Jordan Martinook believes Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour could still play a few shifts in the NHL at 54 years old.
The Hurricanes forward discussed that and more as a guest on this week's episode of the "NHL Unscripted with Virk and Demers" podcast presented by iHeartPodcasts.
Martinook joined co-hosts Adnan Virk and former NHL defenseman Jason Demers and talked about life in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Hurricanes, playing with Brent Burns, and Brind'Amour's work ethic.
Martinook said that in addition to Brind'Amour being, "an unbelievable motivator," the former Hurricanes captain and center is in good enough condition nearly 15 years after he retired from playing to, "get a couple fourth-line shifts in there."
"He's in the gym before practice, after practice." Martinook said. "He does all our fitness testing every year, which is pretty crazy. The older he's getting, though, the harder that bike test is getting on him."
Martinook also talked about getting on stage with the band Nickelback and singing "Rockstar" and reminisced with Demers about their time as teammates with the Arizona Coyotes.
Other topics Virk and Demers discussed included possible trade destinations for Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller, Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid's three-game suspension, the Pittsburgh Penguins struggling to retool their roster, and this potentially being the season that the Toronto Maple Leafs finally go on a run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Demers cited the Maple Leafs goalie tandem of Anthony Stolarz (when he returns from knee surgery) and Joseph Woll, coach Craig Berube's experience winning the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019, William Nylander's confidence and the players learning from their past postseason failures as reasons.
"We say it every year with the Leafs and all season I've been like, 'Wake me up in April,'" Demers said. "But, honestly if there's a year, it's this year because everybody's getting a little bit older and I would probably say that the experience that this team has got over the past years and the scars they've kind of gotten and cuts they've taken from all these losses and defeats, I think, is going to finally give them a boost and they're going to at least make it out of the first round."
The "NHL Unscripted with Virk and Demers" podcast presented by iHeartPodcasts is free and listeners can subscribe on all podcast platforms. It is also available on NHL.com/multimedia/podcasts and the NHL app.
