Captain Staal nets a hat trick

So, uh, apparently Staal should have been made captain earlier. Because, in his first night as captain, he tallied a hat trick in the Canes 5-2 win over the Thrashers.

Three of the Canes goals came on the powerplay, and watching the highlights I can say that the Canes completely dominated the Thrashers on their goals. The Thrashers looked absolutely horrible, and I think I'll attribute the Canes' prowess more to Atlanta playing poorly than anything else. But, man, it was nice to see all of this offense by the Canes.

Hopefully this captaincy post will motivate Staal beyond just the first game. There's been flashes this year, but Staal has really had a down year comparatively. Perhaps the "C" on the jersey will motivate him to play like this every night?

Or every afternoon, in the case of today's game against the Flyers. 1pm puck drop, so you can be certain I won't listen to any of it because I have ACC basketball tickets for 1:30. But hopefully the Canes will continue playing better than they had been in the past.