Kim Staal

Kim Staal (born March 10, 1978) is a Danish professional ice hockey forward, currently with Tohoku Free Blades.

Despite his surname, he is not related to the Staal family of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, which consists of hockey playing brothers Eric, Marc, Jordan and Jared, who are Canadians of Dutch descent.

Playing career

Staal was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens as their fourth-round pick in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft. He spent his early professional career in the Swedish elite league, playing for Malmö IF and Modo Hockey. Staal has also played on the Denmark national ice hockey team and has participated in every Ice Hockey World Championships since 2003. In 2006, he signed with the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL. He signed with Linköpings HC in July 2007 and with HV71 on June 19, for one season. After an injury-prone season with HV71, he signed with Malmö Redhawks in HockeyAllsvenskan.

He is often popular with fans and team mates due to his outgoing nature and sense of humour. In Sweden, his nickname is "Staalmannen", which literally means "man of steel". Stålmannen is also the Swedish name for Superman.