Carolina’s Jordan Staal wins the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, oldest on record at age 37

Rod Brind’Amour knows a thing or two about how Jordan Staal is feeling. Now the Carolina Hurricanes’ coach, Brind’Amour was their captain when they won the Stanley Cup two decades ago, and now Staal wears the “C.”Before the final against Vegas started, Brind’Amour was clear about one thing.

“We’re not here today without Jordan Staal,” he said. “I can promise you that. We’re very lucky.

And as a coach, you’re super fortunate to have a guy like that be your leader.”The 37-year-old Staal led the Hurricanes to the second championship in franchise history by being the two-way shutdown center and faceoff ace he has been his entire NHL career. By elevating his game and leading them in goals with six in the final against the Golden Knights, Staal won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.

He is the oldest player to win the honor.“He’s always really good, but yeah, he’s stepped it up at such a pivotal time,” teammate Seth Jarvis said. “It’s incredible to watch, and it’s so much fun playing with him and being around him.”

Staal is the longest-tenured player in the organization. He was also the only player on the roster with a Cup ring, from winning with the Penguins in 2009.The 17 years in between is the longest gap between championships, breaking the record of 16 held by Chris Chelios.

“That’s a lot of years,” Staal said. “It’s amazing. This is something I’ve been going after ever since we got the first one.

You want to win it again and again and again. What a feeling.”Staal joined the Hurricanes in 2012 in a trade from Pittsburgh on his wedding day.

His first half-dozen years with them passed without a postseason appearance.“I don’t want to say that the losing that he had to do for four, five years when he got here might have fueled him even more, but I think it did,” fellow veteran Jordan Martinook said. “The fact that he’s seen some pretty dark days here and then to be on the other side of it ...

he stuck through it the whole time.”The past seven seasons, Staal and the Hurric