Rod Brind’Amour: ‘Turn the page’

The Carolina Hurricanes had a lot to think about following their Game 4, third period collapse.

However, head coach Rod Brind’Amour isn’t one to dwell on the past. Instead, he got the team together for a practice on Tuesday to enforce a message on looking forward.

Brind’Amour spoke to the media over Zoom Tuesday afternoon.

On Jordan Staal’s status: We’re kind of looking at him now. Reevaluating where he is and how he feels. It’s a good sign that he was out there today. We’ll know more hopefully in the next hour.

On the goal of Tuesday’s practice: Turn the page. Try to really just ooze a little joy and have some fun. It’s been a tough day and it was a tough night. That day’s long gone now and we need to remember this is a game and you got to have some fun with it. Try to do that, get a little sweat and get ready for tomorrow.

On the impact of Joel Edmundson’s absence: That’s a huge loss for us back there. Not just the physical play, but he was getting involved in the offense and getting top-four minutes for us. Anytime you lose a top-four D, it’s tough to replace. That physical element that he brings is something this time of year you need.

On Boston gaining momentum: I’m not sure how much momentum is gained or lost from one game or another. I think it’s a new day. We need to start fresh. We’re the team with their backs against the wall. We have nothing to lose at this point, so we want to make sure we’re going down giving it everything we have if that’s what ends up happening, but certainly I want to see us play a 60-minute game. That’s a great team we’re playing and we need to make it hard for them for the whole game and see what happens. The message is the same as it’s always been. You try to win every game. We just know we don’t have any tomorrow, so the desperation is going to have to be there for us right from the start.

On how the team seemed mentally: That was tough. They know. They know what happened. That’s human nature. That’s why I thought we needed to even practice. To get together and not focus too much on the past. Just get all the negativity out of there. Tomorrow you got to go win a game. That’s the focus. We can’t win three games tomorrow. You got to win one and see what happens from there. I thought the guys picked up their chins off the ground, worked hard and now we’re ready to go for tomorrow.

On playing with Dale Hawerchuk: Fortunately, I got to play with him at the end. His last year was in Philadelphia and we played together on the same line. Playing against him, he was just a great player. I played the game with a lot of teammates and you very rarely remember how they played, so it’s always about what kind of people they were. He was a great person. Can’t remember any of the games, but you just remember what kind of guy he was. For me, what stands out was that I was a centerman and he was a Hall-of-Fame centerman and we got on the same line and he was like, ‘I’m gonna play left wing. You play center.’ Sounds like a stupid thing, but that just stands out to me and tells you what kind of guy he was. We’re always thinking of him, but he was just a great person.

On any other injury concerns: No I don’t think so. We were all out there today.