Staal and Laviolette to reconnect this weekend in Tampa

All-Star weekend in Tampa will be a nostalgic one for Wild centerman Eric Staal, who will compete in his fifth All-Star Game and first since 2011.
Much is different since then. He's added two more sons to his family. He's changed teams a couple of times. He's also seen the bottom fall out on his career, only to rebound and get back to its current level.
Perhaps the most sentimental moment of Staal's NHL career, however, is when he helped the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship in 2006.

He's reminded of it every day in the Wild dressing room when he sits next to Matt Cullen, a teammate on that team more than a decade ago.
This weekend in Tampa, he'll play for Nashville Predators coach Peter Laviolette, the man who was behind the bench of the Hurricanes team that hoisted the Cup.
Laviolette coached Staal in Carolina for parts of five seasons before being let go by the team 25 games into the 2008-09 season.
It's been almost 10 years since Staal played for him, but Laviolette remains an important figure in his professional playing career.

"He helped me a lot, especially as a young guy, I guess in dreaming big. He pushed me to realize that I could be a very good player and I think that was important," Staal said. "I'm a small-town kid, I didn't really think anything of it. But when you have someone in your corner pushing you, 'hey, you can do some special things,' it helps push you and he was one of those guys for me."
After Carolina, Laviolette coached four-plus seasons in Philadelphia, leading them to a Stanley Cup Final in 2010, and is currently in his fourth season with the Predators, who he guided to the Finals last year.
Staal spent seven more seasons in Carolina after Laviolette's departure, played 20 games with the New York Rangers two seasons ago after a deadline-day trade and is now in his second season with the Wild after inking a three-year contract on July 1, 2016.
Despite the time that has passed since their shared championship nearly 12 years ago, both are still flourishing in the NHL, as evidenced by their participation this weekend.
"I was excited when I found out he was coaching the team]. It was either him or [Winnipeg Jets coach Paul] Maurice and I had both of them, and I liked them both to be honest," Staal said. "They're both great coaches and they're both still in the League and it's been 15 years. So pretty impressive what kind of coaches they are.
"[Laviolette] is a great coach and he's meant a lot to me. Really helped me as a young player to develop and to take steps to be at an event like this. I'm looking forward to talking to him, seeing him and catching up because he's a great person."
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