- Jordan Staal skated with the Hurricanes on Saturday for the first time since tearing his calf
- He wants to play in Finland against Seattle on Nov. 12 or 14 but won’t promise it
- Read below for what Staal and Rod Brind’Amour said about the timeline
Jordan Staal is back on the ice, and he wants to be in the lineup when the Hurricanes play in Finland.
The Carolina captain joined his teammates for Saturday’s morning skate, his first time out with the group since he tore his calf during warmups before a 4-1 win at Philadelphia on Oct. 11. The Hurricanes estimated at the time that he’d miss one to two months. Take a look at the NHL’s post from the skate:
Staal was asked whether he could play in the Global Series games against the Kraken on Nov. 12 and 14. He wouldn’t make a promise.
“I would like to try,” Staal said. “I can’t say I promise that. I mean, if I’m going to fly all the way over there, I’d like to play in a game, if everything goes smooth. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t, but that’s fine.”
He plans to be on the flight to Helsinki and practice with the team Monday and Tuesday. Carolina also has a morning skate next Thursday, a practice Friday and another morning skate Saturday, which would give him more work before the second game against Seattle.
The missing piece is contact. He hasn’t gone up against any teammates yet.
“Really just tight turns by myself doesn’t really do it justice, especially at this level,” he said. “So, I’m excited to get into practice a little bit and try to get up to the speed of the guys and go from there.”
Head coach Rod Brind’Amour wasn’t ready to put a date on it. “It’s good that he’s out there practicing with us,” Brind’Amour said. “I can’t really give you any time frame on that, but that’s the first step.”
The injury was announced on Oct. 13, and here’s our post from that day:
The Hurricanes have held up fine without him. They’re 9-2-1 in the 12 games Staal has missed and sit at 13-3-2 heading into Saturday night’s home game against the Blackhawks, their last before the trip. One of those three losses was the game that ended Pyotr Kochetkov’s 10-0 start.
The reigning Conn Smythe winner put up 12 points (eight goals, four assists) in 19 games to lead Carolina to its first Stanley Cup since 2006. Staal hadn’t recorded a point in six games this season before the injury.
The trip itself has him fired up too. He said he’s excited to watch Sebastian Aho play on home soil, and that he wants to be part of the “machine” whenever he does return.
