RALEIGH Tom Kuhnhackl Jersey , N.C. (AP) Rod Brind’Amour helped deliver the greatest moment in Carolina Hurricanes’ history – a Stanley Cup championship.His next challenge is to create more memorable moments as their coach.The captain of the Hurricanes’ 2006 Cup-winning team has his first head coaching job in the NHL, taking the next step in a career arc that during the past 18 years has brought him from team leader all the way up the coaching ladder – and all with Carolina.”It’s a job, but it’s not,” Brind’Amour said Wednesday. ”It means more to me.”The Hurricanes gave Brind’Amour a three-year contract, with team owner Tom Dundon declining to discuss the financial terms. But Dundon did praise Brind’Amour for his willingness to put his reputation on the line while trying to things around. Carolina hasn’t made the playoffs since 2009, a nine-year drought that ranks among the longest in NHL history.”He didn’t need the job,” Dundon said. ”He’s got a good life here, he’s well respected and the risk that he’s taking with his reputation and his legacy is real.”The Hurricanes have changed coaches three times and general managers twice since their last postseason appearance. Another of the franchise’s greats – Hall of Fame player Ron Francis, like Brind’Amour a former team captain – was stripped of the GM’s job during the season and last week had his contract terminated.Brind’Amour said Dundon and team president Don Waddell, who also added the title of general manager during the shake-up, have ”high expectations, which is huge.”For whatever reason, our expectations have fallen a little bit here, and we need to raise those,” he added.He also wants to raise the effort level from the players, pledging to push them in much the same way he pushed his teammates during his time as team captain.”We have a lot of guys in that room that need to give more,” he said. ”I think there’s more there. … They didn’t produce the way they could produce. … We’re going to demand more from our players, at the end of the day, and I think they want that.”That’s an approach that helped turn the Hurricanes into winners before, and now he wants to see if it will work again.Brind’Amour came in Carolina in January 2000 in a trade with Philadelphia – and never left. He helped lead the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup final in 2002, ascended to the captaincy before the 2005-06 season and ended that year by becoming the first Carolina player to hoist the Cup – in the process, creating the franchise’s signature image that remains on display throughout PNC Arena.”There are guys that wear the C,” former teammate Aaron Ward said, ”and there are guys that ARE the C.”The two-time Selke Award winner as the NHL’s best defensive forward retired in 2010 and ranks third in club history in assists (299), fourth in points (473) and fifth in games played (694). His post-playing career began in a front-office position – director of forwards development – but became an assistant coach in 2011, first for Paul Maurice, then Kirk Muller and Bill Peters – who opted out of the final year of his contract, creating the opportunity for Brind’Amour.”I actually remember asking (then-GM Jim Rutherford) at the time, `Hey, put me upstairs with you,’ and he kept pushing me down” toward a future in coaching, Brind’Amour said. ”It’s the closest thing to playing. … You’re in the fight with the guys. I felt like it’s something I have a passion for, and the more I got into it … I wanted to take a chance on taking charge. I stuck my neck out, and here we are.”— SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Panthers coach Bob Boughner went from hopeful to desolate to elated in a matter of seconds.Filip Forsberg’s apparent tying goal with 0.6 seconds left was disallowed due to goalie interference, giving Florida a 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night.”It was a crazy finish http://www.officialsharks.com/authentic-adidas-brent-burns-jersey ,” Boughner said. ”Ten seconds to go and you’re thinking it’s over, then you see the clock tick down and the puck go in.”Viktor Arvidsson was posted in front of Florida goalie Roberto Luongo on the play, and his stick made contact with Luongo as he tried to shove in a rebound. The puck slid under Luongo in the crease, and Forsberg swooped in for an easy score. It was called a goal on the ice, but replay officials ruled that Arvidsson had interfered with Luongo, saying his stick ”caused Luongo to spin and cause the covered puck to come loose.””Obviously, at first, I wasn’t quite sure what happened, but once I saw the replay, the puck was between my legs and the guys just basically pitchforked me,” Luongo said. ”And as he spun me around, the puck came loose. I was happy that they made the right call there because it was going to be a little bit upsetting if that would have been a goal.”The Predators didn’t agree.”We scored a goal to tie the game with less than a second left, and then they take it away from us,” Forsberg said. ”This one was clearly a goal. The puck is never covered, the goalie had no clue where it is, and it ends up on my tape and it’s in.”Luongo tied a season high with 45 saves. Colton Sceviour scored the winning goal and Jonathan Huberdeau also scored for Florida. Luongo started his second game in two nights and had to take fluids intravenously after Monday’s 3-2 win over Carolina.”After last night’s game, I made sure that I did whatever was necessary to get the recovery needed within 24 hours to play again. I was happy the way I felt,” Luongo said.Roman Josi scored for NHL-leading Nashville, and Pekka Rinne made 31 saves. The Predators would have clinched the Western Conference with a win.”We played a good game,” coach Peter Laviolette said. ”Their goalie played really well. There’s a lot at stake for them as well. Our guys played hard, we just couldn’t hit the back of the net.”The Panthers are four points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference and five behind the New Jersey Devils with a game in hand.”It was a great to finish to a hard-fought game by both teams,” Boughner said. ”A tough test in back-to-back against the best team in the league. (Luongo) made some amazing saves when they had their pushes. He was the difference tonight.”Sceviour stretched the Panthers lead to 2-0 at 10:33 of the third. Evgenii Dadonov flipped the puck from behind the net back to Sceviour on the right side, who poked it past Rinne.”I was the beneficiary there,” Sceviour said. ”(Dadonov) did a lot of the work there and made a heck of a pass. I just had to put it in pretty much an open net.”The Predators closed to 2-1 on Josi’s goal with 3:52 left in the third. Josi fired a shot from in front that got past Luongo.Huberdeau’s deflection gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 1:30 left in the first. Jamie McGinn shot from the right side, and the puck bounced off Huberdeau and got past Rinne.Luongo made a save at 11:27 of the second and went down on the ice when the puck hit his rib area but remained in the game.UPSET CELEBSA few high-profile hockey fans joined the Smashville faithful in blasting the overturned goal on social media.”Dear (at)nhl I love you and I always will but (at)PredsNHL were robbed tonight,” wrote actor Kiefer Sutherland.”I am seriously livid. (at)NHL , fix this,” said Carrie Underwood , wife of predators forward Mike Fisher.”Hey (at)NHL , those are the kind of calls that cause fans to lose faith in the head office,” said golfer Brandt Snedeker.NOTES: Luongo, who turns 39 on April 4, is one game away from becoming the third goaltender in NHL history to play 1,000 games. … Arvidsson returned after missing the last game with a lower-body injury.UP NEXTPredators: At Washington on Thursday night.Panthers: Host Boston on Thursday night.—
