Revisiting the Career of Alex Staal
A time when the VHL was a small number of players on each team, when there was no VHL presence in Quebec or Cologne, when Scotty Campbell's reign of terror on the record books had just began and Christian Stolschweiger was not far behind him. Every VHL player has heard about the record breakers of the league, past and present, but there was a name that never put up amazing numbers. Never made a name for himself through the score sheet. He was considered a loyal warrior that despite the lack of skill, was a "player's player" and a fan favorite. The name Alex Staal never rings many bells but in the lost VHL-defunct city of Stockholm, fans have smiles on their faces when saying the name.
A rough first step into the league started on draft day. Being drafted in the 2nd round, 16th overall by Hamilton, Stockholm GM Chris Julien saw something in the young defenseman that even the Hamilton GM didn't. The move was Staal and a 5th rounder for Doug Schneider. He felt betrayed and confused as to why he would be traded only a day after being called to the podium, but after meeting GM Julien, it all clicked for him.
A rough start to the season it was. A Stockholm team in need of scoring, Julien shipped off Staal to Avangard mid season for Joey Kendrick. His rookie year in S2 finished with 9 goals and 16 assists for a total of 25 points. He would be shipped off once more to Helsinki during the offseason, only to land back in Stockholm through waiver claim. Was Alex ready to forgive Chris Julien for trading him for offensive power? "I understood that being a part of the league means you're always a part of the business aspect. A GM does whatever they have to do in order to win and I admired that about Mr. Julien. That's why when he made the claim for me I was ecstatic to be back in an environment I loved," said Staal. And upon arriving in Stockholm, it did click. Again.
A confident Staal made strides in his offensive game during his sophomore year. Posting 6 goals and 25 assists, he was starting to win the hearts of the Stockholm fanbase, while the team struggled all season long getting only 9 wins in the 72 game season. It wasn't until S4 where both Staal and Stockholm made huge strides in their game. In Stockholm's first trip to the finals, ultimately falling to Seattle in 5 games, the city saw scoring like never before from all sides of the ice. Now with elite goaltender Greg Goldberg, team had almost everything to get the championship. "That was probably the most fun I've ever had while playing in the VHL. Being with Julien, Schneids, Urho and one of my favorite people that I ever shared the blue line with, Alex Kachur, I realized it's not all about a star power team that wins the big one. If you're a team with great connections among each other, winning comes easy." said Staal.
S4 would become even more memorable for Alex, after getting the call from Team Canada to represent his nation in the World Cup of Hockey. Representing Canada while being surrounded by other defensemen like Sterling Labatte, Jon Clarke and Raymond Funke, he was almost star stuck by guys he played against on a regular basis .Team Canada steamrolled on to win the gold medal against Scandinavia, where Staal was named the first star of the game. He finally had an accolade to show off his steady career so far.
S5 had Staal create even more offense with 70 points while making the European Conference All-Star team. He took what he learned from the defensemen of Team Canada and weaved it in to his own game, posting a career high 70 point season with Stockholm.
Staal went through S6 posting a modest 53 points on another sunken Stockholm Rams team. He was reaching his last eligible year of his career without a cup, so Alex broke the hearts of the city of Stockholm announcing he would be going to free agency for the first time in his career. It was unmarked territory for Staal. He ended up signing with the heavily favored Calgary Wranglers. He would once again be joining forces with Sterling Labatte from Team Canada and Doug Schneider from Stockholm. Staal stayed in the 50 point mark having 56 points in his final regular season The Wranglers dominated the North American Conference and met with the European Conference power house of the Avangard Havoc in the finals. In a grueling 6 game series, Avangard took the cup in a 6-4 final score of game 6. Alex was only 2 wins away from his first cup of his career and he was still not good enough, and that was enough for Alex Staal. Calling it a career after two cup appearances and a gold medal with Canada.
"I don't regret anything about my career, as surprising as it may seem. I made lots of friends, playing in some amazing teams, and learned a lot from the people around me. Some things weren't meant to be, and that was me winning the cup." said Staal.
Staal never became a player agent immediately after his career, going years without associating with the VHL. It wasn't until this past December where Alex Staal found his first client in Blaine Olynick, the young goaltender from Toronto, Ontario. "I saw him playing for the Mooseheads of the QMJHL one time, and I heard he was headed to the VHL. I said to myself 'Wow, the VHL. Haven't heard that in years.' so I made it a mission to help him make it to the league and along through his very promising career." said Staal. That same month Staal accompanied Olynick as his player agent to the VHLM Dispersal Draft, the first time he attended a VHL-affiliated event in years. He saw familiar faces who now run teams, or had children playing in the league now. "I was so proud of Blaine, seeing him being taken 5th overall. I know he'll have a great career, definitely better than mine. He'll be able to win a cup much sooner than I ever did." said Staal. Blaine plans to keep in contact with Staal throughout the season to prepare for the draft.
In the VHL record books, you will never see the name Alex Staal written anywhere among records. Chances are you'll never see that name in the Hall of Fame either. But if you ever had the chance to play with or against Alex, the name will always coincide with the hard working, helpful, and loyalty to the city of Stockholm he had through his career. Perhaps through Blaine Olynick's VHL career, we'll see the Staal personality shine through him.
.png.ed69a7260a477fcf4feead7a0e4b7506.png)
