Jackie Redmond is putting the social media peanut gallery in its place following her in-game interview with Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour on Wednesday during Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The “NHL on TNT” reporter spoke to Brind’Amour midway through the first period, when Carolina led the Panthers, 1-0, and asked, “With the way this game is being managed by the officials so far, what’s the message to the group about how to handle it from here?”
Brind’Amour, trying to keep the Hurricanes’ season alive while trailing the Panthers, 3-1, in the best-of-seven series, replied, “It’s a great question, these aren’t real penalties … obviously, we got to stop the hitting and then just go play. I’m a little bit frustrated, as you can tell.”
Amid apparent pushback over the exchange, Redmond stood up for the longtime Carolina coach and hit back at the suggestion he was “disrespecting” her.
“And anyone who says this is Brind’Amour disrespecting me – he’s one of nicest coaches I’ve worked with. We have great relationship,” Redmond wrote Wednesday night on X.
“And disrespect would be giving me one word or not even doing the interview. MANY teams would gas the interview in THAT spot. Rod didn’t. Just FYI.”
When one X user responded to Redmond, “He obviously has a lot of respect for you. He appreciated the question and told you what he thought,” she answered, “Thank you. Twitter is tough sometimes.”
Despite holding a 2-0 lead at the end of the first period, the Hurricanes gave up three goals in the second to the defending champion Panthers, who added two more goals in the third to punch their ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year with a 5-3 victory.
“They’re a great team and it’s obvious the last couple of years, they’re the standard, obviously,” Brind’Amour said. “I thought our guy battled really hard all series.”
Florida took the first three games in the series before Carolina finally got on the board in Game 4.
The Panthers now await the winner of the Western Conference finals between the Oilers and the Stars.
Edmonton, which fell to Florida in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year, leads Dallas, 3-1.
Game 5 is set for Thursday night.
Brind’Amour, who played for the Blues, Flyers and Hurricanes, has been at the helm in Carolina since 2018.
He’s reached the playoffs every year.