- Jordan Staal explains why he never pushed his way out of Carolina across 14 seasons
- The 37-year-old captain became the oldest Conn Smythe winner in NHL history in June
- Read below for Staal’s full comments on his long bet on Raleigh
Jordan Staal never went looking for the exit ramp.
The Hurricanes captain joined Daily Faceoff LIVE on Wednesday and got asked why he stayed in Raleigh through 14 seasons, including a stretch of genuinely rough ones, instead of angling for a better situation somewhere else.
“I believe in Raleigh, I believe in the Hurricanes, and I kind of stuck with it.”
That bet cashed in June. Carolina beat Vegas 3-0 in Game 6 at T-Mobile Arena for the franchise’s second Stanley Cup, and Staal took the Conn Smythe Trophy at 37 years, 277 days old, the oldest winner the award has ever had. He passed Tim Thomas, who won it with Boston in 2011.
Staal led every player in the Final with six goals and scored in each of the first five games. That streak tied the longest in Final history, matching Yvan Cournoyer in 1973, Jean Beliveau in 1956, Maurice Richard in 1951 and Cyclone Taylor in 1918.
Here’s the moment he collected the trophy in Las Vegas:
Seventeen years between championships is its own line in the record book. Staal won his first with Pittsburgh in 2009 as a 20-year-old, then landed in Carolina by trade in 2012 and got to play alongside his brother Eric. The old record belonged to Chris Chelios, who went 16 years between Montreal in 1986 and Detroit in 2002.
A 10-year contract came shortly after that trade. Staal told Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton the goal back then was pretty simple.
“I remember signing that ten-year deal I had, and I remember just hoping I would get through it. I don’t want to get bought out. I wanted to complete that contract. I wanted to do it with Carolina, and I wanted to win.”
Now past 1,400 career games, he says the years have collapsed on him.
“Some days feel long, but the years go by quick and I think even this year was the quickest one I’ve ever felt.”
Watch Staal’s full sit-down:
He put up 12 points in 19 playoff games, eight of them goals, after a 20-goal regular season that was his best in a decade. Almost nobody from that 2012 roster is still around in Raleigh. Staal is, and his name went onto the Cup this summer alongside 51 other Hurricanes.
