Jordan Staal, Carolina Hurricanes Captain

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That's BetterHELP.com slash positive. You're listening to the Zach Gelb Show. Alrighty, welcome back in Zach Gelb Show CBS Sports Radio. That's the Carolina Hurricanes Radio Network. As the Canes are off to the Eastern Conference Finals, Jesper Foss with the game winning goal last night to send New Jersey home.

As the Hurricanes win that series in five games. Let's head out to the guest line right now. And welcome in the captain of the Hurricanes and that of course is Jordan Stahl, kind enough to join us. Jordan, congratulations. Thanks for the time. Appreciate you doing this.

Alright, no problem at all. Good to be here. Well there's nothing like a game winner in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just describe that scene last night on your home ice when Jesper Foss got a piece of it and sends you guys to the Conference Finals. Yeah, we were bugging him. He missed a couple empty nets to start.

So he was 2 for 1. He's come through clutch for a couple OT winners already. But nothing better than an overtime winner.

Especially a serious clincher. All those memories I won't forget. So it was a really cool experience.

Really fun. And obviously just proud of our group and just happy to be a part of it and just be a part of this great group of guys. How about the contributions Jesper's given you? I know he's been on the team the last few years but that was his second overtime winner this postseason. Just how about the way that you've seen him grow the last few years with Carolina?

Yeah, no I mean he's been our steady rock for a long time really. Obviously offensively you might not see it a ton or you might not notice it but we notice it every day here in Carolina and what he does and what he brings to the table. It's just great to see him get rewarded with some big goals and obviously a little bit of limelight for how good he's been playing for us for so long. He works hard and he gives everything he's got every night. There's no change in his game ever. It's always been a lot of fun watching him and I've been playing with him for a long time too.

So it's great to see him very few. The captain of the Hurricanes, Jordan Stahl here with us. Last year we know you guys in the second round went up 2-0. And then you lost 3-4 at MSG and eventually lost that series in seven games. I was most impressed with your team so far this postseason with that game four performance. You guys take a 2-0 lead this year.

Game three didn't go your way but to be able to bounce back the way you guys did in game four to send it back home up 3-1. Just what does that say about your squad this year? I think we've been especially on the road. Last year we lost a 30 road game. We've been a little more even keel on the road. Sticking with the adversity and the atmosphere and just sticking to our game and building games on the road.

Thinking in a couple of road wins have really helped in the last couple of series. Obviously our home crowd at home has been electric and it's just been so much fun playing in front of them. Obviously our group gets excited and we've won a lot of good home games. It's good to see us battle through adversity on the road and really just stick with our game and be a little more comfortable and be uncomfortable.

It's starting to pay off for us a little bit more this year. Everyone talks about your home ice advantage at PNC Arena. What makes you guys so lethal at home? Honestly it must be all that tailgating.

They're nuts. It's just a lot of fun. Right from the start it's just loud in there. I get back to my house after a game and talk to the wife.

I can barely hear because my ears still ringing. It's a blast to play in front of a crowd. It's always bumping. They get us going for sure. It's just been a lot of fun. What did you guys really take from the run last year to try to implement it for this season and during this run that you guys are on right now?

I think it's a lot of stuff I said before. Especially on the road just being a little more even keel and not getting too excited and not putting ourselves in bad situations. I think we've been staying on the box a lot better this year. We haven't had trips to the penalty box over and over again which kind of cost us in previous series. We've just learned from a few mistakes that we've created ourselves in previous years. We just had some consistent play from everyone. Everyone's just been dialed in and really just bought into how we play and how we do things. We all believe if we do do that we're going to have a good chance of winning every night.

It's been chilling so far. You guys are deep and you're tough as the captain of the Hurricanes, Jordan Stahl, is here with us. I know injuries always happen in this sport but Toulouse-Terra-Vine and Sevechnikov and also Pacharetti will now be 8 wins away from Hoist in the Stanley Cup. It says a lot about the toughness of this group, Jordan.

For sure. Big holes. Obviously great players. It starts with the way we play and our coaching staff and how they dialed everyone in and really just bought into how we play. That's really just being strong defensively and really giving the other team just not a sniff with the puck, no time with the puck. It just makes it hard for them to really make plays.

Any NHLer, especially when you get this deep in the playoffs, they're going to have some top-notch, top-end players that can make plays. We do our best to take their time and space away and make it frustrating for them. That's been our number one goal. We always say the chances and the scoring chances will come.

We've just got to give them nothing. We've taken pride in that and I think it's really been paying off. We all know what your coach did as a player, but when you look at Coach Rod Brindamore, how do you describe playing for him and what type of coach is he for you guys? You always hear how player-friendly he is. Yeah, he's player-friendly. He's a normal dude, but you just have so much respect for him.

He steps in the room and you can just feel it. What he's done, not only just for him personally, for his career here in Carolina, but just his day-to-day. He's a coach that's in better shape now if the guy's on the team.

His work ethic is bar none. It's just a leadership that is so easy to follow. It's such an easy thing to get excited for and play for. The guys have just gravitated to him and barely understood what it takes to win and how we do it and how we do things. Obviously, when you see the results and you feel the results and you feel that we're taking over games or really just beating teams that are very good, the guys are really starting to buy in and really believe in what we can do here.

It's starting to show. You're in the conference finals now. Your brothers, Eric and Mark, with the Florida Panthers just need one more win and then you guys will be going up against one another.

What would those emotions be like if you got to go up against your two brothers four wins away from going to the cup final? Crazy, eh? I'm excited. It's unbelievable. All three of us, the tail end of our career, and to be able to bow each other in a conference final, to go on to the finals, is something that is a dream come true for us.

It's something that I wanted to do. I remember we played our last game of the season. I think we lost. I think we would have played them in the first round. I was making sure the boys were ready for it. I didn't want to play them in the first round. I knew how good they were.

I knew what they could do. I told them after we won that we'll see you in the conference finals. Their one win away and we'll be ready for them. It's going to be a good battle.

I'm just excited. It's what hockey is all about. It just shows you how bonkers this sport is.

Nothing surprises me this time of the year. Last year the Panthers, as you know, won the President's Trophy. Then they lost in the second round. This year they had the fewest points out of any team entering the playoffs. Now it's looking like they're going to meet you guys at the conference finals, especially what they did up against Boston in the first round.

Now having a 3-1 lead up against Toronto. It's just crazy when literally, in this sport, anyone could go out there and win the cup. That's what I told the media.

I told everyone that. Especially anything that makes playoffs, they believe they can win. That's the beauty of NHL playoffs. Anything can happen. That's what makes it so exciting.

That's what draws people in. That's what gets me excited. It's really great to see the bros have a great run right now. Hopefully it will end here short meeting us. They obviously have a 1-1 win against Toronto against a tough team. They got a long battle out of them.

But playoff hockey, there's nothing better. It's so unique what your family has accomplished. How do you look back at your upbringing and what it was like to grow up with all these brothers and good parents? I'll reflect a little later in life, but as of right now, it's still kind of shocking the way it's all unfolded and how it's all played out.

Like you said, great parents. Just very blessed to be a part of this whole situation in NHL and being able to play as long as we have. Being able to be a part of so many great people in NHL and great teams.

It's just been so much fun. I'm excited for the near future and hopefully the Canes keep rolling and bring home the big mug for our fans. On the way out with the captain of the Canes and Jordan Stahl, I know how important this organization is for you. It's always special when you get named a captain like you did a few years ago, but your brother was once the captain of Carolina as well. What did that mean to you the day when you found out that you were going to be able to follow in those family footsteps and also get the captain tagged there in Carolina?

Yeah. It's an absolute privilege to be able to wear a seat in the NHL. There's no question. I always have a ton of respect for anyone that wore it throughout the league.

No one really takes that stuff lightly. So it was just a privilege and an honor to be able to wear it and be named one. I'm just happy to do my part and be a part of a great group of guys that are just competitive as hell. I'm just trying to join in with that and have as much fun as I can.

It's been so good so far. Going back to your earlier days when you were a member of the Penguins, you got to the Cup final in 2008, lost to the Red Wings. The next year you got revenge up against Detroit and you hoisted the Stanley Cup. What do you take looking back from those two years, 2008 losing the Cup final and 2009 winning it all?

Yeah. It was a long time ago. Just some crazy runs and two good teams ended up in the finals again.

Like I said just before, anything can happen. We were down 2-0 in the Stanley Cup finals going home, not feeling all that great about the situation but finding ways to battle back. You get momentum at any point in the series and things can change quickly. I always tell the fellas it's one game at a time. The last one is always the hardest one to win.

You just kind of keep grinding and grinding and grinding until you finally see them wave that white flag and you find a way to bury it. It's a fun process, the playoffs in general and just the series and how it all unfolds and the ebbs and flows. It's really been a cool video part of. You've been in Carolina since the 2012-2013 season. I know you're in your final year of your contract right now. Have you thought much about your playing future?

Yeah. There's been some talk. Obviously I want to stay here and be in a hurricane. It's a great situation for myself personally and just with my family and everyone around that. My plan is to stay here in Carolina. Obviously my focus right now is the situation at hand but I believe in the near future we'll get something done and I'll be able to keep grinding it out with the hurricanes. I know your brothers are still playing and they're older than you.

There's no thought at all at 34. Maybe if you win eight more games and win the cup again that maybe you'll walk away? I don't know. I'm crazy enough to keep going. I don't know why but this game seems to keep dragging me back in. It's something to do with just being part of that room. It's an addicting feeling just being a part of something bigger than yourself and just being part of a group of guys that have that common goal. It's just something that is so rewarding for me and to be a part of.

The way things are going here in Carolina it's going to be hard to pass up just to walk away but we'll see how it all unfolds in the finished season. Well Jordan, once again congratulations on the win last night. We're hoping that you get to see your brothers in the next round and we can't thank you enough for taking a few minutes today to join us on CBS Sports Radio. No worries. Thanks for having me.