Stu Cowan: Eric Staal excited about another shot at Cup with Canadiens
Bergevin #Bergevin
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Cole Caufield were both 5 years old when Eric Staal won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006.
It doesn’t seem that long ago to Staal, who is now with the Canadiens and has Kotkaniemi and Caufield as teammates.
“Time flies by,” the 36-year-old Staal said during a video conference Friday. “Honestly, time flies by. I was told that at 20 and you kind of take it in and don’t realize.”
Staal was in his second NHL season when he posted 9-19-28 totals in 25 playoff games to lead the Hurricanes in scoring the year they won the Cup. Staal also led the Hurricanes in regular-season scoring that year with 45-55-100 totals after Carolina selected him second overall at the 2014 NHL Draft. The Pittsburgh Penguins took goalie Marc-André Fleury with the No. 1 pick that year.
Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin acquired Staal from the Buffalo Sabres before the NHL trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick at this year’s draft. With almost 1,300 games of NHL regular-season experience — plus another 62 games in the playoffs — Bergevin was hoping Staal would take some of the pressure off young centres Nick Suzuki, Kotkaniemi and Jake Evans and help the team in the postseason.
Bergevin likes to say there are players who get you into the playoffs and others who get you through the playoffs. The GM is now hoping Staal can help lead the Canadiens through the playoffs.
“I think for every NHL player, anybody that plays the game, anyone that has been out there through the course of regular-season and the playoff games it’s just another level of intensity,” Staal said. “Everything is scrutinized and everything is so important for every single person on your team and that’s what makes it so great when you do have the chance to go all the way and win. It’s so important to have every single person — even guys that come in the lineup at different times. It takes everybody, it truly does, and that’s what makes it so special. You have to embrace that challenge and opportunity and enjoy it and play hard, play free. For us, we got one (win) out of the way and we’ve got to go after three more and we know it’s going to be a huge challenge.”
Staal struggled with the Canadiens during the regular season with 2-1-3 totals and a minus-10 in 21 games after the trade from Buffalo. But he was in the lineup for the Canadiens’ 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series Thursday night while Kotkaniemi was a healthy scratch. Kotkaniemi will replace the injured Jake Evans in the lineup for Game 2 Saturday night in Toronto (7 p.m., CBC, SN, TVA Sports, TSN 690 Radio, 98.5 FM).
Staal sat out the last game of the regular season while dealing with an injury he had been playing through. That gave him a nine-day break between games before suiting up for the opener against the Leafs and Staal played very well on a line with Corey Perry and Josh Anderson. Staal had an assist on Anderson’s first-period goal to go along with two shots and three hits in 10:44 of ice time, finishing the game plus-1. He was a physical presence.
The veteran centre said he didn’t pay attention to criticism about him being in the lineup instead of Kotkaniemi for Game 1.
“I haven’t really paid attention to a lot of the chatter surrounding our team in the series,” Staal said. “I think the focus for me and for our group is knowing what we can do every single time we’re on the ice and for me I was in the lineup to be a contributor. It’s playoff hockey, it’s Game 1 and I was excited and that’s all my focus was. Regardless of how I got there I was going to play the way I know I can when the series started. It’s only one (game) and we’ll do it again (Saturday).
“I feel a lot better,” Staal added when asked about the injury he had been dealing with. “I think that break for me personally was huge. With the amount of hockey and the amount of games that we played, you’re really grinding. There was a lot of guys dealing with things. … I’m happy with where I’m at physically here. I felt great coming into Game 1.”
Staal understands the grind of the playoffs and the price that must be paid to win the Cup. He has been there and done that — even if it was 15 years ago.
“I came here to help this group and to integrate myself within the structure of this team and to play in the playoffs,” Staal said. “It was a grind to get there. We’ve talked ad nauseum about the schedule with the schedule we had. I think now having this chance to reset and refocus you got to enjoy it, you got to embrace it. This is why I’m excited to be a part of this group, this challenge and this opportunity. Game 2 (Saturday) … I can’t wait and I feel like I can help this group and be a contributor and try and help us make a difference to win the series and move on.”
scowan@postmedia.com
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