Jordan Staal Scores His 100th!

A warning: this piece on Jordan Staal is written by a massive Jordan Staal fan. There  is a fair amount of gushing in here. Turn around now if you don’t want to see it. 

source: penguins.nhl.com

Congratulations are in order for Jordan Staal. On Saturday, in a game against the New Jeresy Devils, Staal scored his 100th career goal.  This was more than just the 100th goal for Staal. It meant he has finally come out of the shadow that he has seemingly been in his whole life.Jordan grew up the third brother of the Staal family, behind oldest brother Eric and second oldest Marc. Eric was drafted 2nd overall in 2003 by the Carolina Hurricanes. Marc was drafted 12th overall by the New Yorks Rangers in 2005. Both quickly made names for themselves. Eric was named alternate captain during the 2007-2008 season before being named captain in 2010. In 2006, he won a Stanley Cup. He soon added a World Championship gold medal, and an Olympic gold medal to that. Marc has quickly made a name for himself in the NHL as an excellent defenseman who can throw out the big hits (want an example? Youtube ‘Marc Staal hits Jordan Staal’. Seriously, do it), make the passes that score the goals, and kill the penalties.

Jordan was taken 2nd overall in the 2006 draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins. He became the youngest player to score a hattrick, won a World Championship gold medal, made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2008, and finally won in 2009. In 2010, he was a finalist for the Selke Trophy for the league’s best defensive forward.  At the beginning of the 2010/2011 season, the Penguins named Jordan as an alternte captain, along with Brooks Orpik. But somehow, none of this really matters.

Jordan is constantly forgotten, mostly because he plays on a team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Jordan is usually a third line center. On any other team, he would easily be a second or even a first line center. And when he is remembered, it’s because people need to blame him for the team’s losses. Staal came back from injury just as Crosby and Malkin were injured and left for the season. Many fans were angry at Staal, claiming he wasn’t scoring enough goals and the like. Some people went as far as stating that drafting Staal on the Penguins was a mistake and we should have taken Chicago’s Jonathan Toews. But he was being used on the penalty kill, along with taking on responsibilities as the captain. And let’s not forget that he only played half a season due to injury. Now that’s he’s fully healthy, we can expect more goals from him.

Getting his 100th career goal was a huge milestone, and was celebrated by all Pens fans. Staal has finally come out of the shadow that’s he been in his whole life, and no one is happier than this fan right here

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