Jordan Staal had no time for Mitch Marner and the Vegas pity party, as he took a direct shot at Marner for him wanting out of Toronto but still failing to win it all.
Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal didn't mince words about Mitch Marner after his team defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 3-0 on Sunday. He called out Marner's decision to leave Toronto and heavily implied that some players are just in it for the championship.
Staal, the oldest winner of the Conn Smythe in NHL history, put together a spectacular Finals series, where he had six goals and seven points, while also playing elite defence and being a nuisance to every Vegas player on the ice.
It was his second Stanley Cup of his career, and follows in his brother Eric's footsteps by winning a title with the Hurricanes; Eric doing it back in 2005-06. He's looking ageless at 38 years old and his teammates and the rest of the hockey world is in awe of his production though for a guy as humble as Staal; he wouldn't tell you as such.
Jordan Staal doesn't have time for Mitch Marner and his championship journey
But what he will tell you is that he thinks Mitch Marner made a bad decision heading to Vegas and that giving up on Toronto because things got tough was not the way to go about it.
Staal was blunt in his observations post-game, and didn't need to say much to get his point across and directed his ire solely at Marner:
Some guys just jump ship.
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Staal has a bit of a leg up on Marner and can safely sit comfortably with that statement as he's already won the Cup before and while you can point to the fact he had Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the lineup - he wasn't too bad either.
He was never a scoring machine but he did play a very strong two-way game as usual, and by the way he was doing it at 20 years old, not 28 like Marner. He had only nine points in 2008-09 when he won the Cup but also added 46 hits, 15 blocks and 15 takeaways, and Pittsburgh needed him as their third line anchor and he did so swimmingly.
Staal knows all about Marner's failures in the postseason but his loyalty never wavered
But it isn't like Staal hasn't been in Marner's shoes before either. Since 2018 he has lost three Conference Finals, three second round matchups, and a first round series before finally winning the big one on Sunday.
Add in the times his team also completely missed the postseason and it's not like Staal has always been a playoff competitor. He's missed out on glory more often than not, and he worked harder than ever to make it happen this year.
It's why he can call Marner out confidently and there's real truth to his words. Some people in sports do ring chase (Kevin Durant in the NBA is an example fans will point to) and that's their prerogative, but at least be honest about it.
Staal's approach is that loyalty wins out over...well winning. His name is synonymous with the Hurricanes without even touching the ice, and much like his brother Eric - Jordan came through when they needed him most.
It's clear that Staal wanted to send Marner a message regarding his actions and made it as simple as could be for the polarizing forward.
Just because your team is good doesn't guarantee you anything and it's a lesson he should have learned by now.
Was Jordan Staal right to call out Mitch Marner for switching teams looking for a championship?
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