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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
RALEIGH, NC — Parents often don’t want to see their children suffer. This makes the last Eastern Conference of Stanley Cup 2023 knockout round It’s been a very stressful time for Henry and Linda Staal.
“It’s been hard for them. They’ve been cheering for all of us all year,” Florida Newspapers Defender player Marc Staal speak.
“Now one of us will be very disappointed to end this. Or both of us.”
Marc, 36, and his brother Eric, the 38-year-old striker, are teammates on the Panthers. jordan Staal34 years old, captain of Hurricane Carolinawho the Panthers are facing in the grand finals.
“Perhaps the best and worst case scenario, here we are,” Eric Staal speak.
It was the first time since 1992 that the NHL had three siblings go head-to-head in the Stanley Cup knockout. Back then, it was Brent Sutter’s Chicago Blackhawks against Rich and Ron Sutter’s brothers Saint Louis Blues.
Now it’s the Staals vs. Staal match.
“Obviously it was a little bit bizarre. Playing for so long and now we both have a chance to get to the Stanley Cup Final,” said Marc Staal. “It’s going to be fun. I mean, we’ve spent our careers playing against each other and then against each other. Now the stakes are just a little bit higher.”
Eric Staal (Carolina, 2006) and Jordan Staal (Pittsburgh Penguins, 2009) are former Stanley Cup winners. Marc Staal played for the Cup once, lost to New York Ranger in 2014.
Various combinations of the Staals have been pitted against each other in the knockout stages before this season. Marc’s Rangers met Jordan’s Penguins in 2008 and then Jordan’s Hurricanes in 2020. While Eric was still playing for the Hurricanes, his second Stanley Cup attempt in 2009 ended in the convention final against Jordan’s Penguins, before Jordan won the first ring in the next round.
Jordan remembers meeting Eric during the post-match handshake in 2009 – a meeting they would see again 14 years later.
“It’s not easy. It’s never easy to end a brother’s season, but someone has to win,” Jordan said. “I don’t want to be the person on the other side of it, so I’ll do everything I can. It’s part of knockout hockey.”
As Marc said, the stakes are now higher for the Staal family. The two brothers are nearing the end of their NHL journey. Eric just finished his 18th season and was on the fourth team for three seasons. Marc just finished his 16th season.
“I was told at the age of 18 by [former Hurricane] Ron Francis that this will happen quickly,” said Eric. “Enjoy every moment. I remember those words because it really went by so fast. I have witnessed and experienced a lot of ups and downs, but the joy of this sport has always burned within me. Sometimes it doesn’t always look that way. But I’m here at this point for a reason.”
With high stakes and a competitive series between the Panthers and the Hurricanes – a movie that has spawned a 1st Extra Time — Henry and Linda Staal will not be watching the matches live.
“My parents were excited but also very wary,” Jordan said. “I think they’ll hide from you guys in the basement until the movie is done.”
Their brother, Jared Staal, a 32-year-old assistant coach of Florida’s AHL branch Charlotte Checkers, is expected to attend the series.
“He 100% supports the Panthers,” Eric Staal joked.
And their relatives?
“I think my parents were supportive of the Panthers too,” he said. “They won’t tell you that.”
HENRY STAAL IS AVAILABLE a piece of land near his driveway in Thunder Bay, Ontario. He flooded it one winter so his four sons could skate.
They slide…and slide…and slide more. He can’t get them out of the ice.
So he expanded that piece of ice into a completely homemade rink. There are flood lights on either side that illuminate the ice at night. Chicken wire extends over the top of the boards in an attempt to keep the balls inside the rink. Alas, as the Staal brothers grew older and stronger, more and more balloons landed on the neighbor’s turnip.
The two-on-two games the brothers played were lively, loud, and often brutal.
Eric said: “We definitely had some moments where the sticks flew away. Where there are some stitches and some fights. “There were days when she had to tell everyone ‘enough’ and send us to our rooms. But then we always figured it out.”
On ice, it was Marc and Jordan against Eric and Jared in the brothers’ daily 2v2 series on their outdoor rink. Outside of the gang, Marc shares a room with Eric across from Jordan and Jarred.
“We compete in everything we do. It doesn’t matter what,” Marc said. “Play darts, golf, go fishing, whatever.”
Who handles the worst loss?
“Probably Eric. He probably considers it the worst.”
