Jordan Staal

**Jordan Staal** (born on September 10, 1988 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and captain of the Carolina Hurricanes in the NHL.

Staal was drafted 2nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

## Playing Career

### Early Playing Career

Jordan played major junior in the Ontario Hockey League with the Peterborough Petes for two seasons, beginning in the 2004–05 season after having been selected third overall in the 2004 OHL Priority Draft.

In his second year with the club, he produced at a point-per-game pace with 28 goals and 68 points in 68 games before adding 16 points in the playoffs to help lead Peterborough to the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions.

However, despite earning a berth in the 2006 Memorial Cup, the Petes did not make it past the round-robin. During the course of the 2005–06 season, he was also selected to play in the 2006 CHL Top Prospects Game.

Going into the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Jordan was ranked second among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau (behind Erik Johnson of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers). He went on to be drafted second overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins (behind Johnson) who was selected by the St. Louis Blues.

Jordan became the third among the four Staal brothers to be drafted into the NHL after his older brothers Marc and Eric (who was also selected second overall).

### Professional

On October 2, 2005, Jordan was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract by the Penguins and made the immediate jump from junior hockey to the NHL in the 2006-07 season at the age of 18.

On October 12, 2005, he scored his first NHL goal, a shorthanded breakaway marker against New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist in a 6–5 win. Later that month, on October 21, he set a pair of NHL records with a two-goal effort against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

In addition to becoming the youngest player to record a two-goal game since Bep Guidolin of the Boston Bruins did so at the age of 18 years and 12 days on December 21, 1943, Jordan also scored both his goals on the penalty kill, becoming the youngest player to record two shorthanded goals in one game (surpassing Radek Dvorak of the Florida Panthers, who did so at 20 years and 278 days on December 12, 1997).

Having scored his second shorthanded marker on a penalty shot, Jordan additionally became the youngest player to score on a penalty shot, surpassing Nathan Horton, who scored with Florida at 18 years and 224 days on January 8, 2004.

However, early in Jordan's career, there was still speculation that he would be returned to his junior team before playing his 10th game to avoid allowing him to accrue a full season under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement.

Due to his strong play (particularly on the penalty-kill), the Penguins chose to keep him for the remainder of the season. Jordan (along with fellow rookie Evgeni Malkin) joined superstar Sidney Crosby, who had himself only entered his second NHL season, and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to form an effective young nucleus that revived the Penguins franchise.

In January 2007, Jordan participated in the NHL YoungStars Game during the All-Star festivities, along with teammates Ryan Whitney and Malkin.

Shortly thereafter, on February 10, 2007, he scored his first NHL career hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs and set yet another NHL record by becoming the youngest player in league history to score a hat trick at 18 years and 153 days.

Jordan's first goal came at 19:22 in the first period, the second came at 3:32 in the second, and his third was the game winner, as he beat Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft stick-side at 3:54 in overtime.

The previous mark had been held for over sixty years by Jack Hamilton (who achieved a four-goal game at 18 years and 185 days old with the Maple Leafs against the New York Rangers on December 4, 1943).

Late in the season, on March 6, Jordan scored his league-leading seventh shorthanded goal of the season to break the previous league record for shorthanded tallies by a rookie, set by Gerry Minor of the Vancouver Canucks in 1980–81 and matched by John Madden in 1999–2000.

The goal cued a late third period comeback for the Penguins to win 5–4 in a shootout against the Ottawa Senators.

Jordan completed his rookie season with 29 goals, second in rookie goal-scoring to teammate Malkin, and 42 points for a Calder Memorial Trophy nomination. The award was given to Malkin while he finished third in voting, behind first runner-up Paul Stastny of the Colorado Avalanche; he also joined Malkin and Stastny on the NHL All-Rookie Team.

However, the next season, his production suffered a setback, managing just 12 goals and 28 points. Regardless, he was an integral part of the Penguins' 2008 playoff run to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Detroit Red Wings.

In the semi-finals against the Philadelphia Flyers, Jordan briefly left the Penguins to attend his grandfather's funeral during the series, but returned for a two-goal game four effort, in which he cued a near-comeback in the third period to cut the Flyers lead to 3–2.

The Penguins were eventually defeated 4–2, but managed to eliminate the Flyers the following game. As the Penguins made their first Stanley Cup Final appearance since 1992, the last time they won the Stanley Cup, they were defeated in six games by the Red Wings. Staal contributed 6 goals and 1 assist during the playoff run.

Early in the 2008–09 season, the Penguins and Red Wings met for the first time since the Stanley Cup series on November 11, 2008. With the Penguins down by three goals in the third period, Jordan notched his second career NHL hat trick to tie the game, then set up Ruslan Fedotenko's overtime winner to defeat the Red Wings 7–6.

On December 2, 2008, he was named to the rotating position of alternate captain for the Penguins for the month of December.

