Hurricane Force.

MINUTES AFTER Carolina Hurricanes left wing Cory Stillman scored in overtime on Sunday to give his team a 4-3 win and a three-games-to-two lead over the dogged Buffalo Sabres in the Eastern Conference finals, 6'4" Hurricanes center Eric Staal was addressing reporters in the locker room. At 21 Staal has emerged as a team leader, the franchise guy around whom Carolina's fortunes will dance for years. Staal had 100 points in the regular season (45 goals, 55 assists), and he's carried that success through to his first playoffs, leading all postseason players at week's end (seven goals, 13 assists). After watching Staal--who had the overtime winner in Game 3 of the opening round against the Montreal Canadiens--lead the Hurricanes past his team in six games, Montreal coach Bob Gainey said he wished he'd kidnapped Staal before the series.

Buffalo must feel the same way. On Sunday, Staal feathered a cross-ice pass to set up captain Rod Brind'Amour for the game-tying goal, extending Staal's scoring streak to 15 playoff games, only three shy of Hall of Fame center Bryan Trottier's alltime record of 18.

Still, one win remained before Carolina could advance to face Edmonton in the Stanley Cup finals, and the youthful Staal, cautiously deflecting praise, spoke guardedly--that is, until a reporter asked him who used to win the games he played with his three brothers, Marc, Jordan and Jared, on the backyard rink at the family farm in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Breaking into a boyish grin, Staal for the first time all night looked his age. "I don't know what Marc told you," he laughed, "but me and my youngest brother, Jared, won all the time. Not even close."

Eric is the oldest in the talented Staal clan. Marc, 19, also 6'4", was the New York Rangers' top draft choice in 2005 (12th overall) and was named the top defenseman at the world junior championships in January. Six-foot-three Jordan, 17, had 68 points in 68 games playing center for the Peterborough Petes and is projected to be a top five pick in this month's NHL draft. And Jared, 15, who will play next season for the Sudbury Wolves, is already 6'2" and 170 pounds, two inches taller and 25 pounds heavier than Eric was at that age. They've drawn comparisons with Alberta's famous Sutter brothers, six of whom played in the NHL at the same time.

The Staals grew up playing on the 50-by-100-foot rink their father, Henry, built on his sod farm, complete with boards and lights, to save them from couch-potatodom. Henry borrowed a friend's septic-cleaning truck to flood the rink with pond water, and from late November until early March the four boys honed their skills in two-on-two games. Eric says he modeled himself "after guys like Mike Modano and Joe Nieuwendyk, who played the game with size and speed and strength."

Chosen second in the 2003 draft by Carolina, Staal added 20 pounds of muscle during the lockout season while playing for the Lowell Lock Monsters in the AHL, so that now, at 205, with his mobility and octopuslike reach, he's very difficult to knock off the puck. "This is just a continuation of what he did in the regular season," says Carolina coach Peter Laviolette. "He's proving he's a playoff player and one of the best hockey players in the league."

PHOTO (COLOR): ERIC THE RED: Staal, who has three NHL-caliber brothers, had points in 15 straight playoff games.

~~~~~~~~

By E.M. Swift