The 2023-24 season is finally over as the Florida Panthers were crowned the Stanley Cup champions. We’re officially into the 2024 offseason and it’s already full of news not even 48 hours later. The Carolina Hurricanes had a busy Tuesday (June 25), as they announced their 2024 exhibition schedule ahead of the 2024-25 season. Furthermore, head coach Rod Brind’Amour once again has been snubbed from the Hockey Hall of Fame. Usually, the Martin’s Musings column is at the end of the week, but after everything that happened on Tuesday, let’s do a mid-week version.
Brind’Amour Left Out of Hall of Fame Again
On Tuesday afternoon, the Hockey Hall of Fame announced their 2024 Class, which features seven names; five players, and two builders. One of those names was once again not named Rod Brind’Amour. The official Class of 2024 features:
Players:
- Natalie Darwtiz
- Pavel Datsyuk
- Jeremy Roenick
- Shea Weber
- Krissy Wendell-Pohl
Builders:
- Colin Campbell
- David Poile
While it is an honor to be selected into the Hockey Hall of Fame, not having Brind’Amour and Alexander Mogilny in it already does not make sense. The current Hurricanes head coach has a hockey resume more than deserving to be enshrined for eternity. In 1,484 NHL games, he had 452 goals, 732 assists, and 1,184 points spanning over a 20-year career. Furthermore, he won the Frank J. Selke Trophy back-to-back seasons (2005-06 and 2006-07) and the first one was when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2006 over the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. Brind’Amour for added measure had exactly 1,100 penalty minutes in his career.
Related: Hockey Hall of Fame Announces 7 New Members for 2024
What’s even more impressive is that Brind’Amour had 51 goals, 60 assists, and 111 points in 159 playoff games for his career. In 12 postseasons, he had over 50 goals for one of the premier shutdown defensive forwards in the game that spanned from 1989-90 to 2009-10. To be able to play that long and accumulate the resume that he has, it makes no sense why he alone is still not in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It seems like every year around this time, it makes less and less sense not to select the former ninth-overall pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. The Selke Trophies and being captain of the first Stanley Cup team in Hurricanes history alone should give him merit to already be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. If there needs to be more of a reason to have him in, the stats in the regular season and playoffs give even more clarity as to why he should be with the greats of hockey history. Brind’Amour has a hockey resume that any player would dream of having. Individual awards and winning the Stanley Cup while having almost 1,200 points in 1,500 games along with 1,100 penalty minutes is astounding. Furthermore, he averaged over 23 minutes per game during his playing days. If you want to talk about one of the premier defensive forwards in hockey history, Brind’Amour is that guy.
Related: Brind’Amour Extension Was a No-Brainer for the Hurricanes
Hopefully, Brind’Amour will be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day. He should be already, but let’s hope it is soon for “Rod the Bod” who is more than deserving of the honor of being enshrined with the greatest of all time.
Hurricanes Announce Exhibition Schedule
Along with the Hockey Hall of Fame news, the Hurricanes announced their exhibition schedule ahead of the 2024-25 NHL season. Carolina will have six games all featuring southeastern teams. They will be playing against the Nashville Predators, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Florida Panthers. Here is the official exhibition schedule:
| Tuesday | Sept. 24 | @ Tampa Bay | 7 p.m. ET | Amalie Arena |
| Friday | Sept. 27 | Florida | 7 p.m. ET | PNC Arena |
| Saturday | Sept. 28 | @ Florida | 7 p.m. ET | Amarant Bank Arena |
| Wednesday | Oct. 2 | Nashville | 7 p.m. ET | PNC Arena |
| Friday | Oct. 4 | Tampa Bay | 7 p.m. ET | PNC Arena |
| Saturday | Oct. 5 | @ Nashville | 5 p.m. ET | Bridgestone Arena |
Game 1 of the exhibition games will start on Sept. 24 in Tampa Bay, FL, and ends on Oct. 5 in Nashville, TN. The six games feature two home-and-road back-to-backs on Sept. 27-28 and Oct. 4-5. The interesting set of games will be the back-to-back with travel from Raleigh to Nashville with the second game starting not even 24 hours after the Oct. 4 game at home versus the Lightning. Furthermore, it seems that the Hurricanes will play all three teams in a home-and-home setting in two weeks. Given the last game is set for Oct. 5, it would seem the start of the season will probably happen no earlier than Monday, Oct. 7 for the NHL. It’ll be interesting to see when the regular season starts in relation to when Carolina’s exhibition schedule ends.
Final Thoughts
While it is good to see when the exhibition games start, we are still a ways away from hockey games for the Hurricanes. However, the team will be very busy as the 2024 NHL Entry Draft is this Friday and Saturday, June 28-29 in Las Vegas, NV. Also, the start of free agency is Monday, July 1 and there is a lot of stuff to figure out for general manager Eric Tulsky and staff to figure out. They have around three months to determine what the roster could look like before the first exhibition game versus Tampa Bay in September.
The hope is that Brind’Amour will make the 2025 Hall of Fame Class next season after how the 2024 class was selected. He is more than deserving to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame for a multitude of reasons. Let’s hope the committee makes the right decision this time next year for the next class of inductees.
