Stankoven said, \u201cHe was incredible (Sunday) and through the whole playoffs. But (Sunday) you could see he was so hungry and he was skating great, driving the play. He had a great read on his goal, and it was a great shot. I\u2019m very happy for him. He\u2019s had a lot of individual success, but he wanted to be a Stanley Cup winner, and it was great to see him hoist the Cup.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was a moment that for a while looked as though it would never happen for Hall, not until the trade to Carolina and a chance to play for coach Rod Brind’Amour. His 48 points during the regular season were the most he had since 2021-22 with the Bruins (61; 20 goals, 41 assists).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great story; we have a bunch of these guys that grinded it out,\u201d Brind\u2019Amour said. \u201cHim coming over with the pedigree he had, it could have been easy for him to say, \u2018I\u2019m not doing this,\u2019 but it was the opposite. It was, \u2018How do I contribute to getting this?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kind of got better as a player. You just watch him now, and I don\u2019t know that he could have played any better. He was a real special player, another great addition, and I know he\u2019s a big part of what we\u2019ve just done here.\u201d<\/p>\n
His teammates felt the same way, especially when you consider Hall was the third player to hold the Cup on Sunday. Staal handed it to goalie Frederik Andersen, who then gave it to Hall at the urging of center Sebastian Aho.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time you see someone lift the Cup, you see all the emotions and are so happy for that guy, and Taylor especially,\u201d Carolina forward Mark Jankowski<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a great career for him. He\u2019s done so many great things, and for him to be able to be a huge part of us lifting this Cup is really special.\u201d<\/p>\n