After clinching the Eastern Conference title, the Hurricanes defenseman rushed from the ice to the delivery room to welcome his new son.
As the Carolina Hurricanes were preparing to celebrate their capturing of the Prince of Wales Trophy as Eastern Conference Champions following a Game 5 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, defenseman Jalen Chatfield was receiving even more special news.
Chatfield's wife, Drew, had gone into labor a little bit before puck drop on Friday, but knowing how important of a game it was for her husband, she made sure to let the team know to wait until after to tell him.
"I'm putting on my hat on out there and [Team Services Director Mike Brown] came up to me and said, 'Your wife's in labor, but you can take the picture,'" Chatfield recalled. "I'm like, 'What does that mean? Do I have time or not? Thankfully it worked out perfectly. Didn’t have to miss the birth or anything."
Chatfield said he got a police escort from the arena to the hospital and made it there with still a couple of hours to spare before the birth of his second child, a son, Rhodes.
"I guess around 7:30 she went to the hospital, texted Brownie and said, 'Don’t tell him until after the game,'" Chatfield said. "So, I had no distractions. It worked out perfectly."
Rhodes is the third Hurricanes baby born this postseason, joining K'Andre Miller's son and Sean Walker's daughter, both of which were born during the team's second round series against the Philadelphia Flyers.
"We've experienced a lot in the last month and it's been nothing but amazing," Miller said. "Getting to be there for the birth of our sons and daughter has been amazing."
The Hurricanes as a whole have been introducing a lot of new babies over the past few years, with Sebastian Aho, Eric Robinson and Shayne Gostisbehere also all becoming first-time dads just a year ago too.
There's a lot of guys that are growing up right before our eyes and it's an exciting time of life for all of them to be sure.
"There's been a couple of funny conversations with the new dads," said captain and eldest statesman Jordan Staal. "There's always going to be stuff that comes along, especially with newborns and all that comes with it. They'll figure it out. They're good dads. They'll obviously have a few moments where they're like, 'What the heck is going on.' We all do. Just happy for them."
"It's crazy how many of the guys are starting to have families now with kids," said Logan Stankoven. "I'm sure there's going to be a lot of little hockey players coming up. After the games, Rod brings them into the dressing room and they mess around, kicking the soccer ball or just hanging out. It's cool to see all these guys starting to grow up, but I still feel very young."
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