Coach Rod Brind'Amour calls on the NHL to ditch pre-season games

Rod Brind’Amour clearly isn't a big fan of the NHL preseason.

Appearing on TSN’s OverDrive on Monday, the Carolina Hurricanes head coach was asked about the shortened preseason and the process of getting his players ready for the regular season. His answer was pretty much exactly what you would expect from one of the NHL’s most competitive coaches.

“I'd say go to 86 games and 0 preseason. Why waste games on the fans that don't count? Let's play for real.”

It was a tongue-in-cheek comment, but it also fits Brind’Amour’s philosophy. The 55-year-old has never been particularly interested in wasting time, and with Carolina coming off its first Stanley Cup championship since 2006, there is little reason for him to overwork his veterans in exhibition games. The Hurricanes have already indicated that they are more concerned with getting their core physically prepared than winning preseason games.

Brind’Amour knows what it takes to build a winning team because he has been at the centre of the Hurricanes organization for more than two decades. After retiring as a player in 2010, he spent time working in player development before joining Carolina’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2011. He remained there for seven seasons before taking over as head coach in 2018.

The results were almost immediate.

Brind’Amour inherited a Hurricanes team that had missed the playoffs for nine consecutive seasons. In his first year behind the bench, Carolina went 46-29-7 and reached the Eastern Conference Final. From there, the Hurricanes established themselves as one of the NHL’s most consistent regular-season teams, qualifying for the playoffs in every season of his tenure.

He also captured the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year in 2020-21, while Carolina became a perennial contender. The Hurricanes reached the Eastern Conference Final multiple times under Brind’Amour, but repeatedly came up short of the Stanley Cup.

That finally changed in 2026.

Carolina defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in six games in the Stanley Cup Final, giving Brind’Amour his first championship as a head coach — and making him just the fourth person in NHL history to captain and later coach the same franchise to a Stanley Cup. He had already lifted the Cup as Carolina’s captain in 2006.

Now, Brind’Amour is trying to lead the Hurricanes through the difficult task of defending their championship. And judging by his comments about preseason, he would probably rather get on with the real hockey.