Canada winning the gold medal for the second straight Olympics was a proud moment for all Canadians. For Carolina Hurricanes captain Eric Staal, it was a bittersweet sight.
Staal was a member of the 2010 team in Vancouver and missed the cut for the 2014 team. As he tells Chip Alexander of the Raleigh News & Observer, he’s bummed out he couldn’t be in Sochi to be part of the fun.
“I think any player in my position, there’s going to be disappointment you’re not part of that team,” Staal said. “But I think the way they played as a group, as a team, they made the right choices because they got the job done. For me, disappointing you’re not part of that group, but at the same time I know all those guys.”
Staal, 29, says if the pros head to Korea in 2018 he wants to be part of that team. After presumably just missing out this time around, he’ll stand a chance of getting back there then. At least he still has “Had great chemistry with Sidney Crosby in 2010" on his résumé.