is the seventh person in NHL history to lift the Cup as a player and as a head coach for the same team, the first since 1956, and the 14th person to win the Cup as both a player and a coach for any team, according to the report.
General manager Eric Tulsky celebrated his first Stanley Cup in Las Vegas, a remarkable turn from his earlier career. Twenty years ago Tulsky was analyzing cadmium-free nanocrystals for clinical applications as a scientist at a nanotech company in Washington state and had not conceived of a career in the NHL. “It is still wild to me that I ended up here. I don’t know how that happened,” Tulsky said. “Never thought I’d have this opportunity. But the coach and the players have brought us here.”
Brind’Amour and Tulsky were cast as an unlikely pairing throughout the season. Brind’Amour is described as a hockey lifer and a fitness fanatic nicknamed “Rod the Bod,” who can still outlift his players. Tulsky came to the NHL via the comments section of a hockey blog and is characterized as an advanced analytics expert who approaches roster construction with unemotional analysis. Forward Jordan Martinook summed up the dynamic: “It feels like they’re yin and yang, right? … Opposites attract. Maybe that’s what we needed. The opposite guys. And then they create magic.”
The Hurricanes credited both men with the championship formula. Carolina relied on Brind’Amour’s motivation, attention to detail and close relationships with players, and on Tulsky’s asset management, audacious acquisitions and willingness to pivot after setbacks. “I do think they balance each other out quite well,” forward Seth Jarvis said. “Tulsky is great with numbers. Roddy’s been here coaching, and had been here playing. Now, no disrespect to Eric, but I do think Roddy could snap him in half if he wanted to.”
The front office and the coach aligned on the type of team they wanted: one that produces the play-driving analytics Tulsky values while delivering the blunt-force hockey Brind’Amour demands. “Rod has the team playing very aggressive on the ice. We want to be aggressive off the ice, too,” Tulsky said. That shared philosophy helped drive Carolina to its first championship in 20 years, according to the report.
