Taylor Hall goes from No. 1 pick to MVP to Stanley Cup champion with the Hurricanes

Taylor Hall was a No. 1 pick in the draft in 2010. He was the NHL's MVP in 2018.

Now, he is a Stanley Cup champion.

“You never know. You never know what kind of turn your life’s going to take,” Hall said after hoisting the trophy. "It was heavy. It was heavy, unbalanced but amazing.”

No longer in the prime of his career, the 34-year-old Hall was one of the biggest reasons the Carolina Hurricanes won 16 of 19 games during this playoff run.

“He’s fast, he’s physical (and) he makes great plays with the puck,” defenseman Jaccob Slavin said. “He’s selling out to block shots. And so you need that. He’s really just been a complete player this whole playoffs.”

Hall took on a workmanlike role on a line alongside 23-year-old Logan Stankoven and 22-year-old Jackson Blake. That trio led the way through the first three rounds of the playoffs and in the final against Vegas. Hall was a force in every way — generating offense, hammering opponents and sacrificing himself on defense.

“Every line on our team has a physical aspect, and I think it falls on me to play like that,” Hall said. “Florida last year, there wasn’t a guy on their team that didn’t hit and didn’t make it really, really hard to be on the ice against them and you watch and learn.”

With Chicago, Hall played Carolina on Jan. 20, 2025, and liked what he saw in a hard-fought overtime loss.

“I got a first-hand glimpse of the intensity in which we play,” Hall said.

His agent had approached him about the Hurricanes' interest in him and a few days later he joined them as part of the same three-team trade that got them Mikko Rantanen. Initially, Hall was not in shape to play coach Rod Brind'Amour's brand of hockey.

But general manager Eric Tulsky liked what he saw in Hall.

“He brings a blend of speed, skill and heaviness that really fits for us,” Tulsy said. “He has the ability to get pucks into the zone, win pucks along the way and he has the vision and creativity and skill to get pucks to the middle and create scoring chances off it. We spend a lot of time in the offensive zone, and we need players like him who can not just win the battle along the wall but get it to premium ice and create those top-tier chances and he’s been able to do that for us.”

After starting in Edmonton and also playing for New Jersey, Arizona, Buffalo, Boston and Chicago, Carolina felt right.

“I’ve been kind of everywhere,” Hall said. “I got here and felt really at home within a couple days.”

He settled in the Raleigh area, and before the end of April signed a three-year extension worth just over $3 million annually. A lot went into it, including a bad experience as a free agent during the pandemic and being able to drive his dog to his offseason home.

“I was happy here, and I love the way we play and ultimately I saw this as a place that I think we could be here,” Hall said. “That’s what I envisioned, and everything else seemed like it made a lot of sense.”

Brind'Amour as a player was a grinder, a defense-first center who made a living out of stopping players like Hall. As a coach, he knew all about Hall's skill as a winger, his 93-point season in 2017-18 with New Jersey that got him the Hart Trophy and the kind of offensive talent the Hurricanes were getting.

The player who arrived was nothing like that.

“He didn’t bring any of that, ‘I’m an MVP’ and I’m going to do it this way.' It was, ‘What do I have to do?’” Brind'Amour said. “When he first got with us, he was playing like 12 minutes a night. It didn’t matter. It was whatever he has to do to win. That’s refreshing, and that’s good on him.”

Hall helped Carolina reach the 2025 Eastern Conference Final, then he and the team faltered against the defending-champion Panthers. That turned out to be an important lesson for a guy in his 30s thirsty for a title.

“I didn’t play well in that conference final at all, and I think just the way that Florida played and the way that I played, it was a learning experience for me even at 33,” Hall said. “It was just different way to play in the playoffs. There’s a way to play, and there’s a way that the really good teams do it. I took it over the summer and tried to just get better and better.”

Putting that into practice allowed Hall to set a record. His 18 seasons between getting drafted by Edmonton are the most before hoisting the Stanley Cup in league history for a No. 1 pick.

All because Hall made a conscious decision to fit exactly what the Hurricanes needed.

“It’s great for the role that we need him to play,” Slavin said. “I think he still has all the talent in the world, and you witness it night in and night out. He’s been great. And, yeah, has he adapted a little bit to how we play here? I think so. But that just speaks to the player that he is.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall celebrates after a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall, center, attempts a wrap around as Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Carter Hart, left, and defenseman Dylan Coghlan defend during the first period in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series Saturday, June 6, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall shoots and scores during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall (71) celebrates after a goal by right wing Jackson Blake (53) during the second period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Candice Ward)

Carolina Hurricanes left wing Taylor Hall, center, celebrates his goal with teammates during the first period in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Sunday, June 14, 2026, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Ripley, a medium-sized dog with a strong prey drive, curiously approached Brian, a large western diamondback rattlesnake, until she got a quick zap on the neck meant to simulate a venomous viper’s bite.

