Jordan Staal began the playoffs by dropping his gloves and ended them by lifting the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Staal was presented the playoff MVP award by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman after the Hurricanes defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6.
The Hurricanes are champions for the first time in 20 years, while Staal, who last won the Cup with the Penguins in 2009, set a new NHL record by waiting 17 years between championships.
“He gets the group dialled in, all the time. From a coach’s perspective, that makes my job so easy,” said head coach Rod Brind’Amour, the last captain to lift the Cup with the Hurricanes, before Game 6.
Staal, 37, did everything and more for the Hurricanes in this run. It began with him dropping the gloves off the opening face-off with Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk in Game 1 of Round 1.
The Hurricanes then rattled off back-to-back sweeps of the Senators and Flyers, the first team to do that since the playoffs expanded to four best-of-seven series.
Staal and the Hurricanes dispatched the Canadiens in five, and then in the final, Staal went on a goal-scoring spree not seen in the NHL in 70 years.
Staal opened the Final with goals in each of the first five games, six goals in total. He was the first player since Jean Believeu in 1956 to open a Final with a five-game goal streak, and just the fourth player ever to do it.
Beyond the goals, Staal remained his defensive steady self, winning face-offs and holding top Golden Knights centre Jack Eichel to just four assists in the series.
Staal has played in nearly 1,600 games over his NHL career, but with this performance, he doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon.