Staal settles into new hockey life with Wild following emotional exit from Hurricanes
Life was a whole lot different when Eric Staal last settled into a new hockey home more than 13 years ago.
Back then Staal was a green 18-year-old from Thunder Bay, Ont., and the prized No. 1 overall pick and future of the Carolina Hurricanes. Life was “hockey, hockey, hockey and not a lot else.”
These days it’s hockey, hockey, hockey and trips to the amusement park at the Mall of America with his family. Now 32 with a wife and three kids under 10, Staal is starting over with the Minnesota Wild, where he put down roots with a three-year contract worth US$10.5 million this summer.
Staal made his emotional exit from the Hurricanes in late February, dealt to the New York Rangers (where his brother Marc played) ahead of the trade deadline. It was a hard move for both team and their long-time captain. The face of the franchise for more than a decade, Staal’s image was plastered all over the PNC Arena. His stall in the team’s dressing room remains empty to this day and the Hurricanes have yet to replace him as captain.