Evgeni Malkin and Michel Ouellet celebrate empty-net goal by Jordan Staal, center, Saturday against the Capitals.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Six months, three training camps, two contract deadlines and one All-Star side trip into his rookie NHL season, Penguins forward Jordan Staal is enjoying the kind of year that would suit a lot of veterans.
Going into the game tonight at Philadelphia, Staal is second on the team with 19 goals in 52 games, including an NHL-best five short-handed and two game-winners. He ranks second on the team with a plus-minus rating of plus-12. He leads the league with a shooting percent of 25. His 25 points put him seventh among league rookies.
He is getting stronger, with a goal in three consecutive games and at least one point in eight of his past 11 games.
He has done that while playing roughly half the time as a left winger instead of at his natural position, center.
And he is 18 and will be through the end of the season, no matter how far the Penguins might go in the playoffs.
Does Superman come in a blond-haired, blue-eyed Canadian farm boy model?
Staal, whose fair complexion gives way to blushing at the slightest bit of attention from people, is as pleasantly surprised as anyone.
"To be counted on every game, it's a little nerve-racking, but I definitely love it," Staal, the second overall pick in the draft last year, said yesterday.
When Staal left training camp with his junior team in Peterborough, Ontario, to come to Pittsburgh in September, the only guarantee was that he would turn 18 during the Penguins' first rookie camp. Once in the main training camp, he was given a fair chance to make the team. Then came a couple of cutoff dates during the season, but Staal wasn't returned to his junior team.
In hindsight, the thought that he belonged anywhere but the NHL seems almost comical.
"The biggest thing for me is that he's absolutely had to learn a new position and is doing it as an 18-year-old in the NHL," said veteran winger Mark Recchi, who has Staal living in his guest house and sits next to him in the Penguins' locker room.
"He's a force out there. He's a powerful skater. He holds the puck. He's probably one of our best penalty-killers, if not the best penalty-killer. He just does so many good things for an 18-year-old. It's pretty scary.
"He's getting rewarded because he's doing good things that are making him successful."
Some of those rewards are more tangible than others.
After making an appearance in the YoungStars game during All-Star week last month and closing in on some nice round numbers, Staal is sure to collect bonus money on top of his $850,000 rookie salary.
"It's always in the back of your mind, but you're really worried about every game and the team," Staal said. "It's always nice to get those extra bonuses, though. I'm real close."
If it bothers him at all that he has been asked to play so much at winger, he doesn't let on.
He takes instruction from assistant coach Mike Yeo on playing along the boards. He taps the brains of teammates.
"It hasn't been easy, but I think my whole life I've had to adjust quickly and learn," Staal said. "The biggest thing is keeping up your speed. When you're on the wing, you're standing still a lot more than when you're at center. You've got to really accelerate to those openings and find those openings."
While most young forwards have to be cajoled into minding their defensive responsibilities, Staal already is a solid, two-way player. That's partly because he uses his size to its fullest advantage. At 6 feet 4, 220 pounds, he is the second-biggest player on the team, just four pounds lighter than winger Ryan Malone and just as tall.
"For a big guy, I can control guys down low," Staal said. "And, personally, I just really don't want to get scored on."
Penguins coach Michel Therrien nearly is driven to giggling when asked about Staal because the young player has been such a delight.
"I don't know what's going on with this Staal family," Therrien said, referring older brother Eric Staal of Carolina, "but one thing I know, he's getting better."
Staal has moved up steadily and now is on the second line with center Evgeni Malkin and right winger Michel Ouellet.
If not for Malkin, a 20-year-old Russian who has 26 goals and 59 points, Staal would be a solid candidate for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year.
Whereas Malkin is heading into new territory having never played in more than 66 games in a season, Staal played 87 games last season while helping Peterborough win the Ontario Hockey League championship and advance to the Memorial Cup tournament.
"With three training camps and, hopefully, the playoffs, it's probably going to be a long season," Staal said.
He's loving every minute of it.
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(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721. )
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