The Carolina Hurricanes retired Eric Staal's number 12 in a ceremony Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025. The Carolina Hurricanes of old took to the ice Monday night, suiting up for one more game as part of the Eric Staal celebrations. The Canes alumni faced off against the NC State Icepack, the local university's club hockey team, and while it took a bit of time for the old guys to get their legs under them, once they did, the game quickly came back to them. In the end though, the youth of the Icepack (and a little assist from the officials) allowed the college kids to storm back against the former NHLers and steal a last minute win. It was a night of who's who as the Hurricanes lineup was filled with some recent and some classic names. Here's how the alumni team lined up for the game: Ray Whitney - Eric Staal (A) - Justin Williams (A) Eric Cole - Rod Brind'Amour (C) - Chad LaRose Bates Battaglia - Brandon Sutter - Tim Brent Jesse Boulerice - Derek Stepan - Steve Rice Mike Commodore - Aaron Ward Cam Ward - Bret Hedican Tim Gleason - Sean Hill Jorge Alves Mike Commodore kicked off the scoring for the Alumni, as his wrister from the blueline found its way through traffic and in, but the Icepack quickly responded with Holden Koufman tying up the game. However, the Canes came alive late in the period and both Eric Staal and Rod Brind'Amour scored back-to-back goals to put Carolina into the first intermission up by two. The Hurricanes grabbed another quick one to start the period as Tim Gleason froze the NC State netminder and found Eric Cole in the circle for an easy goal, but once again the Icepack responded with Jake Gifford grabbing two to shrink the deficit to one after 40 minutes of action. Steve Rice and Bret Hedican pushed the lead back up to three for the Alumni though and it looked like it was going to be smooth sailing from there, but the conditioning of the young club team soon became apparent. Ricky Frosch grabbed one, then Austin Finch another. This one wasn't over yet. However, in perhaps one of the most controversial moments in Alumni Game history, the Icepack were awarded a penalty shot after a collision between Daniel Prazma and Eric Staal at the Carolina blueline. Prazma stormed down the ice and ripped it past Jorge Alves and suddenly, the game was all tied up once again with less than a minute to go. But those hoping to see overtime never got to see those wishes come true as a later flurry in front of the Canes net resulted in Gifford pushing home his hat trick tally to give the Icepack the last-second win. Despite the outcome, it was certainly a fun night not only for the Icepack and the fans in attendance, but also for the former Canes who got to lace up the skates and don the jersey one more time.
