Filed under: Hurricanes
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rod Brind'Amour smiled, his eyes glistened, and an adoring standing-room only crowd clapped and clapped and clapped to the point even the hockey-player-tough Brind'Amour, who played the game like he would forecheck a bull while wearing Hurricanes red, seemed a little bowled over.
For one last night and one lengthy ovation, the longtime captain of the Hurricanes, who retired in June after 21 seasons, took to the ice to mingle with the ghosts of hockey before he too joined them, his No. 17 raised permanently into the RBC Center rafters.
It was a farewell for Rod Brind'Amour, a thank you from the franchise he captained.
"I've had a lot of great memories here obviously, but that's just another one that'll be in there forever," Brind'Amour said.
"It was a real special night. There's not much else to say other than how appreciative I am."
The feeling seemed to be mutual with the crowd, who bounced chants of "Roddy, Roddy" off the arena walls as Brind'Amour spoke in tones alternating between hockey eulogy and bar-room toast.
Fittingly, the night came against the Flyers, the team who sent Brind'Amour to Carolina, and the team which remained half his hockey DNA. In his finest years, Brind'Amour merged Philly tough with Carolina class. The live-every-shift center still remains a fan favorite of each town.
Both teams donned Brind'Amour 17 jerseys, a long list of players and coaches from around the league filmed video messages, and Glen Wesley and Ron Francis, the two prior Hurricanes to have their numbers raised, stood beside him to welcome the newest member of the team's three-man retired number wing of Tobacco Road hockey.
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Source: http://nhl.fanhouse.com/2011/02/18/rod-brindamour-number-retired-by-hurricanes-franchise-he-helped/
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