NOTEBOOK: Staal starting to gear up; Polishing the power play

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. - With his 16th tour of duty in the NHL on the horizon, Marc Staal knows better than most the best way to gear up for the 82-game grind of the regular season.
"You want to get yourself feeling the best you can for Game 1," Staal, who inked a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers in July, said following Tuesday's practice at the Panthers IceDen. "I've been starting to get my legs back under me here in this last week and hopefully I keep trending in the right direction. I've done it enough times, so I should have it figured out by now."
For head coach Paul Maurice, it's Staal's consistency that has really stood out in training camp.
"He runs the same program every day on the ice," Maurice said. "He's a big guy, covers enough ice, and has a great stick. His experience has let his game change as he ages in the league."

Originally selected by the New York Rangers with the 12th overall pick in the 2005 NHL Draft, Staal, who stands an imposing 6-foot-4 and 208 pounds on the blue line, arrived to the Panthers with 214 points (49 goals, 165 assists), 1,162 blocked shots and 1,308 hits over 1,019 career regular-season games.
Also appearing in 107 career playoff games - including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final with New York in 2014 - it's Staal's deep hunger to hoist the Stanley Cup that drew him to South Florida.
With two weeks of camp in the books, he's liked what he's seen thus far.
"With the overall skill and talent that this group has, the practices are at a very high level with very high speed," Staal said. "It's been a lot of fun to work with these guys. … It's been a hard camp. As we get close to the end of camp to purchase your tickets today!*