“Obviously, I’m very close to Erik,” Staal said. “I’ve been good friends with him since the moment I came into the league. He was one of those guys who was there my first year and he did anything to help out as a friend and roommate. Along the way we became very close.
“When you develop a friendship with someone, to see them get traded is tough. It was hard for me to hear but it’s part of the game, part of the business and you have to kind of move forward I guess.”
-Eric Staal on Erik Cole at the News & Observer