The following month, on January 8, 2009, the Penguins announced that they had extended Staal's contract through the 2012–13 season. The terms of the contract were for $16 million, payable as $3.5 million for the first two seasons, and then $4.5 million for the last two years, resulting in a $4 million salary cap hit.

He completed the season bouncing back from the decreased production of his sophomore year with a career-high 27 assists and 49 points.

On June 12, 2009, Jordan and the Penguins won the Stanley Cup when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 2–1 at the Joe Louis Arena. He had two goals and an assist in the seven-game series, and scored a shorthanded goal that was a pivotal point in Game 4 of the series.

At the end of the regular season, he was named as one of the three finalists for the Selke Trophy (along with Pavel Datsyuk and Ryan Kesler).

On April 30, 2010, he injured his right leg after his foot was sliced by Montreal Canadiens defenceman P. K. Subban's skate. He had to undergo surgery to repair a torn tendon on top of his big toe.

During this injury, Jordan ended up missing Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Canadiens, making it the first game he had missed in a Penguins uniform since his rookie season (a streak of 358 consecutive games played including the playoffs).

He missed the entire first month of October, still recovering from foot surgery; On November 1, 2010, just two days before he was to make his season debut, he was struck by a puck in practice, fracturing his hand & sidelining him again for surgery. He finally made his season debut at the NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2011.

On April 18, 2012, he registered his first playoff hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers in a 10–3 victory at the Wells Fargo Center. He would finish the series with six goals as the Penguins lost to the Flyers in six games, their second consecutive first round playoff exit.

On June 22, 2012, Jordan was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange forBrandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin and the Hurricanes' eighth overall pick at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft (which the Penguins used to select Derrick Pouliot).

On July 1, 2012, he signed a ten-year, $60 million extension with the Hurricanes. He had received exactly the same offer from the Pittsburgh Penguins, but declined it.

On September 23, 2014, Jordan broke his right leg in a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres. In November 2016, he was diagnosed with a concussion; at the time of his injury, he had recorded five goals and nine points in 21 games

Jordan (along with Justin Faulk) was named co-captain of the Hurricanes on October 5, 2017. At the conclusion of the 2017–18 season, he was named a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.

In December 2018, he was diagnosed with a concussion and was placed on long-term injury reserve; at the time of his injury, he had recorded five goals and six assists in 27 games.

Jordan was activated from LTIR on February 23, 2019. During that season, the Hurricanes qualified for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, but they lost in the Eastern Conference Final.

On September 29, 2019, he was named captain of the Hurricanes, replacing Justin Williams.

## International Play

Jordan made his international debut with Team Canada at the 2007 World Championships in Moscow.

Named to the team following the Penguins' first-round playoff defeat, he joined his brother Eric to help Canada capture the gold medal by defeating Finland 4–2 in the final. In nine games, he contributed two assists.

## Accolades

* OHL All-Star – 2006
* Played in CHL Top Prospects Game – 2006
* Shared Pittsburgh Penguins Michel Brière Rookie of the Year Award with Evgeni Malkin – 2007
* Calder Memorial Trophy finalist – 2007
* NHL All-Rookie Team – 2007
* Pittsburgh Penguins Player's Player Award – 2010
* Frank J. Selke Trophy finalist – 2010
* Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins – 2009
* Carolina Hurricanes Steve Chiasson Award - 2014-2015, 2017-2018

### Records

* NHL record; youngest player to score two shorthanded goals in one game – October 21, 2006, against the Columbus Blue Jackets (18 years, 41 days; surpassed Radek Dvorak of the Florida Panthers; 20 years, 278 days on December 12, 1997)
* NHL record; youngest player to score on a penalty shot – (18 years, 41 days; surpassed Nathan Horton of the Florida Panthers; 18 years, 224 days on January 8, 2004)
* NHL record; youngest player to score a hat trick – February 10, 2007, against the Toronto Maple Leafs (18 years, 153 days; surpassed Jack Hamilton of the Toronto Maple Leafs; 18 years, 185 days old on December 4, 1943)
* NHL record; most short-handed goals by a rookie, in 2006–07 (7 shorthanded goals; surpassed Gerry Minor of the Vancouver Canucks in 1980–81 and John Madden in 1999–2000; 6 shorthanded goals)

## Personal Life

Jordan is the son of Henry and Linda Staal, who work as sod farmers. He has three brothers: Eric, Marc and Jared. All four of his grandparents were Dutch immigrants. He is a Christian.

In the summer of 2007, he was arrested at Eric's bachelor party. Both were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process while spending the night in jail. He was also cited with underage drinking.

On June 22, 2012, Jordan married his longtime girlfriend, Heather Dysievick; they have four children: daughters Abigail, Lilah and Hannah (who was delivered stillborn on February 22, 2018) and son Henry.