Known for his patience, power, and high hockey IQ, Eric Staal was not a flashy player, but he was a winner and a valuable member of every team he played on.

Staal was the second overall pick in the 2003 Draft, and the Canadian went right to the parent club of the team that drafted him, the Carolina Hurricanes.  He had a magical second year in hockey, setting what would be personal bests in Goals (45), Assists (55), and Points (100), while earning a Second Team All-Star.  More importantly, he anchored Carolina to their first Stanley Cup.  Staal would later become Carolina’s captain, though he never had the same numbers that he did in 2005-06.  Still, Staal had at least 70 Points in the five years that followed, and was a four-time All-Star in that time frame.

Staal was traded to the New York Rangers late in the 2015-16 Season, and in the off-season, he joined the Minnesota Wild. Over the next four years, he recorded 240 Points in 311 games, earning two more All-Star Game appearances.   He was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2021, but age and injuries took their toll, and he bounced around from the Sabres, to Montreal, to Team Canada in the 2022 Olympics, and finally a year with the Florida Panthers.

Internationally, he became a member of the Triple Gold Club, securing Gold with Team Canada at the 2007 Worlds and the 2010 Olympics.

Drafted in the first round (16th overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft out of Florida State, Brian Burns arrived in Charlotte as an explosive, bendy edge rusher. Across his five seasons with the Carolina Panthers, Burns served as a bright spot during a challenging era for the franchise, constantly terrorizing opposing backfields with his speed off the corner.

Burns demonstrated a rare initial burst and ankle flexion in Carolina’s pass rush. Operating mainly from the outside edge, he employed a lightning-quick first step, a signature ghost-move, and an impressive dip-and-bend technique to effectively maneuver around offensive tackles. His speed in pursuit rendered him a formidable backfield playmaker against both passing dropbacks and perimeter run strategies.

Burns demonstrated an immediate impact during his rookie season in 2019, participating in all 16 games, including five starts, and recording 7.5 sacks as well as a 56-yard fumble return for a touchdown. Upon assuming a full-time starting role in 2020, he achieved 9.0 sacks, 21 quarterback hits, and three forced fumbles.

His ongoing development reached its peak with consecutive Pro Bowl selections in 2021 and 2022. The 2022 season was notably his best performance with the Panthers, achieving personal bests with 12.5 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, and 22 quarterback hits. Despite changes in defensive schemes and offensive difficulties within the team, Burns maintained consistency in 2023, recording 8.0 sacks and 16 tackles for loss.

After 2023, the Panthers tagged Burns non-exclusively in March 2024 and traded him to the Giants for draft picks. He ranked fifth on Carolina's sack list, with 246 tackles, 46.0 sacks, 59 TFL, 95 QB hits, and 8 forced fumbles.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB.  Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players, coaches and executives.  As such, it is important to us that Cam Ward has become the first person elected to the Carolina Hurricanes Hall of Fame.

Ward was a First Round Pick (25^th Overall) in 2002, and debuted for the Canes in 2005, playing for them until 2018.  Holding the all-time franchise record in Wins (318) and Shutouts (27), Ward has a Caroina record of 318-244-84 and a GAA of 2.70.  Ward backstopped Carolina to their first Stanley Cup in 2006, where he was named the Conn Smythe Award winner as the playoff MVP.

Ward joins Rob Brind’ Amour, Ron Francis and Glen Wesley, who were automatically chosen for the first class.  The ceremony will take place on February 16.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate Cam Ward for earning this prestigious honor.

Glen Wesley was a veteran of 20 years in the National Hockey League and, with 1,457 Games Played, is one of only a handful of players who tallied that many shifts and is not in the Hall of Fame.

Considering that the highest season points output for Ray Whitney is 83, it is incredible that he became the 79th player in NHL history to hit the 1,000 mark in a career.  This shows that he is very durable, underrated as many have claimed, and as many have stated, an asset on the NHL roster. The problem was that at no point in his career was he good enough for a Canadian Olympic or World Cup roster. Whitney was a good player, but if he was not good enough throughout his career to represent Canada at the world’s biggest tournament, how can he be a legitimate Hall of Famer?  Anyone with over 1,000 NHL career points might be discussed.

An intense workout machine whose gym work likely granted him twenty NHL seasons, Rod Brind’Amour was not just a physical anomaly, but one hell of a hockey player.