With the Flyers winning again last night and the Carolina Hurricanes very much looking forward to 2016-17 and beyond, tonight’s game in Raleigh represents 1 game to reminisce about the past. Tonight’s game is very much about 1 thing – the return of Eric Staal to PNC Arena for his first game since being traded to the New York Rangers on February 28.
In short, I think that Eric Staal is one of us more than any other player in Canes history. He played a significant role in the greatest days of Hurricanes history. He has also been a significant part of the optimism for the future and frustration and disappointment. More than anything, Eric Staal has been a model of pure class and character over his long tenure with the Canes.
Against that backdrop, here is my Eric Staal-heavy ‘what I’m watching’ style preview for Thursday’s game:
1) Warm ups
We have all seen it on television by now, but watching Eric Staal warm up in a Rangers uniform on PNC Arena ice will be a strange combination of nostalgic, interesting and just downright sad. I think this goodbye will be even harder than the rushed departure, the first television game and everything else leading up to today.
2) The welcome home
The 2 biggest spectacles easily worth the price of admission will be first the fans welcoming home Eric Staal with signs, cheers and whatever else and second what the team does for him on the video screen and elsewhere.
3) The game itself
If I can get past all of the sentimental stuff, it will also be interesting to see Eric Staal in another lineup with different line mates. Every impression that I have of him as a player is in a Hurricanes’ system with Hurricanes’ team mates, so tonight will be different obviously.
4) Moving forward for the Canes
In the middle of the main event, Thursday’s game also represents another stepping stone forward to the 2016-17 season and beyond. The game sees a somewhat surprising recall and NHL debut for Sergey Tolchinsky. It also sees Derek Ryan coming off another goal-scoring game as he makes his pitch to push up into the NHL.
The puck drops at about 7:07pm, but tonight is a good night to arrive early for warm ups.
Go Canes!