Suddenly, the 2-year-old blue heeler mix wanted nothing to do with Brian’s textured brown skin or furiously rattling tail. Ripley was never in danger because Brian had his venom glands removed years ago.

Dog trainer J.J. Belcher of Sublime Canine in Tucson, Arizona, said the single shock delivered one recent morning from an electronic training collar should be sufficient to keep Ripley away from venomous snakes that can sicken or even kill a dog. Belcher said Ripley can come back in a year for a free training session to make sure the lesson stuck.

Ripley’s owners, Amber Schneider and Wendy Timm, said they opted for the training because the dog regularly hunts small animals.

“We have an acre of natural desert and respect all the snakes, but she’s very curious about wildlife,” said Timm. “We are doing this because we want to keep our dog safe.”

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals says as many as 150,000 dogs are bitten by venomous snakes each year in the United States. In the rattlesnake hot spot of Arizona, emergency veterinarian Dr. Sarah Carotenuto says the Veterinary Specialty Center of Tucson treats four to six dogs daily for rattlesnake bites, along with an occasional cat.

Training programs to protect canines from poisonous snakes are offered around the U.S., especially in the Western deserts, woods and grasslands that are home to western diamondbacks. The snakes can reach over 5 feet long (1.5 meters) and strike in less than a second when they feel threatened.

There are also classes from Illinois to Florida to guard animals against eastern diamondbacks, timber rattlers and other venomous snakes.

Carotenuto said the snakebite survival rate for pets is 94% with quick treatment, which can cost thousands of dollars depending on how much antivenom and hospitalization is needed.

“Do bring us your dog quickly, but please don’t bring us the snake!” emphasized Carotenuto. Some people have brought in the guilty snake, but it’s unnecessary to identify the exact species before administering antivenom effective against all kinds of rattlers.

Carotenuto, who teaches at the University of Arizona’s College of Veterinary Medicine, said she’s participating in a research study there into whether rattlesnake-aversion training works, and which method is most effective.

Like Belcher, most trainers insist that the use of the electronic collar is necessary to ensure a dog will avoid poisonous snakes.

“It’s a very fast and effective form of training,” said Belcher, who has traveled around the Western U.S. for more than two decades teaching rattlesnake avoidance to thousands of pet and working dogs, including search-and-rescue animals and the occasional police dog.

He acknowledged the growing debate about the use of electronic training collars, a method that the American Humane Society has opposed as cruel.

The ASPCA doesn’t explicitly oppose electronic collars, but insists they be used correctly.

“This type of training can be highly effective — however, we recommend that such training be conducted only under the guidance of a trainer knowledgeable in the principles of avoidance learning,” said Pamela Reid, vice president of ASPCA's behavioral sciences team.

“It is imperative to weigh the dog’s risk of a snakebite against the potential fallout from using an electronic collar,” she said.

Training a dog to come reliably when it’s called and to “leave it” when it is interested in something dangerous “can go a long way toward keeping a dog safe,” she said.

Belcher said he has developed an alternative positive-reinforcement program for clients who are squeamish about electronic collars, but nobody has wanted to pay the $2,500 he would charge for the multiple sessions. A single visit with the collar costs $125.

Another trainer, Mike Parmley in Salt Lake City, teaches as many as 500 dogs every year, usually in small classes of four to six. He uses an electronic collar set on a low level, emphasizing, “You don’t have to shock the hell out of the dog.”

He aims to help dogs steer clear of the Salt Lake area's Great Basin rattlesnakes.

“They are a pretty big problem up here in the foothills,” said Parmley, who owns Barley’s Canine Recreation Center. “They came out a lot earlier this year because of a trend of warmer weather, and we had more than 100 dogs signed up by early June.”

Here are some tips from trainers and veterinarians for protecting your dog:

— Learn about snakes in your area. Venomous snakes exist across the U.S., with various rattler species not only in the West but as far east as New York and North Carolina.

— Clear your yard of long grass and other foliage or debris that can attract small rodents hunted by snakes. Trimming back growth can eliminate hiding places.

— Stay on well-worn trails while hiking and keep your dog on a leash.

— Don’t let your guard down even if your dog has had avoidance training. A viper can surprise and attack a person or pet without warning.

— Seek emergency care immediately if your dog is bitten because the venom will move quickly through its body, destroying tissue.

For more AP pet stories, go to https://apnews.com/hub/pets

This undated photo shows trainer J.J. Belcher, right, using his western diamondback rattler Brian to teach a dog to avoid poisonous snakes in Tucson, Ariz. (J.J. Belcher via AP)

In this undated photo shows Brian the rattlesnake, which is used to train dogs to avoid dangerous vipers, in Tucson, Ariz. (J.J. Belcher via AP)