Rod Brind’Amour calls NHL “a joke” in post-game tirade, immediately fined $25,000
Anthony Scultore
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Here we go! Rod Brind’Amour is whining about something again. This time it has to do with the officiating in game one against Boston. In an epic rant, he called the league “a joke” and said it was a “crime scene” out there.
Rod Brind’Amour Tirade
All hell broke loose on the ice with the game knotted at one, and Charlie Coyle scored after a wild sequence. In Brind’Amour’s defense, it sure looked like there was a hand pass and Canes goalie, Petr Mrazek covered the puck for a whistle that never came.
The Carolina coach did challenge the play but lost with the ruling being that Mrazek controlled the puck and thus negated the hand pass. That led to Brind’Amour losing it when asked after the game and thus the eventual fine.
“They came to me, and I said, ‘If he has possession of it then it’s goalie interference. If he doesn’t have possession then it’s a hand pass. It’s one of the two. I don’t know what you’re calling on the ice,’” Brind’Amour said. “All he has to do is tell me. ‘We’re calling it nonpossession (by Mrazek),’ then we’re challenging a glove-hand pass. If it’s possession, then goaltender interference. I said, ‘Tell me the call on the ice.’ They wouldn’t do it when I say, ‘What is the call?’ So I had to flip a coin.”
News & Observer
Is Brind’Amour getting a reputation for complaining?
Back in May, when the NHL Return to Play was voted on and it was learned that the Hurricanes and Lightning said no, Brind’Amour had some choice words.
“I think the bigger issue felt like, and especially our guys, was like ‘what was the 68 games we played for?’” the head coach said Wednesday on the “ESPN on Ice” podcast. “What did we grind for? The bulk of the season was completed, and they just threw that out, and I think that’s how (the Hurricanes) felt,” he added. “I think that’s justifiable in a way.”
The Score
So is Rod Brind’Amour becoming a whining coach? The jury is still out on that, but these two incident just months apart sure do make it look that way.
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