Hurricanes Coach Rod Brind'Amour Discusses Handshake Disagreement With Panthers Coach Paul Maurice

The Stanley Cup Final gets underway on Monday with a rematch between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. However, there's still some chatter about what happened at the very end of the Eastern Conference Final between the Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes.

Of course, the handshake line at the end of a Stanley Cup Playoff series is one of the greatest traditions in all of sports, but when the Panthers completed their 5-1 series win over the Hurricanes, Panthers coach Paul Maurice and Canes bench boss Rod Brind'Amour were seen exchanging some words. 

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It turned out that Maurice requested that the two teams' coaching staffs not join the main handshake line at center ice, so that the tradition could be all about the players.

This week, Brind'Amour talked about how while he understood why Maurice wanted this, he didn't necessarily agree with him.

"I understood his point of view. He explained it to me," Brind'Amour said, per Sportsnet. "I wasn't expecting it, but I understood what he said. It is the players, of course, it is. Those guys are the ones battling out there. We're just sitting back there. Not along for the ride, we invested a ton into it. I get his point. It is about the players."

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour talked about his reaction to Panthers coach Paul Maurice's request that the coaching staffs not take part in the handshake line after the Eastern Conference Final. (Getty Images)

Brind'Amour continued by saying that he has had some personally impactful moments in those handshake lines with former players, some as recently as this season.

"My take on it now, sitting back on it in reflection, you talk about gracious losing," he explained. I've had some pretty impactful memories and moments in that line as a coach going through. Even in the (first) playoff round with the Devils, I had four or five guys who were Hurricanes. I still think of them (as Hurricanes). It meant something for me to go through there and shake their hand.

Brind'Amour said that he wasn't out there looking for a "TV moment," given that the camera cuts to him every time his team takes a penalty, but said that he acquiesced to Maurice's request, seeing as his team had won the series.

"He won, so I kind of went 'OK, I'm going to follow your lead and that,'" Brind'Amour said. "But I do think it's important to me anyway to show respect to the players."