By Ron Cook, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/sports/
Penguins center Jordan Staal was in no mood to celebrate an impressive career milestone. Not on a night when his team gave a lifeless effort in a 4-1 home loss to the Ottawa Senators. Not after he went a fifth consecutive game without a point and an 11th consecutive game without a goal.
But that milestone is worth celebrating, nonetheless.
Staal became the youngest player in NHL history to play his 300th game.
It seems as if the kid has been around forever, but he was just 21 years and 140 days old as of Thursday night when they dropped the puck at Mellon Arena.
Wow.
That's my word, not Staal's. His reaction was typically understated after the game. He barely blinked when an equipment staffer gave him a game puck as a souvenir with the date and opponent written on it in white ink.
"I'm glad they left off the score," Staal said dryly.
Jordan Staal passes the puck after falling during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010. The Senators won 4-1. (AP)
Sure, it would have been sweeter if the Penguins had won. But they were outworked all night by the Senators, who easily could be their first-round playoff opponent. It's nice to think the Penguins will play with a little more passion if the teams meet again in April. They couldn't solve Senators goaltender Brian Elliott after an Evgeni Malkin goal just 94 seconds into the game. And their goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, had a tough night, allowing a couple of soft goals.
Still, 300 games are 300 games.
And to be just 21?
It's worth repeating:
Wow.
"I'm proud of it," Staal said quietly. "I want to play in a lot more."
You have to be phenomenally talented, tough as they come and awfully lucky to get to 300 games so quickly. Staal is all three.
The talent showed from the start when Staal made the Penguins to open the 2006-07 season, only a few weeks past his 18th birthday. He blew away his coaches and teammates with his instincts and knowledge of the game. He scored 29 goals that rookie season, but that's not what separated him from so many other players in the league. He was so good and so sound defensively and as a penalty killer. He was responsible, which is a wonderful word to describe a young player.
Still is.
"He's a player who has continued to grow," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said, perking up just a bit at the mention of Staal's name after this lame performance by his team. "He's skating better than ever. He's playing more physical than ever ...
"To have 300 games under his belt already? There's a long road ahead for that kid. A lot of good hockey."
So much, the Penguins believe, that they gave Staal a four-year, $16 million contract a year ago. Somehow appropriately, he wasn't old enough to buy a beer to celebrate when he signed it.
Now that blows me away.
Staal's toughness has been just as evident as his skills. He has missed just one game -- one out of 350, counting playoff games -- during his career. He was a healthy scratch in December of his rookie season, which puts his regular-season consecutive games streak at 275.
That's a big number that sports' ultimate ironman -- Cal Ripken Jr. -- surely can appreciate.
It's not as if Staal didn't have opportunities to take a night off. Early this season -- "I don't remember the game," he said -- he left the ice briefly after a skate ripped open a gash on his right thigh that required 40 stitches to close. Of course, he returned to the game. He did the same thing after his nose was broken when the Penguins played New Jersey Dec. 21.
"If you can play, you play," Staal said, shrugging.
Luck comes into it because Staal has not had a more serious injury. He has not broken anything that kept him from pulling on his No. 11 sweater. There have been a few times he felt sicker than a dog, but he played.
Staal has been lucky in another sense as well. He joined an organization on the rise. In his first three seasons in the NHL, the Penguins made the playoffs the first year, went to the Stanley Cup final the second and won the darn thing the third. He still wasn't old enough to buy a legal drink when they etched his name on the precious chalice. He didn't turn 21 until Sept. 10.
"I've been really fortunate," Staal said. "Someone definitely is watching me up there."
Many nights, better than this one, figure to be ahead for Staal. He was a rare minus-2 against the Senators but still leads the Penguins for the season with a plus-12. The goal-scoring slump appears to be wearing on him just a bit, but that will pass. His 13 goals are fourth on the Penguins behind Sidney Crosby, Malkin and Bill Guerin.
Clearly, the kid is too talented, too tough and too lucky for the slump to last much longer.
Ron Cook: rcook@post-gazette.com.
First published on January 29, 2010 at 12:00 am
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