Two months ago, Steve Staios was an unemployed 38-year-old, a lifelong stay-at-home defenseman who had been drafted the same year as Eric Lindros (1991), had averaged just over three goals a season during his 16 years with five teams, and had a career rating of minus-67.
Then he got an invite to Islanders training camp, made the team, got paired with captain Mark Streit, and is now averaging about 19 minutes of ice time through the first 10 games of the season.
“I didn’t know how I would feel coming into this point in my career,” Staios told The Post before last night’s 3-0 loss to the Winnipeg Jets at the Coliseum, during which he played 18:39 and registered one shot and two more shots blocked. “But I’m highly motivated. I feel like I’ve been a positive influence to this group so far but I think that I can do more.”
The player most benefiting from some added backline stability is Streit, who has had the freedom to join offensive rushes and exploit his skill with the confidence that his own end is covered.
Although the two were broken up in the third period of last night’s game – in hopes of the team busting out of their franchise-worst offensive dry spell – Streit is still tied for second on the team with eight points (one goal, seven assists).
“I liked him since the first second he got here,” Streit said. “He’s a big veteran, has been in the league forever and he’s very good defensively. We talk a lot and I think he’s very important in the locker room.”
Staios is well aware of his advanced age, but is far from feeling it. He said for the past 11 years he has worked with a strength and conditioning coach, doing everything he can to be prepared for a workload like the one head coach Jack Capuano has heaped on him.
“That’s the least of my concerns,” Staios said. “I feel like whatever amount of minutes I get to play, I can handle.”
That doesn’t mean Capuano is going to be reckless with ice time, knowing all too well how injuries can sneak up and steal away a season.
“As a coaching staff we’ve talked a little bit about the minutes he has played,” Capuano said. “Obviously, we have to make sure we distribute our minutes properly, and that’s from our forwards right down into our backend.”
Yet, when it comes to attitude, Staios feels completely at home in the nascent locker room.
“I’m young at heart,” Staios said. “A lot of days you realize everything I’ve been through in my career, to be able to come to the rink and be a part of a group like this – this type of opportunity is exciting for me.”
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Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro started his second game of the season, and for the second time gave up a goal on the first shot of the game.
Just over four minutes into the game, the Jets’ Evander Kane came down on what was seemingly a harmless rush, but then he made a nifty move around defenseman Travis Hamonic, and after hacking at the puck and fighting his way through traffic, Kane ended up on the far post with the net wide open.
“It seemed like it was blocked and then the puck was just on his blade,” DiPietro said. “It’s frustrating.”
The second goal of the game came in the third period when former Devil Johnny Oduya tossed a puck towards the net and it deflected off the stick of a sprawled-out Andy MacDonald and up over DiPietro’s right pad.
After DiPietro dealt with a concussion for two weeks, he made an appearance last Thursday for just the shootout portion of a 3-2 loss to the Penguins, and then finally got another start last night.
“I think he went on a spell where we tilted the ice pretty good,” said Capuano. “We had the territorial battle and [DiPietro] wasn’t seeing quite a few shots. I thought he played pretty good.”
After the game, when asked how to deal with the frustration, DiPietro joked saying he was going home to take it out on his wife. After the laugh, he got serious.
“You go home and its tough to sleep at night,” he said. “Right when you’re about to fall asleep, they play the replay.”
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Hamonic had his hands full with Kane in more than one way.
After being burned by Kane for the first goal of the game, Hamonic was beat again by Kane later in the first period when the speedy Jet skated by him for a breakaway, resulting in Hamonic hooking him and a subsequent in a penalty shot.
Kane would ring that shot off the right post, keeping the score 1-0.
By the end of the period, Hamonic had seen enough and dropped the gloves and the two young players fought.
“I was preached you play for a couple reasons,” Hamonic said in explaining the fight. “To pick [the team] up is one.”
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The third line of Blake Comeau, Josh Bailey, and Brian Rolston had their best performance of the season, with all three generating three shots a piece.
“This isn’t the time to be down,” said the veteran Rolston. “That will be reiterated in the room.”