Confirmed with Link: Eric Staal signs contract with Canes

[CanesUltimate11]

I wonder who initiates these kind of things. Does Eric (or his agent) reach out to the Canes and say “Hey I’m hanging them up and I’d like to retire a Hurricane” or does the front office reach out to say “hey, whenever you decide to hang them up we’d love for you to retire as a Hurricane.”

 

[To Be Determined]

I'd put a caveat in that 12-retirement section that 14-16 he was back to very good for a while, but injuries. Those were also the absolute worst teams in franchise history since the move, yes worse than 02-03.

i agree with the first half. the bolded though, is one we'll never agree on. 02-03 was the worst and it ain't close. i had friends that bought full season tickets (that's how they got 'sold out' tickets to the stanley cup final) and i went to far more games that year than could be described as healthy. woof.

they won 22 games. 15 of those were before christmas. in january, they lost an icon for every game won. they won two games that month, and lost both brind'amour and erik cole for the year in under two weeks. i loved that team, because god help them they tried - eventually there were lots of young guys playing like they knew it was their only shot - but the 2003 portion of that season felt like the pupils vs teachers rugby match from monty python's meaning of life.

14 - 16 were rough, but 02-03 scarred me.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Well Tarheel just claimed he was a top 10 goalie for half of his 14 year career. This stat would argue that he was a below average goalie 10 of 14 years.

In reality, its somewhere in between.

I would say that he still showed top-10 status beyond 2012. Good example being 2013-14, he was coming off a major injury from the prior spring and suffered another in October.

11 games to start the season: .918
8 games between Thanksgiving and NYE: .861
*shut down for 2 months*
First 2 games back: .846
9 games to finish the season: .916

Total: .898

If we just look at the end-of-year statistical total, Ward was a way below average goalie that year.

On the other hand, if we lived through the ups and downs of that season, we remember that Ward was injured as **** after October. Muller rode him past the point where he should have been shut down, because he didn’t want to turn his season over to a Khudobin/Peters tandem. I’m sure we remember those nights where Ward was so hurt that he couldn’t even get up out of his butterfly, and he would have that empty-eyed stare after goals.

Was Cam Ward a below average goalie that year, no… he was a solid #1 goalie who got hurt on a team that couldn’t protect him and lacked a Plan B*, so he got left out there for about a month of comically bad hockey that trashed his stats.

* turned out Khudobin was actually pretty good and riding Ward that hard was unnecessary, self-inflicted damage

Tarheel: 5 out of 14 is "most" but "we can quibble".

Uh, I didn’t say anything about 5 of 14. That was the point I was contesting.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Uh, I didn’t say anything about 5 of 14. That was the point I was contesting.

Not really contesting, quibbling over.

You said most, Joe said 5. You said you could quibble over 2 (even though technically 7/14 isn't most).

Anyhow, I'm just havin fun with you.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Not really contesting, quibbling over.

Either way, you attributed the 5 to the wrong guy in order to make that remark.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Either way, you attributed the 5 to the wrong guy in order to make that remark.

You said "most"
Joe said 5
You said 7 is half of his career and "we can quibble over 2".

So you are quibbling over 5 vs. 7.

I was just havin fun. Lighten up Francis.

 

[Lempo]

Anyhow, I'm just havin fun with you.

Well... it depends on what the meaning of the word 'fun' is.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

Well... it depends on what the meaning of the word 'fun' is.

Only to those that are being made fun of.

 

[tarheelhockey]

You said "most"
Joe said 5
You said 7 is half of his career and "we can quibble over 2".

So you are quibbling over 5 vs. 7.

I was just havin fun. Lighten up Francis.

I’m more than happy to let it go, but still confused how anything above could be construed as “5 out of 14 is "most"”

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I’m more than happy to let it go, but still confused how anything above could be construed as “5 out of 14 is "most"”

You once told me here on HF many years ago that anything that comes after the BUT negates what came before the but.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

If you ask me, Ward had 5-7 good years of hockey, and for that reason, Eric Staal’s number will be retired by the Carolina Hurricanes!

 

[robbieberns]

Despite the frustrations with his lack of effort and general attitude in the latter half of his tenure, I will happily chose to remember the good times and am glad his contributions are being recognized and honored. The guy won a cup here as a kid, put pen to paper on a long term deal, and was immediately the face of a franchise that was blatantly and obviously not being given the opportunity to even try and compete year after year.

We all remember the “over it” version of Staal but we tend to gloss over how dialed in and committed he was at first before having his spirit ground down and eroded over the years. Watch the end of season media availabilities from each consecutive year and you’ll see human nature take its course.

