With the 2019-20 regular season officially over, Hurricanes.com is counting down the top 10 moments from the last year, presented by Storm Brew from our friends at R&D Brewing.
A void was created in the Carolina Hurricanes' leadership group when Justin Williams, the 16th player in franchise history to serve as captain, announced in early September that he was stepping away from the game of hockey.
Head coach Rod Brind'Amour reached out to his former teammate and friend.
And with that, the Canes had their new captain: Jordan Staal, who wasn't a stranger to positions of leadership. He served as an alternate captain during his last four seasons in Pittsburgh (2008-12) and for six of his seven seasons with the Canes (2012-17, 2018-19). In 2017-18, Staal and Justin Faulk co-captained the Canes before becoming alternates under Williams' leadership.
"I've learned a lot from our leaders throughout the years. I'm excited about the new challenge playing alongside this talented, young group. I'll try to lead the way as best I can," Staal said. "I'm one guy. I might have a C … but there is a group of guys in there that's going to find ways to lead. I'm going to be a piece of that doing things I do best."
Staal was the clear choice. He's a workhorse on the ice, chewing up space and minutes as one of the best two-way centers in the game, and his leadership qualities are undeniable.
"[You see] how much he cares. You can tell in how he plays. You see it every night," Brind'Amour said. "He wants us to win as much as anybody, and he'll do whatever it takes whenever he can to come every night and do it right. That's the message we preach. As a coach, you want your captain to preach what you're throwing out there, and that's what he does."
Martinook is the hype man of the locker room, an infectious energy source who had a career season in 2018-19.
"We need a guy to get the emotion going in our room and keep everyone together, and he leaves everything on the ice," Brind'Amour said of Martinook. "He's a real bonding force in there."
"Another great human being. A guy who checks the boxes of being a great person and plays his heart out every night. … He's blossoming into that leader on the ice and one of the elite players in the game," Brind'Amour said of Slavin. "He lives here year-round. This is his home. That's special. That means something to me and the community."
Staal is now back leading the Canes through one of the most unique times he and his teammates have and will likely ever face.
But whether it's late September or mid-July, the Canes' goal remains the same.
"We're going to have to push each other and ramp up as best we can to get to a playoff level," Staal said after the Video: Captain Jordan Staal Meets with the Media. "We've got a group that is hungry for another run and hungry for a Cup."
