Carolina Hurricanes sign Eric Staal to one day contract, plan to retire jersey
By all accounts, Eric Staal helped make Carolina Hurricanes hockey what it is today. Now he will be remembered forever with a jersey retirement
39-year-old Eric Staal was drafted 2nd overall in the 2003 National Hockey League Entry Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes and was the face of the franchise and a huge piece to their success for the majority of his career void of stints with the Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens & Florida Panthers. Now he is getting his reward in the shape of his number 12 being retired by the franchise where it all began.
The Carolina Hurricanes announced Tuesday that Staal will be honoured with a jersey retirement ceremony during the 2024-2025 season which is the least they can do for an individual that was so important and had a tremendous impact on the success of the Hurricanes and with hockey in North Carolina as a whole.
Staal's career numbers include 1365 National Hockey League games. During that time he amassed 455 goals & 608 assists for 854 regular season points. In just over 100 playoff appearances he scored 25 goals and had 39 helpers.
No matter your opinion about Staal outside the scope of the game, he certainly deserves this honour and to be counted as one of the few that has had their numbers retired by the Hartford/Carolina franchise is something nobody will soon forget.
| POLL | ||
Does Eric Staal deserve his jersey to be retired for his hockey accolades? | ||
| Yes. Well deserved | 39 | 68.4 % |
| No. He doesn't deserve it | 18 | 31.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
