Eric Staal Happy to Forget Buffalo Ever Happened

Eric Staal never wanted to go to Buffalo. He was happy as ever in Minnesota playing for the Wild, and when the news broke he was dealt to the Sabres he was in shock. Staal made his way to Buffalo and left his family back in Minny because he knew he wouldn't be there long. Turns out he was right as the Sabres dealt Staal to the Montreal Canadiens and the best part about it all, Buffalo is behind him.

Staal met with the media after being traded to the Habs and had this to say about his time in Buffalo:

Well, the good part for me right now is I don't really need to explain. I can kind of put that behind me and focus on what I can do for the Montreal Canadiens, which is what I'm going to try and do ... for me, having this chance to be a Montreal Canadien and join this team, with a lot of great players and talent, is exciting for me. There were so many hurdles, there were so many things that just didn't line up the way we envisioned. The reality is we started OK, we had an up and down first two weeks or so, we were kind of finding our game, filling our roles, and then we got hit with COVID. It went through our room like wildfire, and it wasn't great. Two weeks of guys battling that, and a couple of guys battling it pretty hard, it was difficult. We kind of, after that, coming back, never found any footing.

Staal continues to quarantine and won't be making his debut for the Canadiens for at least another week. So far this season the 36-year-old has recorded 10 points in 32 games and should lineup as the Canadiens #3 center once he suits up in red, blue and white.