Staal named team captain before Canes lose final preseason game to Caps
The Carolina Hurricanes have a new team captain, Jordan Staal, for a new season.
Canes coach Rod Brind’Amour announced before Sunday’s preseason game against the Washington Capitals that Staal had been chosen to wear the “C,” calling him a clearcut choice to succeed Justin Williams as captain.
Staal was not in the lineup as the Canes were beaten 4-3 by the Caps to end a 2-3-1 preseason. Sebastian Aho scored twice and Nino Niederreiter had a goal for the Canes in their final rehearsal for the regular season, which begins Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens at PNC Arena.
Staal, 31, served as a Canes co-captain with defenseman Justin Faulk in the 2017-18 season and as alternate captain in all other seasons since coming to the Canes in the June 2012 trade with Pittsburgh. He becomes the second Staal to be the Canes captain -- older brother Eric Staal once had the “C.”
“Excited about the new challenge and playing alongside this talented young group and trying to lead the best I can,” Staal told the media Sunday. “I’m excited, I’m honored.”
Brind’Amour said defenseman Jaccob Slavin and forward Jordan Martinook would wear the “A’s” this season as the alternate captains. Faulk, an alternate captain last season, was traded this past week to the St. Louis Blues.
Brind’Amour, the captain of the Canes’ 2006 Stanley Cup champions, said picking Staal was a clearcut and easy choice.
“Leadership is so important in the game of hockey,” Brind’Amour said during the state-of-the-Hurricanes discussion before the game at PNC Arena. ”You need somebody driving the ship. I really felt we needed to have somebody take charge.”
Brind’Amour noted the Canes had a “great captain” last season in Williams, who has “stepped away” from the NHL this season but not retired. Brind’Amour said he had conversations with Williams this past week about the captaincy and Staal and that Williams said, “He’s the guy.”
“I felt the last two games in watching our group and how we were going through everyday business and it wasn’t quite right, it didn’t feel right,” Brind’Amour said. “I just felt like we needed to have somebody in charge.”
Staal has been the workhorse center for the Canes since coming to the Canes from the Pens, who he helped win a Stanley Cup in 2009. No one is more respected in the room than No. 11 for the Canes.
“Jordan has always been a leader in the way he plays every night,” Brind’Amour said. “He’s a great person. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he’s going to give you everything he’s got every night. That’s what a captain has to do.”
Staal has played in 893 career NHL games, the last 462 with the Canes. He was a big part of the Canes reaching the playoffs last season for the first time since 2009 and had four goals and six assists in the 15 playoff games, scoring the overtime goal in Game 1 of the second-round series against the New York Islanders.
Staal said he talked with Eric about the responsibility of being captain and said big brother was “super excited” about Jordan having the “C.” Both agreed it’s a “cool thing.”
Jordan Staal defined leadership as “trying to get the most out of the players and the guys in the room. As a player, bringing the team together and basically helping the team try to gel. And then just knowing how to push buttons. I thought (Williams) was obviously really good at that, finding ways to make guys tick and get them ready and prepared and ready to go and saying the right things.”
In Sunday’s game, T.J. Oshie and Jakub Vrana each had pair of goals for the Caps, who were without Alex Ovechkin. It was a chippy game with frequent penalties, and with enough entertainment value for the crowd of 18,680 that took advantage of the free admission and filled PNC Arena during the Caniac Carnival.
“It was pretty intense. Obviously emotions were flying,” Slavin said.
Both goalies, the Canes’ Petr Mrazek and the Caps’ Braden Holtby, played the full game, which had the pace and feel of a regular-season matchup. It will be a regular-season game when the Canes and Caps face off again Saturday in Washington, when Staal and Ovechkin will both be in the lineup.
“That’s a good way to end (preseason) as far as I think the guys understand that’s how we have to play every night,” Brind’Amour said. “If we come out with that kind of intensity to the game we’re going to be fine.”
This story was originally published September 29, 2019 at 1:19 PM.