 

[Lucky Lindy]

Cool. The player that made me a Hurricanes-fan.

 

[Borsig]

I will remember good staal. But will never forget the absolute lazy one.

Lazy Staal may have been the laziest NHL player I ever saw on the ice. I kind of guess its easy to get there when you're on the worst team in the league.

 

[Joe McGrath]

I would say that he still showed top-10 status beyond 2012. Good example being 2013-14, he was coming off a major injury from the prior spring and suffered another in October.

11 games to start the season: .918
8 games between Thanksgiving and NYE: .861
*shut down for 2 months*
First 2 games back: .846
9 games to finish the season: .916

Total: .898

If we just look at the end-of-year statistical total, Ward was a way below average goalie that year.

On the other hand, if we lived through the ups and downs of that season, we remember that Ward was injured as **** after October. Muller rode him past the point where he should have been shut down, because he didn’t want to turn his season over to a Khudobin/Peters tandem. I’m sure we remember those nights where Ward was so hurt that he couldn’t even get up out of his butterfly, and he would have that empty-eyed stare after goals.

Was Cam Ward a below average goalie that year, no… he was a solid #1 goalie who got hurt on a team that couldn’t protect him and lacked a Plan B*, so he got left out there for about a month of comically bad hockey that trashed his stats.

* turned out Khudobin was actually pretty good and riding Ward that hard was unnecessary, self-inflicted damage



Uh, I didn’t say anything about 5 of 14. That was the point I was contesting.

I know better than to respond to this but I can’t help myself.

Your contention is that the Canes were so bad at Ward has injury issues so it excuses his poor stats and he was a top 10 goalie?

Khudobin was significantly better than him that season by every measure, including my eyeballs. Was Khudobin a top 10 goalie that year too?

Here are my top 10 goalies of that season, based on memory and some stats.

1. Carey Price
2. Tuuka Rask
3. Henrik Lundqvist
4. Seymon Varlamov
5. Sergei Bobrovsky
6. Ben Bishop
7. Roberto Luongo
8. Jonathan Quick
9. MAF
10. Freddie Anderson

Even if you’re just going on what-ifs and reputations, who are you putting him ahead of here? There’s like 5 hall of famers on that list, I didn’t even list Broduer in his last full season or Ryan Miller who had a down year for an awful Sabres team (and still had way better actual numbers than Ward). Steve Mason and Kari Lehtonen got Vezina votes. Schneider was starting in NJ for the first time. And of course Anton Khudobin .926 save % and 2.30 GAA for the same team.

It’s pissing me off that I’m running down one of my 3 or 4 favorite players of all time here so could we at least quibble about an actually debatable season. I’m sure there are a couple.

I will remember good staal. But will never forget the absolute lazy one.

Lazy Staal may have been the laziest NHL player I ever saw on the ice. I kind of guess its easy to get there when you're on the worst team in the league.

He really hosed the Canes into thinking Viktor Rask could skate. Wow! Look at him keep up with our #1C.

 

[Unsustainable]

Listening to Eric get choked up reading when he found out they are retiring 12 was special

 

[Tryamw]

Why yes, it's the middle of summer. Why do you ask?

That's why we are going on about quidditch right?

 

[tarheelhockey]

I know better than to respond to this but I can’t help myself.

Your contention is that the Canes were so bad at Ward has injury issues so it excuses his poor stats and he was a top 10 goalie?

Khudobin was significantly better than him that season by every measure, including my eyeballs. Was Khudobin a top 10 goalie that year too?

Here are my top 10 goalies of that season, based on memory and some stats.

1. Carey Price
2. Tuuka Rask
3. Henrik Lundqvist
4. Seymon Varlamov
5. Sergei Bobrovsky
6. Ben Bishop
7. Roberto Luongo
8. Jonathan Quick
9. MAF
10. Freddie Anderson

Even if you’re just going on what-ifs and reputations, who are you putting him ahead of here? There’s like 5 hall of famers on that list, I didn’t even list Broduer in his last full season or Ryan Miller who had a down year for an awful Sabres team (and still had way better actual numbers than Ward). Steve Mason and Kari Lehtonen got Vezina votes. Schneider was starting in NJ for the first time. And of course Anton Khudobin .926 save % and 2.30 GAA for the same team.

It’s pissing me off that I’m running down one of my 3 or 4 favorite players of all time here so could we at least quibble about an actually debatable season. I’m sure there are a couple.

Of course an injury excuses poor stats, especially for a goalie.

