Staal looking to follow brother's footsteps by winning Cup with Hurricanes

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The plane pulled into the gate at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport about 2 p.m. CT on Friday, carrying the Stanley Cup and a Stanley Cup champion.

The Cup was connecting, on its way from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Las Vegas for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS, CBC).

Eric Staal was back home briefly after watching his brother Jordan score in Games 1 and 2 for the Carolina Hurricanes against the Vegas Golden Knights at Lenovo Center, 20 years after he hoisted the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes himself in the same arena.

“It was a ton of fun,” Eric said. “It was awesome. You feel a little helpless at times, because you have no control at all. That part I didn’t love. But it was pretty surreal to kind of just feel the atmosphere in that arena. I’ve felt it as a player, and I know the emotion of that and what it feels like and how cool it is. But to feel it as a fan, it was pretty neat.”

Eric cranked the siren to crank up the crowd before Game 1, and Jordan tied it 3-3 on a shot from the slot at 12:42 of the second period. Carolina lost 5-4.

But Jordan put the Hurricanes ahead 3-2 in Game 2 by deflecting a shot on the power play at 15:25 of the third period, and this time, they ended up with a 4-3 overtime win.

At 37 years and 267 days, Jordan became the second-oldest player in NHL history to score in the first two games of a Cup Final. Larry Robinson, who did it for the Montreal Canadiens in 1989, is the oldest at 37 years and 349 days.

Jordan had 36 points (20 goals, 16 assists) in 75 games in the regular season and has seven points (four goals, three assists) in 15 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He’s still a top two-way center, even though he has never won the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward.

“He was a stud,” Eric said. “I mean, to be honest, he was awesome. He was awesome in both games. He’s been awesome all year long, 20-goal season. The fact that he doesn’t have a Selke yet is crazy for how long he’s been doing this for. But it was just super impressive to watch. He was elite. I just hope he doesn’t stop and they keep it going on the road.”

The Staal brothers mean so much to the Hurricanes.

No one has played more regular-season games for the franchise since the Hartford Whalers relocated in 1997. Jordan is No. 1 at 972. Eric is No. 2 at 909.

Eric is Carolina’s all-time leader in goals (322), assists (453) and points (775). The center served as captain from 2010-16 and has his No. 12 retired in the rafters. Jordan was co-captain with Justin Faulk in 2017-18 and has sported the “C” exclusively since 2019.

The Hurricanes selected Eric with the No. 2 pick of the 2003 NHL Draft. The center was 21 and in his second NHL season when he won the Cup with them in 2006, leading the postseason in assists (19) and points (28) in 25 games.

Jordan was 17 then, cheering on Eric as a fan before being selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins with the No. 2 pick of the 2006 NHL Draft. He looked back on that and ahead to this opportunity at Stanley Cup Final Media Day on Monday.

“I was a kid when he won it,” he said. “(I remember) coming down to Carolina for 1 and 2, how crazy it was, and obviously to now be on the ice for Game 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, it’s going to be such a surreal moment, super exciting. A wild ride, for sure.”

Jordan won the Cup with Pittsburgh in 2009, when he was 20 and in his third NHL season. He joined Eric in Carolina on June 22, 2012, when the Penguins traded him to the Hurricanes. They played together for almost four seasons, until the Hurricanes traded Eric to the New York Rangers on Feb. 28, 2016.

While Eric went on to play for the Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers, retiring after the 2022-23 season, Jordan stayed in Carolina.

The Hurricanes missed the playoffs in each of Jordan’s first six seasons. Now they have made them for eight straight seasons, and after losing in the Eastern Conference Final in 2019, 2023 and 2025, they’re finally back in the Cup Final. Jordan has played 104 playoff games for Carolina, tied with Sebastian Aho for first in Hurricanes history.

“When Eric left, I could have easily moved on or done something different,” Jordan said. “But the people here and the group we had and everything’s that gone on since then, I’m happy that I’m sitting here today and stuck with it and had an opportunity to build something very special in Carolina.”

Eric is proud of the leader Jordan has become and knows how much winning the Cup in Carolina would mean to him.

“Obviously, he’s invested so, so many days, nights, blood, sweat, tears, all the things from being there,” Eric said. “From the beginning of his time, it’s incredible where they’ve gone and where they are, so he hasn’t been more driven or motivated to get this thing across the finish line than I’ve seen at any other time in his playing career.”

Eric works as special assistant to Buffalo Sabres general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, and he’ll head to Buffalo for pro scouting meetings Sunday through Tuesday. But he’s hoping to be back in Carolina for Game 5 on Thursday.

“Ideally with them getting two games in Vegas,” Eric said. “I know that’s going to be a tall task, because they’re pretty good, but that would be the ideal scenario. We’ll see how it shakes out.”

What a story that would be.