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Staal doesn’t expect eye to be an ‘issue’ in the future

Marc Staal

Marc Staal #18 of the New York Rangers skates against the Washington Capitals in Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on May 6, 2013 in New York City. The Rangers defeated the Capitals 4-3. (May 5, 2013 - Source: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America)

Bryan Berard, Mattias Ohlund and Manny Malhotra are three NHL players that come to mind when the topic of serious eye injuries is raised.

For each of the above, their injury dramatically affected their play on the ice. (Want the sad proof? Google one of their names along with the phrase “was never the same” and see all the matches you get.)

With that in mind, let’s hope Rangers defenseman Marc Staal is right about the eye injury he suffered on March 5.

“My belief is that once everything settles down and I get comfortable with it, I’ll never have to be asked about it again,” Staal said today, per ESPN New York. “I don’t think it’ll be an issue.”

Big, steady, and able to log the tough minutes against the opposition’s top players, Staal’s absence from the New York lineup for all but one game of the playoffs put even more pressure on defensemen Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh, two blue-liners whose workload was already substantial.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they didn’t have a Torey Krug up their sleeves.

Only 26 years old, Staal admits his eye is “probably not going to be 100 percent” again; however, “that’s not to say it’s not going to get a lot better. It’s still improving.”