Hockey Hall of Fame: Hurricanes coach Brind'Amour, former player Eric Staal not on inductees list

Monday, June 22, 2026 9:07PM

Hockey Hall of Fame again snubs Canes coach Brind'Amour

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The wait for a career-capping milestone will continue for Rod Brind'Amour.

The Hockey Hall of Fame announced its new class of inductees on Monday, and the Carolina Hurricanes coach and former player was snubbed again.

Brind'Amour has been eligible for the Hall since 2013, making this 13 years and waiting for induction.

Brind'Amour has been excellent as a coach, having changed the fortunes of the Carolina franchise and guiding the team to the 2025-26 Stanley Cup title. He's the only coach ever to win a playoff series in his first five seasons.

But that's not why he should be in the Hall of Fame. What he did on the ice, specifically for the Carolina franchise, is simply remarkable.

In addition to being the captain on the Hurricanes' first Stanley Cup championship team in 2006, he's 25th all-time in games played, 62nd in goals, and 53rd in assists and total points.

Yet that resume hasn't landed him in the Hall of Fame.

The snub prompted the Canes to tweet this:

Across North Carolina and the hockey world, a lot of people are wondering the same thing.

Former Hurricanes player Eric Staal, the brother of current captain Jordan Staal, also did not hear his name called.

So who got in? Keith Tkachuk, for one. He waited more than a decade and a half from the end of his NHL playing career to get the call from the Hall of Fame.

When it finally came, the timing only gave his family more reason to celebrate.

Tkachuk was elected to the Hall of Fame less than 24 hours after his sons became teammates when Brady was traded from Ottawa to Florida, joining his older brother Matthew.

Keith Tkachuk is part of a player class that includes center Patrice Bergeron, who won the Stanley Cup with Boston in 2011 and the Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward six times, and goaltenders Carey Price from Montreal and Pekka Rinne from Nashville.

U.S. women's hockey pioneer Cindy Curley and executive Brian Burke also are set to be inducted on Nov. 9 at a ceremony in Toronto.

For Brind'Amour and Eric Staal, the wait will continue for at least one more year.