Dinner Plans Nixed for Staal Brothers

The Carolina Hurricanes made a change in their pre-game travel routine and flew into Pittsburgh yesterday morning instead of Wednesday evening which meant a change in plans for the Staal brothers, Eric and Jordan.

The regular pre-game ritual for the Staals is to go out to dinner the night before the game. But being that the Canes arrived at the hotel early yesterday afternoon, they had to settle for chatting on the cell phone.

"We usually go out to dinner when I come into town the night before the game," Eric Staal said today. "He'll do the same when he comes to Raleigh."

"We try to talk once a week. I talked to him last night," Eric said. "We talked a little bit about how their start is. He's back at center now, so I guess I'll be facing off against him a few times tonight, so it should be fun."

However, they could possibly get another chance to "meet-up" while big-bro is in town during a faceoff or two tonight as Jordan is currently the 2nd line center for the Penguins. Could Eric be the spark Jordan needs to elevate his game which has been off to a slow start? It would be nice!

"I think it does add a little bit to it, for sure," Eric said. "Any time you face off in the NHL against one of your brothers, it will add a little extra to the game. Bragging rights, for sure. For us, we just want to make sure we're on top at the end of the night."

[information obtained from The News & Observer's "Lord Stanley Blog"]