Brind'Amour: year has been 'frustrating'
It's been a tough year for the Canes' Rod Brind'Amour. He knows it. He's willing to be upfront about it, acknowledge it.
"For me, personally, it just feels like it's been horrible," he said today after the pregame skate at the RecZone. "Personally, things haven't gone well at all. Every game it seems like there's something I do, a little mistake here or there, and it's costing us the games. It's not been just one game, it's been all year.
"That's been the frustrating part for me. But again, every game is a new game, and you have to keep approaching it that way because we are still right in the hunt. It's not how you start, it's how you finish the year, and you have to try and let it go and go out there and do what you know you can do and hopefully things will turn around."
Brind'Amour is the team captain. He has long been one of the best defensive forwards in the league. He has scored big goals for the Canes and been a part of big victories.
While Brind'Amour offers many intangibles, one statistic has been glaring. He's minus-26 for the season, last in the NHL. Brind'Amour is a player with great pride, with great confidence in his abilities and such a stat is galling.
"Yeah, it bugs me because it's so high," he said. "It seems like every time I do something wrong, it keeps adding to it.
"That stat is not the one that's going to get me. I'm not too worried about that. It's the wins and losses. That stat is what it is. I don't really put much weight into it."
Then again, Brind'Amour concedes, "But it does contribute to wins and losses — that's where the correlation comes in. When you're contributing in a positive manner, your wins are going to be up."
About the blogger
A Raleigh native, Chip has worked at the N&O since 1979 and is in his second season as the Canes beat writer. He can be reached at chip.alexander@newsobserver.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @ice_chip.
Comments
Well, the man is 38 now.It
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 19:10 — PDS2006Well, the man is 38 now. It catches up with everyone, but that said, I still think Rod can get back to a better game and still has a year or two left in those legs. He's still creating some things offensively, its just the uncharacteristic mistakes that he has to correct, and I'm hopeful he will. Its strange to see his losing faceoffs and suffering defensive lapses, but those are fixable things - unless the reason for the latter is that he has just lost a step.
Brind'Amour
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 12:24 — abramsdougThere can be no argument that Brind'Amour is a first class person and athlete. I also appreciate the fact that he is not making excuses for his poor play. He is correct that a number of his mistakes have cost the Hurricanes games. The main difference I see in Brind'Amour last year before his knee injury and this year as contrasted with 2005-2006 is the intangible quality of internal fire. In 2005-2006, he had the glare of a person totally consumed by the desire to win. His play was inspirational. His play over the 2006-2008 seasons showed far more hesitation and almost a timid quality; and it certainly has lacked the fire-breathing, unrelenting, urgency that he used to display. Obviously, his knee injury has slowed him; but it is the lack of fierceness that I miss most. I will feel he has returned to true Brind'Amour form when he is stealing pucks, pounding the corners, and setting up shop in front of the net and having defenders bounce off him. I know every Hurricane fan wishes him the best, even as we long to have him return to playing the way we are used to seeing and used to expecting of him. Maybe this game tonight will be a turning point for him and the Hurricanes.
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Thu, 01/01/2009 - 05:25 — testarossa17Very nicely said.
Preach it Brother...Preach it !!
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 17:27 — esteban1949The captain knows...and he knows what it will take...so all we the fans can do...is Hope...and be prepared for what ever comes our way...The Good, The bad, and the...well you know...
Happy New Year !