Staal looking forward to just being a dad this off-season

Veteran eager to reunite with wife and kids after memorable playoff run with Habs

There's a really cute scene in Episode 6 of the NHL'S Quest for the Stanley Cup series on Youtube in which Eric Staal is talking with his three young boys back home in Minnesota on Facetime.

Staal is sitting in the small Montreal condo that became his home after being traded from the Buffalo Sabres to the Canadiens on March 26 in exchange for a third-round pick and a fifthround pick at this year's NHL Draft. The Facetime call took place the day before Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at the Bell Centre against the Tampa Bay Lightning, with the Habs trailing the best-of-seven series 3-0.

“You better win,” one of the boys tells Staal.

The boys — Parker, 11, Levi, 9, and Finley, 6 — remind their father that he has to eat his lucky M&M candies before the game.

“Before I head to the rink, I get a quick shot of M&MS to make sure that I'm flying for the beginning of the game,” Staal says on Quest for the Stanley Cup about the personalized candies his boys sent him. “They say `Go Daddy Go,' `Go Habs Go,' `No. 21.' It's kind of been our thing since I've been gone. That's why he was like: `You better eat all of them because we got to win the next game.' So that's where that's at. It kind of keeps them connected into what we're doing, so it's good.”

The lucky candies worked for Game 4, with the Canadiens winning 3-2 in overtime. But the

Lightning won Game 5 in Tampa 1-0 to win the Stanley Cup and end the Canadiens' season.

This was a tough campaign for the 36-year-old Staal, who started with the Buffalo Sabres after being traded from the Minnesota Wild last September. Staal had spent four seasons in Minnesota and his family had settled there. With the three boys in school and also involved in sports, and considering the COVID-19 pandemic, Staal decided it would be best for his family to stay in Minnesota while he left for Buffalo just after Christmas for the start of training camp.

The Sabres were terrible and the trade to the Canadiens provided a welcome change of scenery for Staal. GM Marc Bergevin believed his three young centres — Nick Suzuki, Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Jake Evans — needed a veteran presence to help them out and Staal filled that role both on and off the ice.

It's unlikely Staal will be back with the Canadiens next season.

He becomes an unrestricted free agent and still loves playing and competing, but when he spoke with reporters on Friday, his biggest concern was getting back home to his family.

“The future right now is to get home, be a dad and a husband,” he said. “It's been half a year — a little over half a year of being away from them — and I've never done that, ever. So it's exciting to be able to be home with them and decompress a little. Obviously, there are some decisions that we'll have to make as a family moving forward, and it's not just about what I want, it's about what makes sense for us as a family, with my wife and boys. So we'll see.

“But my overall experience through this run, this playoffs, was special. It meant a lot to me. It was a treat to be able to come to the arena every day and don the Habs colours and play with these guys. It was very, very special to me, and these memories I'll hold forever, and my family will as well. We'll see what lies ahead, but it was definitely a time that I'll cherish in my career, no question.

“I can't say enough positive things about my support system, my family, my wife, my kids," Staal said. "It was challenging, for sure, at times. Everyone had their moments — I had my moments, my wife had her moments, each kid individually had their moments. We really did get through it all together. She was rock solid. Having three boys all playing hockey, in school, in different sports and running them all over the place, it takes a team when you're together, and when you're apart it's even more so. She's a special lady and I'm just excited to be able to get home and decompress with them and just be there. It was special to me for her to be as supportive as she was for me to chase my dream of winning another Stanley Cup, and I wouldn't have been able to get this far without that support and I'm real lucky, for sure.”

Staal was hoping to win his second Stanley Cup after winning one as a 22-year-old with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. He came up short, but has no regrets.

“Didn't finish off with the result we wanted, but still very proud to have been a part of this group and these guys,” he said.

It was a treat to be able to come to the arena every day and don the Habs colours and play with these guys. It was very, very special to me.