Jordan Staal’s desire to win a second straight Stanley Cup put pain in a secondary position last spring.
He may be paying a little for that decision now.
The Pittsburgh Penguins forward severed a tendon on his foot on April 30 in a collision with Montreal’s P.K. Subban. At first team officials said he was done for the postseason, but within six days he was back in action, and even scored a goal in their 5-2, Game 7 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
However, the recovery since the Pens were eliminated from the playoffs hasn’t been without it obstacles, Staal added.
"It’s coming along. There have been some bumps in the road for sure. It’s been difficult on a few different occasions," Staal said.
"I’ve got a little bit more to do, but hopefully I’ll be prepared for next year."
Still, it’s a decision he wouldn’t hesitate to make again.
"At the moment it was pretty easy. If I could get my skate on I was going to go out and play. Right now I’m feeling a little bit of the (effects) from that, but I wouldn’t change my mind looking back on it now. That’s hockey," Staal said.
Until he went down Staal had played 358 consecutive playoff and regular season games, never once failing to answer the call because of an injury.
The former second overall draft pick, who tied a career high with 49 points in 2009-10, said he expects to be ready for the start of training camp next month.
"I’m pretty confident. Again, there are a few more things I’ve got to get accomplished, and it’s not going to be easy, but I think I should be ready."
He’ll be returning to a team that will have a slightly different look to it this fall. The Penguins lost defenceman Sergei Gonchar to Ottawa during the free-agent blitz in July, and will be without the likes of Alexei Ponikarovsky, Jordan Leopold and Mark Eaton, all of whom signed elsewhere.
The team has also yet to re-sign defenceman Jay McKee and forwards Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin, who scored 21 goals for the Penguins in a veteran role.
To fill the gap Pittsburgh signed free agent blue-liners Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek, re-signed forward Matt Cooke and added spare part Ryan Craig from Tampa Bay.
Staal said he likes the additions.
"We had a big pick-up with Martin and a few other guys. I’m still really confident in our team. We obviously lost a lot of good players, but at the same time we picked up quite a few great ones as well. So I’m still really confident with our chances and where we’re heading again next year."