Eric said those competitive games were the spark that led to the present moment: Three established NHL players, fighting for a chance to lift the Stanley Cup.
“We weren’t completely forced or forced by our parents to do it,” he said. “We just go there because we love it, just love to compete with each other and love the game.”
Over the years, those battles have moved from makeshift ice to NHL ice. The Hurricanes placed Eric in second overall in 2003. Marc was placed 12th overall by Rangers in 2005. Jordan was placed second overall by the Penguins in 2006. Jared was selected in 49th place overall by the Rangers. Phoenix Coyotes in 2008. He only appeared in two NHL games, with Carolina in 2012-13.
Eric, Marc and Jordan have competed against each other in the regular season throughout their careers.
“I think once we get into those games, it’s all going to be a blur and the next thing you know, you might just be standing in front of your brother and stuff like that,” Jordan said. “That doesn’t really change the way I’m going to do things out there. I’m sure they won’t either.”
Marc said the brothers don’t engage in much trash talk, or really any talk, on tape. They only know that they are lining up against a familiar face.
“When your brother is on the ice, you know he’s on the ice,” he said. “When you’re fighting in front of the net, you know it’s him in front of the net, you know what I mean? It’s always exciting. This series will be no different.”
But this series is a bit different than most. Not only because it’s a conference finale, but because it features Eric, Jordan, and Raleigh, North Carolina.
FAN WITH STORM held up a sign in Game 1 of the conference finals Thursday night that read: “ALL STORIES BELOW ONE ROOM, BUT THIS IS JORDO’S HOME”
Jordan Staal played 11 seasons with the Hurricanes, 742 games in total. He was the team’s co-captain for the 2017-18 season and has served as the team’s captain from 2019-20 until this season.
“This is a family here with me now,” Jordan said.
There are two other former Hurricanes captains involved in the series. Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour wore the ‘C’ jersey from 2005 to 2010, commanding the franchise’s sole Stanley Cup winner. His successor was Eric Staal, who played 909 games with the franchise in 12 seasons.
It was an awkward time. The Hurricanes are about to go nine seasons without a knockout. Brind’Amour is playing his final NHL season. GM Jim Rutherford said it was time to hand the captain’s armband “to someone who will lead this team for several years.”
Brind’Amour has a chance to veto the change of captaincy. He didn’t.
“When they made that transition, he just said it was one of those things,” Eric said of Brind’Amour. “That I should embrace it and we’ll get through it together. And we did.
“Our relationship is very close. Rod is one of those people who really cares about you personally. And for me, when I was younger, I really tried to learn as much as I could from one person. like him.”
Eric and Jordan were teammates until eldest brother Staal was traded to Rangers in 2016 – joining Marc in New York – and later signed a free agent with Wild Minnesota next season.
Their photos line the walls at the press level of Hurricanes. Eric celebrates the Stanley Cup with storms. Jordan celebrates years of success in the playoffs, if not championships, in Raleigh.
“Jordan came here while I was here and we’ve been through a lot together. He has a right to see the change happening here and the transformation of where they are,” Eric said. “They’ve had a great season, they’ve had a great run, they’ve played really well and he’s a big part of that. I’m proud of him for that.”
Marc and Eric know there’s a real chance they could meet Jordan and the Hurricanes in the knockout stages as the Panthers are making their season-end push. “We could have played against them in the first round. And then we watched them make it through the group stage [of the bracket]so we knew it was a possibility when we played against Toronto,” Marc said.
On the eve of Game 1, there were several messages sent back and forth between the two brothers on their message thread. “We’ve been messaging about the specs of the series. A little bit of how we’re going to do things,” Jordan said.
In the knockout stages, players bond more with their teammates, staying together as a team. Staals determined that there would be no brotherly relationship with the enemy throughout the series.
No good luck wishes. The text string has been silent for the foreseeable future.
“I probably won’t see them much outside the rink, which is fine with me. No texting on game days,” Jordan said. “We’re all just excited to be here and be a part of it.”
The stakes are very high. One or more of Henry and Linda’s sons will have a rift in the near future. But years later, there will be memories of an unusual moment in the NHL sibling rivalry and a surreal moment for the three brothers.
“It’s something we’ll never forget. Those are the memories we’ll always have,” Jordan said. “We are so lucky to be a family. It’s really a wonderful thing.
“I haven’t played a playoff series with a brother in a while. We’ll kiss and make up later.”
