WRAL Sports Fan

Hurricanes

Canes' Staal makes NHL All-Star team again

Jan 8, 2009

Raleigh, N.C. — Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal has been named to the Eastern Conference roster for the 2009 NHL All-Star Game, the league announced Thursday.

Staal, the MVP of the 2008 All-Star Game, will make his third consecutive All-Star Game appearance on Jan. 25 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Staal, 24, leads the Hurricanes and is tied for 11th in the NHL with 18 goals this season. He also leads the Canes with a plus-11 plus/minus rating and ranks second among Carolina players with 31 points.

Staal, a native of Thunder Bay, Ont., has played in 295 consecutive regular-season games. He has missed just one NHL game since turning professional in 2003. Staal, 6 feet 4 and 215 pounds, has scored 142 goals and earned 172 assists for 314 points in 368 regular-season games for the Hurricanes. He was the second overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

He had two goals and an assist in the Eastern Conference’s 8-7 triumph at Atlanta’s Philips Arena last year. In 2007, he tied with Marian Hossa for first place in the most-accurate shot competition during the SuperSkills event. Staal also represented the Eastern Conference in the 2004 YoungStars game during the 2004 All-Star Weekend in Minnesota.