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06/15 08:32 CDT Taylor Hall-Logan Stankoven-Jackson Blake line is a big reason Carolina won the Stanley Cup Taylor Hall-Logan Stankoven-Jackson Blake line is a big reason Carolina won the Stanley Cup By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer Logan Stankoven was 7 years old and Jackson Blake on the verge of his seventh birthday when Taylor Hall was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 NHL draft. Fast-forward more than a decade and a half later, and the "Kids and the Hall" line was a huge reason the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup. "Great all playoffs, all year," coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "Their game really hasn't changed for months." Offsetting power-play struggles through the first three rounds and sagging production from the top line of Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov for much of the playoffs, Hall, Stankoven and Blake combined for 29 of the Hurricanes' 66 goals in their title run. That included the two scored on Carter Hart in Game 6 against Vegas to close out the final. "Those two just work so hard," Blake said. "They make it a whole lot easier on me to play out there, for sure. They were unbelievable all playoffs long, and it was so fun and to cap it off with this is very special." Hall had what will go down as the Game 6 winner, completing at 18 seasons the longest stretch between getting picked first and winning the Cup. The 34-year-old winger who was NHL MVP in 2017-18 while playing for New Jersey thrived as a role player with Carolina, his seventh team in the league. "You never know what kind of turn your life's going to take," said Hall, who joined Carolina from Chicago as part of a three-team trade in January 2025 and signed an extension a few months later. "I got fortunate coming here. A special group to do it with. They allowed me, personally, just to come in and have success and that says a lot." In that same deal, the Hurricanes got big winger Mikko Rantanen from Colorado. He lasted just 13 games with them before getting flipped to Dallas. The centerpiece of that return was Stankoven, who was most of the way through his first season with the Stars. "I didn't see it coming," Stankoven said. "It was tough at first just to kind of swallow it and realize that I was getting shipped out." Stankoven became the center Carolina needed and led the team in playoff goals with 11. Blake assisted on Hall's goal and scored the second one Sunday night, showing up big as the youngest player to lift the Cup this time. "I have no words right now," the 22-year-old Blake said. "I'm out of breath. But this is the greatest feeling I've ever had in my life. It's unbelievable. And to do it with these guys, my family here and everyone here supporting us, it's unbelievable." It all worked because Stankoven was able to fill the void in the middle that had prevented the Hurricanes from getting over the hump. Hall became the muscle. Blake was the distributor. Stankoven turned out to be the finisher, while also creating the offense at even strength. "It's what you dream of as a kid is to obviously, one, win a Stanley Cup, but you want to be a difference-maker in the NHL," the 23-year-old Stankoven said. "I know that I'm not a finished product. I still have work to put in, and I'm still a young guy. I just want to keep working at my game and just being a sponge." While the Stars are more than happy to have Rantanen in his prime, Stankoven made the best of the move 15 months ago. Last summer, he signed a $48 million contract through 2034 and already looks to be worth every penny. "Everything kind of happens for a reason," Stankoven said. "Dallas got their player, and I just want to become the best version of myself here in Carolina." ___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl