WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Staals Becoming Next Great Hockey Family

By Guy Curtright

Jan 26, 2008

ATLANTA – The Staal brothers will never catch the Sutter brothers.

That’s only because Linda and Henry Staal had only four boys, however, compared to seven Sutter sons.

Hockey seems to a family game more than any other professional sport. Six of the seven Sutter brothers made it to the NHL. As early as next season, the Staals could be 4-for-4.

Eric, playing in his second NHL All-Star Game on Sunday, is the face of the Carolina Hurricanes at age 23. The New York Rangers’ Marc, 21, and Pittsburgh’s Jordan, 19, were also first-round draft picks. Jared, not yet 18, will be an early pick in the draft this June.

Eric already has a Stanley Cup title with the Hurricanes. The Sutters won six.

Can the Staals eventually challenge them?

“I don’t know if it’s possible, but that would definitely be something to be proud of,” the Carolina center said.

Of course, the Niedermayers could get there first. They have five after Scott teamed with brother Rob to win the Stanley Cup for Anaheim last season.

“How many Staals are there?” Scott asked.

Told just the four, Niedermayer said, “You can’t beat 100 per cent. Four out of four. That’s amazing.”

Even by NHL standards.

Hockey, of course, is a passion in Canada, where the Sutters, Staals and Niedermayers all grew up.

“I have three sons and I doubt that they’ll all have the same interests,” said Niedermayer. “There are so many things to do in the U.S. But in Canada, it’s just hockey.”

The Sutters lived on a wheat farm in rural Alberta. A couple decades later, the Staals grew up on a sod farm in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

“I don’t know why there are more brothers who play hockey than make it in other sports,” Staal said. “But in Canada, it is just something you grow up doing together. Everyone plays.”

Staal is the only Carolina player to make back-to-back All-Star Games and already the All-Star Weekend has become a family event.

This year, he was joined by brother Marc, who played in the Young Stars event. Jordan did the same last year. Eric was a past Young Stars participant himself.

“It’s nice to spend time together,” Eric said. “You don’t get to do it much during the season.”

They obviously spent a lot of time together on the ice growing up, though. That’s why they are fast becoming the first family of the NHL.

Mark Recchi, now with the Atlanta Thrashers, played with Eric on Carolina’s Stanley Cup winner and alongside Jordan in Pittsburgh.

“To have three brothers already in the NHL and another coming along is really something special,” Recchi said. “Everyone talked about the Sutters. Now it’s the Staals.”

Three Staals could be in the playoffs this year, all in the Eastern Conference.

After missing the postseason last year, Eric urgently wants to make it back with the Hurricanes.

“It was frustrating to go from the Stanley Cup to not being in the playoffs,” Staal said.

The Hurricanes have the lead – although slim -- in the Southeast Division at the All-Star break, but have struggled since a fast start.

“We’ve been up and down,” Staal said. “We definitely need to be a lot more consistent.”

Like his team, Staal took a step back last season as his goal total dropped from 45 to 30 and his points from 100 to 70.

“You don’t use excuses, but it is hard the year after you win the Stanley Cup,” Staal said. “You play into June and all the emotion of the playoffs takes a lot out of you.”

Staal, who is on the cover of EA Sports’ hockey game and also part of the NHL’s TV ad campaign, has picked up the scoring pace this year. He is tied for eighth in the NHL with 27 goals and has 48 points.

The 6-foot-4 center was also hot before the break, with four goals and seven assists in a five-game scoring streak.

“I’m feeling good about the way I’m playing,” Staal said. “Now I have to keep it up.

“This stretch right after the All-Star Game is very important. We have to play better if we’re going to make the playoffs. We need a stretch of good hockey.”

Staal was the leading scorer in the 2006 playoffs, becoming at age 21 the youngest player to hold that distinction.

But the best part for Staal was getting to hoist the Stanley Cup with his Carolina teammates and then take the trophy back to Thunder Bay during the summer.

The Stanley Cup could be making similar trips in the future. Soon there will be four Staal brothers trying to win it each season.