Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal coping with coronavirus threat
Jordan Staal is like a lot of NHL players, waiting, anxious, hoping for the best, staying at home, playing with the kids, FaceTiming other family members, group texting teammates, binge-watching on Netflix to try and relax.
Staal, the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, has found his professional life stuck in limbo, as he put it, since March 12, when the NHL suspended the season because of the growing threat and spread of the coronavirus. When the season might resume, or if it will resume, is anyone’s guess.
In an NHL video call Thursday, Staal talked of how quickly things changed — for the Canes, for the NHL, for everyone who now must deal with the crisis on a daily basis, with so much unknown.
The Canes were in New Jersey on March 11, set to face the Devils the next night at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. In playoff position in the Eastern Conference, they were after a fourth straight win. And then they weren’t.
“Obviously it’s a fast-growing virus but it kind of slowly made its way over to the (United) States, so I feel like we’ve been somewhat prepared for it,” Staal said. “To be honest the night before we were supposed to play Jersey we were talking about it over dinner and I was like, ‘There’s no way we’re going to stop playing, blah, blah.’ The next thing you know a basketball player has it and that’s it.”
The NBA announced center Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz had tested positive for the virus. The league said it was shutting down. The NHL and other leagues quickly followed.
“It surprised me in that regard, of how quickly this did come up,” Staal said. “It got me a little nervous. You want to get back to your family as quick as you can and try to best take care of them. But it’s been kind of crazy. A lot of different thoughts and feelings. But it’s nice to be with family and make sure they’re safe.”
Staal joined brother Marc Staal of the New York Rangers, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers on the Metropolitan Division video conference call. The NHL used Zoom, allowing the four to share the screen and have some degree of togetherness, even if technologically, as they answered media questions.
Some questions provided levity. Asked what they missed the least about playing against the other three, Giroux noted Jordan Staal and Crosby are forever cheating in the faceoff circle while Staal countered by saying Giroux is constant chirping.
“With Jordan, I’ll miss pushing his 230 pounds around in the corner. Or at least trying to,” Marc Staal said.
Jordan Staal, Crosby and Giroux, all team captains, were asked how they’ve been able to stay in touch with teammates and coaches, and the kind of conversations that have been held.
“Mostly group chats, text messaging,” Staal said. “We kind of bounce around through all different stuff and try to keep it light and some serious talk and what-ifs and all the stuff we’re all thinking. For the most part kind of a text group and making sure the guys are doing something and working to keep themselves in the best shape they can.”
Giroux quipped that the Flyers tried a group FaceTime recently, saying, “It didn’t go very well. Everybody starts screaming, so you can’t hear anybody.”
The NHL players are not sure when they’ll be able to return to their team training facilities. There remain questions about the NHL salary cap next season and escrow concerns, given the financial hit the league will absorb with games being canceled and no guarantee of playoff revenue for 2019-20.
Jordan Staal said he has remained in Raleigh with his wife, Heather, and their three kids. Crosby is in Pittsburgh and Giroux in Ottawa.
To help pass the time, Staal said he has been watching the “Formula 1: Drive to Survive” episodes on Netflix. He also played a virtual game of darts with Marc, providing a bit of competition.
Marc Staal lives with his family in the New York City area, where the coronavirus spread has been acute. He said some of the Rangers’ team doctors have been assisting at local hospitals, which have struggled to handle the influx of patients. Street scenes in New York, he said, are surreal with so few people out and about, adding, “Even going to the grocery store you can tell everyone is on edge and trying to avoid each other and sanitizing carts and having face masks on.
“As a community and as a country we’re trying to limit this thing. ... As much as you want to hang with your friends or see your parents and do all the things you used to do, a little bit of sacrifice by everyone is going to go a long way and save a lot of lives and get over this thing quicker.”
Everyone hopes the 2019-20 season will be able resume, even it means games in July and August. Jordan Staal, Crosby and Giroux all are on teams in playoff position in the Eastern Conference. Marc Staal and the Rangers were two points out of a wild-card spot when the standings were frozen and if feasible would like to squeeze in a few more regular-season games or maybe have play-in games to determine playoff berths.
For now, they watch and wait. “As much as it’s frustrating you have to stay optimistic,” Giroux said.
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 4:23 PM.
