In this March 27, 2016, file photo, New York Rangers' Eric Staal reacts after scoring his second goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, in New York.Seth Wenig/The Associated Press
Eric Staal has made the mundane commute hundreds of times over the years from his home in Raleigh to the Carolina Hurricanes' rink. But it will be different Thursday night. When he walks into the arena, he'll make a left into the visitors' dressing room.
The former Hurricanes captain and long-time face of the franchise will play his first game as a visitor at PNC Arena with his new team, the New York Rangers.
"You don't really know how you're going to feel … until you really experience it," Staal said. "I think it's going to be a lot of unique, different emotions just in general because of being there and being there so long. … It's going to be a lot different."
Trades happen all the time in pro sports, but for Carolina, this deal was different.
The team's second overall pick in 2003, Staal led the team with 28 post-season points during their Stanley Cup run three years later. He took over as captain in 2010, captained an all-star team when the game was played here the following year and remains the franchise's career leader in nearly every category, including 909 games played, 332 goals and 775 points.
But with his seven-year, $55.75-million (U.S.) contract expiring this summer, the 31-year-old and Carolina general manager Ron Francis couldn't agree on a new deal. So on the day before the deadline – and after he'd arrived at the arena for that afternoon's game against St. Louis – the Hurricanes dealt him to the Rangers in exchange for a prospect playing in Finland and two second-round draft picks.
He's due to become an unrestricted free agent over the summer, but says the possibility of being a Hurricane again down the road didn't come up when he and Francis discussed the trade.
"Obviously, it was an emotional day, just the trade and then signing the [no-trade] waiver and all that kind of stuff," he said. " … We'll worry about that kind of stuff after the season and into the summer."
Staal has three goals and seven assists in 14 games with his new team while averaging 16:22 of ice time. He never averaged less than 18:45 in any season with Carolina since he was a rookie. But barring a total collapse, he'll skate in the playoffs for the first time since 2009, when the Hurricanes made their only post-season appearance since winning the Cup a decade ago. The Rangers have 95 points, second-most in the East.
"It's why you play. It's why I wanted to be in the NHL and why I want to compete every year. I think it'll be a whole other ball game once I actually get out there for warmups in Game 1 of a playoff series. I think it'll be a whole set of emotions that, to be quite frank, has been way too long since I got to experience."
This homecoming will be all-Staal reunion. Jordan Staal, whom Carolina acquired from Pittsburgh four years ago, goes up Eric and another brother, Rangers defenceman Marc Staal.
The Rangers haven't played since Sunday, a break that allowed Eric to return to North Carolina to spend time with family. He's staying at his north Raleigh house instead of the team hotel, and will make the familiar drive to the rink, though he'll turn down an unfamiliar hall to the guests' room. "The routine will be very, very similar," he said, "except that we'll go to the left instead of the right."