I mean we’re not talking about a minor tweak. I’m sure you remember as well as I do that Ward’s body broke down that season and they just kept pushing him. He had like 10 games in a row where he shouldn’t have been in net at all, and those 10 games are the only ones that season where he didn’t post something like a .916, which was solid #1 performance at the time.

Khudobin had a great run of games in relief, yes. That doesn’t mean he was a #1 workhorse like Ward. We’ve seen that story play out a thousand times between an injured starting goalie/QB/pitcher and the guy who comes off the bench for him. Khudobin’s whole career was defined by being the guy who could give you 30 good games and then turn into a pumpkin.

I’ll take a healthy 2012 Ward over rookie Andersen, or Steve Mason’s 15 minutes of fame, or a 41yo backup version of Brodeur who was 5 years removed from his last good season, or guys who had never played more than 30 games in a season. Ward was just in his prime at that point in time — getting injured just is what it is, it doesn’t make him a worse hockey player. That’s like saying Mario Lemieux wasn’t a Hart level player in 1994. Sure he was, he just dealt with issues that took him off the ice.

 

[Joe McGrath]

Of course an injury excuses poor stats, especially for a goalie.

I mean we’re not talking about a minor tweak. I’m sure you remember as well as I do that Ward’s body broke down that season and they just kept pushing him. He had like 10 games in a row where he shouldn’t have been in net at all, and those 10 games are the only ones that season where he didn’t post something like a .916, which was solid #1 performance at the time.

Khudobin had a great run of games in relief, yes. That doesn’t mean he was a #1 workhorse like Ward. We’ve seen that story play out a thousand times between an injured starting goalie/QB/pitcher and the guy who comes off the bench for him. Khudobin’s whole career was defined by being the guy who could give you 30 good games and then turn into a pumpkin.

I’ll take a healthy 2012 Ward over rookie Andersen, or Steve Mason’s 15 minutes of fame, or a 41yo backup version of Brodeur who was 5 years removed from his last good season, or guys who had never played more than 30 games in a season. Ward was just in his prime at that point in time — getting injured just is what it is, it doesn’t make him a worse hockey player. That’s like saying Mario Lemieux wasn’t a Hart level player in 1994. Sure he was, he just dealt with issues that took him off the ice.

I don’t believe that Cam Ward and Mario Lemieux’s careers can be compared in any way other than they both played professional ice hockey.

I’m done hijacking the Staal thread. I’ll make a thread for us to argue in if I feel like it. Or I’ll let it go and enjoy my day instead.

Long live EStaalo!

 

[To Be Determined]

Of course an injury excuses poor stats, especially for a goalie.

I mean we’re not talking about a minor tweak. I’m sure you remember as well as I do that Ward’s body broke down that season and they just kept pushing him. He had like 10 games in a row where he shouldn’t have been in net at all, and those 10 games are the only ones that season where he didn’t post something like a .916, which was solid #1 performance at the time.

Khudobin had a great run of games in relief, yes. That doesn’t mean he was a #1 workhorse like Ward. We’ve seen that story play out a thousand times between an injured starting goalie/QB/pitcher and the guy who comes off the bench for him. Khudobin’s whole career was defined by being the guy who could give you 30 good games and then turn into a pumpkin.

I’ll take a healthy 2012 Ward over rookie Andersen, or Steve Mason’s 15 minutes of fame, or a 41yo backup version of Brodeur who was 5 years removed from his last good season, or guys who had never played more than 30 games in a season. Ward was just in his prime at that point in time — getting injured just is what it is, it doesn’t make him a worse hockey player. That’s like saying Mario Lemieux wasn’t a Hart level player in 1994. Sure he was, he just dealt with issues that took him off the ice.

If we're going to quibble, i want to nitpick to say i'd prefer you not say 2012 brodeur was five years past good. Let's go with three years, and explicitly state he remained great until the canes ended him in '09.

True or not, that's my head-canon.

 

[Identity404]

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

 

[Identity404]

Shower thought for the day. Jesse Puljujärvi is the bizzaro Eric Staal. In another universe the Québec City Hurricanes are hanging #13 in the rafters.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Shower thought for the day. Jesse Puljujärvi is the bizzaro Eric Staal. In another universe the Québec City Hurricanes are hanging #13 in the rafters.

View attachment 898387



View attachment 898388

I'm pretty sure that top picture is photoshopped. Somebody made his helmet a lot smaller.

 

[Identity404]

I'm pretty sure that top picture is photoshopped. Somebody made his helmet a lot smaller.

Way to ruin the fun man