Jordan Staal

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Position	Centre
Shoots	Left
Nickname(s)	Gronk[1]
Height Weight	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 220 lb (100 kg/15 st 10 lb)
NHL Team	Pittsburgh Penguins
Nationality	Canada
Born	September 10, 1988 (1988-09-10) (age 19), Thunder Bay, ON, CAN
NHL Draft	2nd overall, 2006 Pittsburgh Penguins
Pro career	2006 – present

Jordan Staal (born on September 10, 1988 in Thunder Bay, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.

[edit] Playing career

Jordan Staal was drafted second overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, becoming the second Staal brother to be drafted this high after older brother Eric. Staal has won the OHL Championship with the Peterborough Petes, played in the 2006 Memorial Cup, where the Peterborough Petes failed to make the playoff round. He was also selected for the 2006 CHL Top Prospects Game.

Staal was signed to a professional contract by the Penguins on October 2, 2006, and began the 2006-07 season with the team in the NHL. On October 12, 2006 Staal scored his first goal in the NHL, a shorthanded goal against New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.

On October 21, 2006, in a game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Staal set NHL records by becoming the youngest player in league history to score two shorthanded goals in one game and the youngest player to score on a penalty shot. That season, Staal led the NHL in short handed goals.

Early in his first season, there was speculation that Staal would be returned to his junior team to avoid allowing him to accrue a full season under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement. However, due to his strong play, particularly on the penalty-kill, the Penguins chose to keep him through the 10th game of the season, which made 2006-2007 count as a full year under his initial contract, and the 41st game of the season, which makes him eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2013.^[2]

In January 2007, Staal participated in the NHL YoungStars game during the All-Star festivities along with teammates Ryan Whitney and heralded Russian star Evgeni Malkin.

On February 10, 2007, Staal scored his first NHL career hat trick and thus became the youngest player in NHL history to score a hat trick at 18 years and 153 days, coming against the Toronto Maple Leafs. His first goal came at 19:22 in the first period, the second came at 3:32 in the second, and his third was the game winner, as he beat Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft stick-side at 3:54 in overtime. He broke a record that had been held for over sixty years by Jack Hamilton. Hamilton was 18 years, 185 days old when he scored four goals for Toronto against the New York Rangers on December 4, 1943.

On March 1, 2007, Staal tied the NHL rookie record by scoring his league-leading sixth shorthanded goal. The record was set by Gerry Minor of Vancouver in 1980-81 and matched by John Madden in 1999-2000. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Staal is the only player in NHL history to have scored more than one shorthanded goal before his 19th birthday.

On March 6, 2007, in a comeback win for the Penguins on the road against the Ottawa Senators, Jordan Staal scored the first of 3 goals in a row for his team. Down 4-1 with ten minutes left in the 3rd period, Staal's first goal was a shorthanded tally, which set a record for most shorthanded goals by a rookie (7). Two goals followed in three minutes and Pittsburgh won 5-4 in a shootout.

Staal's nickname is Gronk, named after a comic book character. The name was given to him by Colby Armstrong, a former Penguins teammate. Teammates call him the Gronk because they say that on the ice he is huge, strong, and scary because of his size.

He, alongside with his brother Eric, was a member of the 2007 Canadian IIHF World Championship team that won gold in a 4-2 win against Finland in Moscow.

[edit] Staal family

Older brothers Eric (Carolina Hurricanes) and Marc (New York Rangers) both also play professionally, while younger brother Jared was drafted in the first round, 11th overall, in the 2006 OHL Entry Draft by the Sudbury Wolves; Marc also played for Sudbury while his brother Eric played for Peterborough.

In the summer of 2007, Jordan Staal was arrested at Eric's bachelor party and charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct and obstructing the legal process. Jordan was also cited with underage drinking.^[3]

In an interview at the 2007 NHL awards ceremony, Jordan Staal claimed that his brother Eric admitted to feeling relief at having outscored him by one goal during the regular season. Eric had 30 goals while Jordan had 29.

[edit] Awards

Medal record
Competitor for Canada
Men's Ice Hockey
World Championships
Gold	2007 Moscow	Ice Hockey

• OHL All-Star - 2006
• Played in CHL Top Prospects Game - 2006
• Shared Pittsburgh Penguins Rookie of the Year award with Evgeni Malkin - 2007
• Finished third in the voting for the Calder Memorial Trophy, for the NHL's Rookie of the Year in 2007, behind teammate Evgeni Malkin (1st) and Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny (2nd).

[edit] Career statistics

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jordan Staal's NHL player profile
• Jordan Staal's career stats at The Internet Hockey Database