On the brink of their first Stanley Cup since 2006, the Carolina Hurricanes did not want to tempt fate.
The Hurricanes crushed the Montreal Canadiens to win the Eastern Conference Finals 4-1. Afterwards, when being presented with the Prince of Wales trophy, Carolina chose to not touch the trophy — a decision that is rife with superstition.
Turns out that the choice may have come on the advice of Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour. A former player who spent 10 seasons in Carolina, Brind’Amour was the captain of the Stanley Cup-winning Carolina squad in 2006, and notably did not touch the trophy after his team won the conference finals.
Brind’Amour addressed the issue in his post-game press conference: When asked if he had any input on the decision to not touch the trophy, he said “not really.” But he did say that he offered some players his blunt advice.
“I had a few guys ask me what I thought, and I said, ‘Do what you want, but don’t touch it,’” Brind’Amour said.
Historically, the decision to not touch or touch the trophy doesn’t have much consistency in the outcome. Of the 10 teams over the past 20 years who touched the trophy, four have not won the Cup, per NHL.com.
But hockey players are incredibly superstitious, and the few success stories after not touching it are enough to make the solution clear. The Florida Panthers, who won the last two Stanley Cups, lost the final series in 2023 after touching the conference trophy, but came back to win it twice after not touching it.
And in Hurricanes’ history, in the team’s only other Easter Conference Finals win in 2002, captain Ron Francis picked up the trophy. Carolina went on to lose the 2002 Stanley Cup in five games to the Detroit Red Wings.
The Canes’ win on Friday comes after years of knocking on the door to return to the Stanley Cup Finals. Under Brind’Amour, Carolina has lost three conference finals series, all by three or four games. That unlucky streak came to an end on Friday, with the Hurricanes flipping the script for a 4-1 win over the Habs.
Brind’Amour was candid about the challenges that will come ahead, with Carolina set to face the Vegas Golden Knights in the finals.
“I was a lot more excited as a player,” Brind’Amour admitted, when asked about the difference between winning the Prince of Wales trophy as a player versus a coach. “I’m not saying the expectation was the same, but this has been like eight years of ‘this is where we should’ve been’ in the way we feel.
“Now we’re finally here, and we know that, I know, if you don’t win it all it’s just kind of, ‘eh,’ do you know what I mean?” Brind’Amour added with a laugh. “So I’m trying to hold off on that, cause I wanna enjoy this, this is a great accomplishment. But I know tomorrow I’ll wake up and it’s gonna be ‘How do we get over this last stretch?’”
That last stretch will start with Game 1 on Tuesday, where Carolina will host Vegas.
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