Brind'Amour to Share Special Night with Son, Skyler, in His NHL Preseason Debut
It's just a preseason game.
At the end of the day, the stats aren't counted and the end result really doesn't matter, but for some players, and perhaps even some coaches, these games can mean the world.
And when the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers take the ice tonight for their first preseason matchup, it will indeed be a special moment.
Rod Brind'Amour, the Hurricanes head coach, will be facing off against Skyler Brind'Amour, Panthers forward and his son, for the first time ever.
“Happy for him to get that opportunity," Brind'Amour said "Nice of [Panthers head coach Paul Maurice] to put him in there obviously. I hope he makes the best of it. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I know he’s put in a lot of hard work over the years. I’ve witnessed it. It’s going to be pretty special.”
Skyler, 24, was initially drafted by the Edmonton Oilers in 2017, but his rights expired and so he signed a two-year, AHL deal with the Charlotte Checkers this offseason and is participating in his first training camp with the Panthers.
A two-way centerman, Skyler also recently won the NCAA DI Men's Ice Hockey Championship with the Quinnipiac Bobcats.
Now, he'll be taking another step towards his NHL dreams and what better time and place than in the building he grew up in and with his father there to watch.
“It’s really cool that Coach Maurice gave me the opportunity to play there," Skyler said this morning per the Panthers. "I’m fired up and I can’t wait.”
Despite trying to keep a cool demeanor, Brind'Amour was still seemingly a bit nervous for his son's debut.
"Roddy’s actually nervous," said Canes captain Jordan Staal. "He looked a little nervous today in practice.”
Staal, in fact, still remembers when he first got to Carolina and Skyler was just a little kid hanging out around the rink.
"He was still pretty small," Staal said. "Pretty cool for him coming into the building. It’s really cool obviously. Good little player too. I’m excited to see how he does.”
No stranger to playing against family, Staal agreed that this situation is a bit different than what he's experienced though.
“I feel like you’ll probably catch yourself watching your son every now and then when you should be watching your own team," Staal said. "I’m sure with the way those guys watch video, he’ll get enough of what he did on the ice after the game as well though.”
Rod also said that he'd gotten a lot more ticket requests for tonight's game, but he didn't really start trying to get it all sorted out until recently.
"I wasn’t 100% sure he was going to go," Brind'Amour said. "'Mo' did tell him a couple of days ago, but I didn’t want to jinx it."
And asked if he'll talk to his son before the game, Brind'Amour was pretty candid.
"No, probably not. Maybe after. Gotta win a hockey game.”
Always a father, but still just as much a coach.
From Florida's perspective with quotes by Skyler Brind'Amour and Paul Maurice courtesy of THN Florida:
