Marc Staal   [1987]

Marc Staal began his professional ice hockey career, in the 2003 to 2004 season, when he was only 16, playing for teams in  the Ontario Hockey League [OHL], a preparatory league for future professional hockey players. He later played in the American hockey League [AHL], a farm team league of the National Hockey League [NHL] teams. He remained in one of the training teams for four seasons, from 2003 to 2007.

In 2005, the New York Rangers of the NHL drafted Staal, as the twelfth overall pick in the NHL draft. His older brother, Eric Staal had been drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes, as second overall in the draft of 2003. A year later in 2006, his brother Jordan Staal was picked second overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins. But for Marc being twelfth overall in the NHL draft is still a most prominent place to be.

In 2007 at age 20 Marc Staal was brought into the NHL playing as a New York Ranger. He was a defense man unlike his three brothers who were forwards or centers, playing on the offensive site of their respective teams.

Marc Staal was quite successful with the New York Rangers and the team rewarded him with a ten year $ 20 million contract in 2010.

Staal is one of the NHL’s best penalty killers, and plays on the defensive side of a team. As a result he is not a prolific scorer like his brother, Eric, who plays in a forward position. Nevertheless, during the first three NHL seasons, he played in 244 games, scored 13 goals, and amassed 81 points.

During the six years Staal played with the NHL’s New York Rangers, from 2007/2008 to 2012/2013, he played in 388 games, scored 24 points and earned 88 points. In comparison with his two brothers, Eric and Jordan, these figures are puny. But keep in mind that Marc is a defense player whose main task it is to prevent the opponents from scoring.

In 2011 Marc Staal was selected to play in his first All Star team. All Star team selection is very competitive and being selected is a measure of his competence as recognized by his peers.

Marc Staal’s brothers are Eric Staal, a forward for the Carolina Hurricanes, Jordan Staal, also playing for the Hurricanes, and Jared Staal, a player initially in the Phoenix Coyotes organization, but currently also playing in the Carolina Hurricanes organization.

In February 2011, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes his brother Eric checked Marc resulting in a violent collision which caused him considerable harm. He had to be taken into the dressing room and was unable to play for the remainder of the game. Marc did not see him coming as he was focused on the puck. The collision shook him up severely. He was able to come back in subsequent games and played for the remainder of the 2010/2011 season.

Shortly thereafter Staal developed post-concussion symptoms and was advised not to play for a while. The post-concussion symptoms remained with him for the first half of the next, the 2011/2012, season. As a result he missed about half of that season because of the checking incident.

The incident between the two brothers must have been a shocking event, and is something that will remain with them for the rest of their respective lives. It points out the perils of brothers playing against each other in professional games, especially in games that are able to cause serious injury.

Insubsequent seasons injuries kept Marc out of quite a few games. He recovered to the point during the 2013-2014 season so he could  help his team reach the Stanley Cup finals. althought the Rangers did not win, they did reach the finals.

In March 2013 he also  incurred a serious eye injury during an NHL game. The injury was serious and could have been a career-ending one. Fortunately by wearing a visor he was able to return to the game.

Marc Staal married Lindsay Ruggles in 2011. At the time of this update there is no information available on offspring.

Marc Staal, of Dutch background, was born on January 13, 1987 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, a city on the north shore of Lake Superior. His parents are Henry and Linda Staal. Although he was born in Canada, since he has been playing on an American team, and has lived in the United States for several years, he has earned the designation as a Dutch American.

Marc Staal is one of the four Staal brothers, each of whom is a professional ice hockey player of sufficient caliber to play in the premier professional hockey league, the NHL. He is the second youngest of the four brothers, being three years younger than his older brother, Eric Staal.

 

REFERENCES

Various web sites such as Wikipedia, the Yahoo Site, the NHL Statistics Site, and New York Rangers Site

 

E-BOOKS AVAILABLE FROM AMAZON; GOOGLE: Kindle Store Pegels

 

PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICANS, CURRENT AND HISTORIC

EIGHT PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICAN FAMILIES: THE ROOSEVELTS, VANDERBILTS AND OTHERS, 2015

FIFTEEN PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICAN FAMILIES: THE VAN BURENS, KOCH BROTHERS, VOORHEES AND OTHERS, 2015

PROMINENT DUTCH AMERICANS IN U.S. GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS, 2015

 

DUTCH PEGELS INVOLVED IN WARS

ALLIED EUROPE CAMPAIGN—1944/1945: TACTICAL MISTAKES, 2017

THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE NETHERLANDS: MEMOIRS, 2017

FRENCH REVOLUTION, NAPOLEON AND RUSSIAN WAR OF 1812, 2015