Expected by Whom? - An Analytics & Eye Test Hockey Podcast · Winged Wheel Podcast Network

NHL GM Interview with Eric Tulsky (Carolina Hurricanes) - Ep. 30

·30 min·2 clips

Tulsky says a leader's job is to set a vision, trust people to execute it, and hand work off.

Eric Tulsky returns as the show's first repeat guest and its first general manager in the National Hockey League. The hosts open by talking about the weather in North Carolina before asking whether Tulsky has been added to the GM text chat. Tulsky says there is such a chat. He also says the group was already talking about the hosts earlier that day. From there, the conversation turns to how general managers communicate and whether that communication changes around hockey moments like the trade deadline and the draft. The interview keeps coming back to front-office communication across the season, not just when attention spikes. It then shifts toward leadership and organizational philosophy. Tulsky explains that the Hurricanes' style took on a clear identity because of the coach's personality and his ability to connect with players. He also gives credit to the roster, saying the team had players who were ready to do what the coach wanted. That mix helped the club pivot quickly. Tulsky says it is now pretty well ingrained that people know what you mean when you say playing a hurricane style game. In his telling, that means hard pressure, an aggressive forecheck, and a willingness to create chaos. He says people may disagree on the edges of the style, but they know the basic idea. The hosts then ask why the Hurricanes still feel a bit like an outlier in a league that is supposed to copy what works. Tulsky answers that some teams are already borrowing parts of Carolina's approach. He says the league does copy, and that is how it works. He adds that more teams are now playing pressure styles than there were five years ago. He thinks that trend could be even more common five years from now. He also says the biggest wave of copying usually follows the teams that win it all. In that light, he suggests that if the Hurricanes had won two Cups in the last five years, more teams would be trying to do what they do. The conversation later drifts into another subject that has clearly stuck with the hosts. They bring up Tulsky's patents, note that they only count the U.S. patents, and then joke that there are international ones too. They call it the most impressive CV they have seen. The interview ends with thanks for the time and a hope to do a third interview next summer.

As heard by us

A practical look at how Carolina's hockey identity is communicated, copied, and reinforced.

Eric Tulsky's conversation keeps its focus on the practical work of running the Carolina Hurricanes: how a general manager communicates, when those talks tend to peak around the trade deadline and the draft, and how a team can build a style so distinct that it is easy to spot.

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Why you'd press play

You want Carolina's GM to explain the text chat, the forecheck, and the copycat league.

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