Rod Brind'Amour has led the Hurricanes to their fifth straight playoff appearance. Since taking over as head coach in 2018 you could say he's breathed a breath of fresh air into the franchise. As Pat Welter found out, that breath happens to be peppermint fresh.
Status. Well, Jared, anyone who's been to P and C arena knows it is one of the loudest in the NHL. This is a hockey market. The secret is out but there was a time when it wasn't, I mean, this team missed the playoffs for nine straight years, but then they hired Romo and you can say he's given fans plenty to chew on from captain. I know it's a huge opportunity, a huge challenge. But one that I feel real confident that I can do, it's a coach. You're not playing the game. That's the next best thing since taking his place on the bench in 2018. Rod Bene Mo has breathed new life into the Hurricanes and it just so happens to be minty fresh. Have you ever noticed how much Rod shoes gum? Yeah, I guess on the bench and stuff, he's always chewing gum. That's right. British Shay. Every game's period can't start without a piece. Right. So, what do we have up here? Just regular peppermint. It's all, it's all he, all he chews Kane's assistant equipment manager, Patrick Budd stocks, the stash. Just gotta make sure it's always out there, I think one time in preseason, we forgot how much does the gum factor into your coaching style, your coaching, your day? Absolutely. Not at all. Not at all. But do you remember the last period? You didn't chew a piece? There was a, came somewhere and it's been years ago where I walked out and there was nothing and I passed the gum and then went out and I didn't chew it. You said it has no factor. You're coaching. But the equipment guy said you were kind of lost that day. Run around like the gum. I gotta have it. I gotta have it and they're real good about it. I think there was like four or five people running around trying to find it. Did you have a favorite flavor as a kid? There used to be this Gatorade gum back about when I was playing and it was like, I mean, pure sugar and you just, you, you, you, you jump on it twice and then you had to get another piece. We don't have the Gatorade gum, but I did go to the store and get some classics. What do you, what do you got that? Yeah, that's just too much work though. This is a, yeah, we do, we do that, we do that. We got that in the big bins back there. But that's all that's getting close to the Gator race. I, you can chew that like for two minutes and you gotta get another piece. You know, I'll take the, I'll take the, the, the minor league bubble. We'll take the league, we'll leave you with this. I don't need all of them. We'll, we'll hand it around here, but I'll try one of these. Uh, it's not game time. I don't, you wanna have it on during practice? Yeah. So you go ahead. Oh, sorry, I'll say this for, for later. We think this lasts about as long as a power play, right? Yeah, maybe if you're lucky. So, Rod has his gum, the players have their smelling salts on the bench. Now, Rod told me he didn't really like to use those as a player because honestly, he thought his nose was too big. He breathed in too much. Now, I've got a pretty big nose myself, but I happen to have some of those smelling salts right here. If you're going to give it a shot, you know, you got to get ready for playoff hockey. Hey, guys is again, you're ready for game two. Hey, Pat, I don't know what will Mike brought up a great question. What does the coach do with the gun when he's done chewing it? Well, I think he throws it out just like everybody else but to choose that one piece for the entire period on piece, for period, it may land on the ice. He really excited too, you know, maybe sell some of that gum on ebay, you know, it might be worth a little bit. This team wins the Stanley Cup. There you go. You never know what you can buy on.