In copycat NHL, the Hurricanes are a Stanley Cup champion that are hard to replicate

In copycat NHL, the Hurricanes are a Stanley Cup champion that are hard to replicate STEPHEN WHYNO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PUBLISHED 33 MINUTES AGO Open this photo in gallery: Carolina Hurricanes centre Jordan Staal (11) lifts the Stanley Cup after the team's Game 6 win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Las Vegas. CANDICE WARD/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Brady Tkachuk marvels at how the Carolina Hurricanes “give you no time and space.” He and the Ottawa Senators were swept by them last spring. Jamie Drysdale called the ‘Canes relentless, and teammate Trevor Zegras remembers wave after wave that “over a series, it wears you down.” The Philadelphia Flyers also got swept. By the Eastern Conference final, Cole Caufield figured, “They finally got to a point where they were kind of unbeatable.” He and the Montreal Canadiens won the series opener, then lost the next four. Mitch Marner calls their style a “full-court press” where an opponent needs three good plays to get one good look at the goal. He and the Vegas Golden Knights led the Stanley Cup final two games to one before losing three in a row and the series. Carolina is the envy of the NHL after winning it all, but that does not mean other contenders can follow that blueprint. The NHL is a copycat league, but the Hurricanes play such a demanding brand of hockey under coach Rod Brind’Amour that it is nearly impossible to replicate without years of perfecting it and getting the mix of players just right. “It takes time to get to that level,” said Tkachuk, who’s now in place to challenge them with Cup-favourite Florida. “They play such a hard way and a tough way. ... You try different ways to beat them. But they’re just so good at what they do.” The Hurricanes play with pressure Brind’Amour was a grind-it-out centre during his two-decade playing career in the NHL, so it’s no surprise a guy nicknamed “Rod the Bod” with a reputation for an intense workout regimen expects a lot from everyone he coaches. Predictability is at the centre of Carolina making the playoffs in all eight of his seasons in charge. “We really haven’t changed much: little tweaks here and there,” top defenceman Jaccob Slavin said. “It’s not a pretty game. It’s just pucks out of your zone into their zone, and it’s just high stress and high compete level.” Open this photo in gallery: Carolina Hurricanes…