Eric Staal was born October 29, 1984 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The first round, second overall selection of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Staal is a graduate of the OHLs Peterborough Petes. An offensively and defensively gifted forward who has drawn comparisons to Ron Francis, Staal played two seasons in Peterborough tallying 160 points (62-98-160) before making his NHL debut with Carolina during the 2003-04 season. In his first season with the Canes, the former Pete tallied 31 points (11-20-31) in 81 games.



Eric Staal grew up in Ontario on the sod farm his father and uncle co-owned. Every summer Eric went back to Thunder Bay and helped the family out, including the summer of 2003 when he was the Carolina Hurricane's first draft pick, second overall. This summer, however, Eric has earned the time off. Staal showed Carolina, and the rest of the NHL, why he was the second pick in last year's draft. He became only the sixth player in the Hartford/Carolina franchise's history to play more than 50 games the first season after being drafted. Eric was one of 22 players selected to play in the 2004 YoungStars Game and finished the season with 11 goals and 20 assists. But no matter how successful he becomes, Eric will never forgets his roots. He started playing hockey at 4 years old and his father, Henry, built a rink for his sons and nephew in between the two houses. Henry built it out of a few particle-boards "borrowed" from local rinks. Each November, he would use a neighbor's septic-tank truck, steam clean it and use it to lay down a sheet of ice. Eventually, the family added lights and the boys were able to play to their hearts content. All that hard work and practice obviously paid off for the Staal boys. Eric is one of the few players who have been able to successfully make the jump from junior hockey right to the NHL. His cousin, Jeff Heerema, was also a first-round pick of the Hurricanes in 1998. One of Eric's brothers is playing junior hockey and another is predicted to be a top pick in this year's Ontario League draft.