Jordan Staal entered his sixth season with the Carolina Hurricanes as one of two captains, taking up the mantle once held by his brother. He knew that the spotlight was going to be on him, both in the locker room and on the ice. But it was how he responded to a personal tragedy that demonstrated the true nature of Staal’s character.
Staal’s selection as the Hurricanes’ 2018 Masterton Trophy nominee by the Carolina chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association is a fitting honor for a player who embodied perseverance and dedication to hockey through incomprehensibly trying circumstances.