Like captain, like coach: How captain Jordan Staal is emulating Rod Brind’Amour
Rod Brind’Amour was 35 when he captained the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship.
If anyone can identify with what Jordan Staal is doing now, at age 37, in the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights, it’s Brind’Amour.
Certainly no one can appreciate what Staal is doing more than Brind’Amour, who has stood behind the Hurricanes bench and watched his veteran center, his captain, work.
Because that’s what Jordan Staal does: work. Every game, every shift in a game.
In 2006, Brind’Amour not only was the heart and soul of the team, but scored big game-swinging goals. Twenty years later, Staal is the heart and soul of a team doing the same.
Staal scored twice Tuesday as the Canes earned a 5-3 victory over the Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final that tied the series 2-2, with Game 5 set Thursday at Lenovo Center.
The first came on a power play, when he would not be budged from the front of the net and popped in a loose puck. The second he scored from his belly, reaching out for a quick flick of his stick to get the puck in the net for the game-winner at 6:32 of the third period.
“He’s killing us in front of the net, Staal,” Vegas coach John Tortorella said. “We have to do a better job. He’s a big man, he’s a good player. That’s where he lives, and we have to do a better job, be stronger, win that battle.”
In four games in the Stanley Cup Final, Staal now has five goals. At 37. And downplays all of it as best he can, which is his nature.
About those five goals …
“It’s a good time to be hot,” he said.
Even Staal seemed to be a little amazed by his game-winner.
On the play, Canes forward Seth Jarvis jumped on a Vegas turnover in the slot and got off a shot that goalie Carter Hart stopped. Jarvis battled for the puck in the corner and got it to Nikolaj Ehlers, who quickly slid it across to Staal, who was turning, missed on a quick forehand and then went backhand as he fell.
Staal got just enough of the puck to score as Hart lunged to his left trying to make the save. Belly down on the ice, he dipped his head and pumped his fists. A few feel away, Hart also was face down.
“For a second I wasn’t sure if it exactly went in,” Staal said. “I hear some of the guys yelling. I don’t know, I was in my own world. I let a big yell go.”
And that was it. The celebration was over. Time to get back to work.
“I knew it was a big goal but right away I was focusing on what we had to do to win this game,” Staal said. “All I’ve been thinking about is we’ve got to win games.”
Staal is the Canes’ best defender and probably should have won a Selke Award as the league’s top defensive forward sometime during his long career. He’s the Canes’ best faceoff man. As Tortorella said, at 6-4 and 230 pounds, Staal can move people aside, screen goalies, win puck battles.
“He does it all,” forward Jackson Blake said Tuesday. “That’s what you want from your captain. He’s a lot of fun to watch.
“He’s so consistent. I don’t know what is about him, but he’s a dawg. He does everything. I think it’s how bad he wants to win. We all want to win so bad, but he’s playing like it’s his last games right now.”
That’s the way Brind;Amour played in 2006. That’s the effort Staal is giving in 2026.
Maybe that’s why player and coach looked the same after Tuesday’s game: drained but happy after a big win that took their all to achieve.
