5 Must-Know Eric Staal Facts

Eric Staal enjoyed a long and accomplished 18-year NHL career, most notably playing 12 seasons for the Carolina Hurricanes. Staal was one of the most respected players in the league throughout his career. He played in over 1,300 NHL games and was one of the league's elite scorers well into his 30s, on top of being an excellent two-way player and leader.

Staal finished his career with 455 goals scored and 608 assists, and most importantly, his name on the Stanley Cup. He has a chance to be considered for the Hockey Hall of Fame, and has already been inducted into the Hurricanes team hall.

Staal has a lot going for him as an NHL legend, along with some cool statistics that not many know. Let's take a look at five mind-blowing facts that all Hurricanes fans ought to know about Staal:

The Stanley Cup is one of the hardest trophies to win in sports. Staal was able to do that with the 'Canes in 2006. From there, he added some other hardware by was getting Olympic gold and World Championship wins. With those victories, Staal joined the Triple Gold Club. So far, only 30 players have achieved this accomplishment. This shows off his individual talent and how he can play well at every level of hockey. Also, he was able to get all these awards in only a four-year stretch. It was a powerful and dominant sequence by Staal.

Staal totaled 1,063 career points. As of the time of this writing, only 100 players in history have reached the 1,000-point milestone. During Staal's prime, his offensive production was often elite.

In the 2006 Stanley Cup season, he tallied up 45 goals, 55 assists, and 100 points for Carolina. Staal was top 10 in scoring and that helped lead the Hurricanes to their only Stanley Cup title. He played with a good mix of skill, speed, and size. Staal was able to get consistently high numbers, even when scoring was a bit down across the league in the early 2000s. Even towards the end of his career, he still had some 40-goal efforts and showed that the above-average play was still there.

In the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, one of the most under-the-radar moments happened for Staal. With many NHL players sidelined by COVID-19, Team Canada needed a veteran leader.

At the time, Staal wasn't even playing in the NHL and, even though he was 37, Canada wanted his leadership. He had the experience and international success that they liked, and could be a mentor for the younger guys. Not too many players pushing 40 and not even playing in the league get the chance to be in the captain role. It was a very cool moment of respect that illustrated the impact he had made on the game over the course of his career.

Staal is a star in the game of hockey, but his family has spread out success in the NHL. He also has three brothers playing in professional hockey: Marc, Jordan, and Jared. All of them enjoyed their time in the NHL. Putting all the Staal brother numbers together, they played close to 4,000 NHL games, had multiple All-Star game appearances, and a couple of Stanley Cup wins.

Being the great older brother that he is, Eric created a path for his brothers and set the standard for how the game should be played. Each brother brought something different to the league. Eric was the scoring leader, Marc was on defense, and Jordan was a two-way player. The hockey community was lucky to see the Staal family's consistent success for a decent period of time.

Longevity in any sport is hard, but it's an extra level of difficulty in the NHL. Despite being a hard-nosed type of player and risking injuries, Staal played over 1,300 NHL games, across three different decades. This stretch started in 2003 and went into the 2020s. He played his final season in 2022-2023 with the Florida Panthers. Some of his most notable final statistics were: 1,365 regular-season games, 104 playoff games, and 64 playoff points.

This level of durability is impressive, considering he played a lot of top-line minutes. Staal was always there to be effective and respected. He was lucky enough to compete for another Stanley Cup at the end of his career because not too many good players get that chance.

Eric Staal wasn't talked about all the time, but his name was on the stat sheet consistently. He had plenty of impressive milestones, as much as some of the biggest names in the game. Staal is one of those players that was appreciated by fans and had plenty of skill. He might make the Hall of Fame one day, but for now, he is in the hall of very good. From his playing days, fans will remember that he hoisted Lord Stanley's Cup, while being successful internationally, a franchise record-holder, and underrated.