On Sunday evening in Las Vegas, the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3:0 in Game 6 of the Finals and won their second Stanley Cup in franchise history. But the biggest surprise was not the scoreboard, but the person who was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.
A defenseman nobody had picked as a hero
Jordan Staal — 37 years old, 499 career points in Carolina — was primarily known as one of the league's most dominant defensive centers: a master of faceoff wins (56.4% in the playoffs), a wrecker of opposing attacks, a player who neutralizes star opponents. Not a typical MVP candidate.
In the Finals, he scored in each of the first five games — something that hasn't happened in the NHL for 70 years. Six goals and an assist against Vegas. According to ESPN, he became the first player in NHL history with 17 years between two titles — the previous record held by Chris Chelios (16 years, 1986–2002) had stood for over two decades.
"I've wanted this since the moment we won the first one. You want to win again and again and again."
Jordan Staal, Carolina's captain, after the game
Family circle and 20 years of waiting
Staal won his first Cup in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He lifted the second one exactly 20 years after his brother Eric Staal was a key figure in Carolina's 2006 championship. The same franchise, the same city, the same award — but a different generation of the family.
At 37 years and 277 days old, Staal became the oldest Conn Smythe Trophy winner in NHL history, surpassing Boston goaltender Tim Thomas (37 years and 61 days, 2011).
Playoffs without series losses
The Hurricanes went through the playoffs with a record of 16 wins and 3 losses, eliminating Ottawa and Philadelphia in clean sweeps 4:0, then Montreal (4:1) and Vegas (4:2). The journalists' vote for the Conn Smythe was telling: Staal received first place on 17 of 21 ballots, his teammate Taylor Hall on the remaining four.
- 12 points (8+4) in 19 playoff games — for a defensive center this is an anomaly
- First captain with six goals in the Finals since Wayne Gretzky (1985)
- Oldest playoff MVP in NHL history
- 17 years between two Cups — an absolute league record
The league has a champion who is customarily ignored in conversations about superstars: without impressive career statistics, without a Selke Trophy in his case, but with two rings and a record that now belongs to him.
If Carolina maintains this roster next season — and several key players' contracts expire in the summer — the question is not whether they will repeat their success, but how many of those who lifted the Cup on Sunday will take to the ice in October in the same colors.
