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Post by mscaniac on Apr 3, 2008 11:20:16 GMT -5
That first picture is priceless!!! Who would have thought there would be that many photo ops of Staal stroking his stick!!! Only you dg would be able to assemble that many photos of Erics obvious obsession.. I can just hear the crowd now joining in on the last "STROKE"!!!!!!!! LMAO
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Post by dewaltgirl on Apr 3, 2008 13:05:52 GMT -5
Yeah, well, what can I say? I noticed the stroking long long ago and have been mesmermized ever since. You have to admit, there is just something about a Staal stroking his stick.
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Post by 300section on Apr 3, 2008 21:10:34 GMT -5
**has "The Stroke" by Billy Squire now stuck in my head**.
Gee, THANKS, Michelle!!!!
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Post by mscaniac on Aug 15, 2008 10:30:27 GMT -5
A nice interview will Staal about the upcoming season..
Quote: Playoffs or bust for Staal Web Posted: 8/14/2008 9:10:43 AM
Eric Staal is not a happy hockey player. His Carolina Hurricanes, just two years removed from a stunning Stanley Cup thriller, faltered miserably down the stretch last season, missing out on the playoffs and sending Staal home much earlier than planned.
Instead he was forced to cheer on younger brothers Marc and Jordan, of the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, as they battled for postseason glory, and in Jordan’s case, came within two wins of a championship.
It’s not the way he wanted to spend his spring, and has the 23-year-old that much more focused on leading the Hurricanes back to the promised land.
“We haven’t been there in two years and it was a tough pill to swallow at the end of this year,” said Staal, who rebounded on a personal level, posting 38 goals and 82 points in an equal number of outings.
“It was a challenging year at times. We had some injuries, but we still felt we should have been there and to me, that’s all I’m focused on, trying to help my team get to the playoffs.”
Staal readily admits the disappointment of an unsuccessful season isn’t an easy feeling to part with, faced with a summer to stew over what might have been had they managed to win the final game on their regular season slate.
“That’s kind of what everyone’s going to remember coming into camp,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of guys raring to go and erase that as quickly as possible.”
One of the guys no longer in that mix is longtime roommate Erik Cole, dealt to Edmonton in a trade that saw former top-four pick Joni Pitkanen brought in to shore up the Carolina blue-line.
It will mean a period of adjustment for Staal, who will have to get used to a new personality on the road as he enters the final $4.5-million year left on his contract, setting him up for restricted free agency status next summer if a new deal isn’t negotiated.
“It’s definitely tough, but for Erik it’s a new start in a hockey market that will be ready for him. It’s part of the business. We know what we’re getting into when you get into the NHL and professional sports. I wish him the best. He was one of my best friends and a roommate for four years. It’s going to be different without him, but I’m looking forward to new challenges for myself.”
The Hurricanes, other than the Pitkanen deal, have been relatively quiet in the offseason, preferring minor tinkering to major overhauls. Staal said general manager Jim Rutherford’s decision to stay the course isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Sometimes when teams do too much, or get too many players, you expect to get there (immediately). For us, we’ve got a good group of players, a good core. We added a little more on defence. We have a great goalie. It’s just a matter of playing that consistent hockey night in and night out. And we have to start doing that as soon as we get out of camp.”
In other words, the pieces are in place, it’s just a matter of piecing them together to form the bigger picture.
“I hope it’s less than people think,” he said.
“There are some good teams that miss the playoffs every year when you have only 16 teams making it out of 30. It’s tough, but you need to play good hockey all throughout the season. You can’t have any lulls.”
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Post by Melindaaaaaa [26] on Aug 15, 2008 16:15:56 GMT -5
That brought a tear to my eye. Seems I'm not the only one who misses Erik.
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Post by mscaniac on Sept 11, 2008 9:04:21 GMT -5
Canes to hold a press conference at 2:00 today to announce some good news (locking up big Staal for quite some time I'm sure) for any of you ladies interested you can catch it on a live video stream from the main site... Quote: We had so much fun bringing you live coverage of yesterday's press conference that we've decided to do it again today. No, we aren't unveiling a new fourth jersey, although if we did, I'm sure it would have nice shiny stars across the bottom. *
Today's press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m., and if you've been reading this blog you should have a pretty good idea of what it's about. Very good news for the Hurricanes, to say the least.
Exact same drill as yesterday - we'll start the streaming feed a little early to give you time to log in, look at the pretty spinning Hurricanes logo and listen to some music before the conference starts. You'll be able to access the feed right off the front page of our site like yesterday, or you can just find it in our video player.
See you at 2 p.m.
* We here at the RBC Center got a good chuckle out of the "stars across the bottom" rumor when it came out, because, as you can see, it was nowhere close. Why on earth would we have stars on our jersey anyway?
All things considered, I think the team did a pretty decent job of keeping the new design a secret until the unveiling. There was one mock-up out there that was close, but the "secondary logo on a black jersey" thing is pretty standard in the world of alternate uniformdom these days and the rest of the detailing was off. Very good guess by whoever made it, though.
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Post by Melindaaaaaa [26] on Sept 11, 2008 11:53:59 GMT -5
I think Eric needs a say in the matter: But anyway, the longer we can keep Eric signed, the better. I hope that boy has figured out that we're prolly gonna make him retire with us.
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Post by mscaniac on Sept 11, 2008 12:46:57 GMT -5
LMAO at "SRS" Eric!!! LOL. Yes it does appear he is our "Crosby" and our "Ovenchicken"...
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Post by mscaniac on Sept 11, 2008 13:35:45 GMT -5
Signed for 7 years ladies at an average of 8.2 million a year starting after this season.
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Post by Melindaaaaaa [26] on Sept 11, 2008 14:17:12 GMT -5
An AVERAGE of 8.2 a season?
... that means it fluctuates from year to year. Oh boy.
(And I was tempted to macro the Timmy picture like I did this one, too.)
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Post by mscaniac on Sept 11, 2008 14:28:44 GMT -5
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Post by turncoat on Sept 11, 2008 20:05:43 GMT -5
Wickedly wicked!!! The future looks good.
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Post by Melindaaaaaa [26] on Sept 16, 2008 14:17:23 GMT -5
Did anyone see this?
Staal’s Deal Rejected By The NHL
Eric Staal’s seven-year extension that made him the richest man in Hurricanes history is off the books — for now. The NHL rejected Staal’s deal because of the wording in the no-trade clause, which stated Staal’s no-trade would kick in when he was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2010. The deal was rejected because Staal needs to play the next two seasons in order to become an eligible UFA.
But no need to worry — the team will resubmit the contract to the league and simply change the wording to say that Staal’s no-trade provision will become valid as soon as he’s UFA eligible, rather than stating an actual date.
Staal’s deal, worth $57.75 million, will likely be approved shortly after resubmission.
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Post by turncoat on Sept 16, 2008 14:44:08 GMT -5
I don't think I have ever heard about the NHL rejecting a deal.
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Post by mscaniac on Sept 16, 2008 16:18:44 GMT -5
Supposedly it's all been taken care of.. they had something wrong in the wording of his NTC that has supposedly been fixed and re-signed. From everything I read this actually happens quite often but most of the time no one thinks it's important enough to make it on the front of every sports page there is!!! LOL... must be slow times in the hockey world.
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