DONNA SPENCER

Canadian Press

MONCTON -- The Stanley Cup trumps the Memorial Cup in a house full of hockey-playing brothers.

Peterborough Petes forward Jordan Staal knows that if older brother Eric wins the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes, a Memorial Cup win for the Petes would take a backseat to Lord Stanley in the Staal household in Thunder Bay.

"Hopefully, Eric doesn't win the Stanley Cup, which would kind of suck for me," Jordan joked yesterday before the Petes faced the Quebec Remparts in the opening game of the 2006 Memorial Cup.

"He's doing well as usual and I'm really proud of him," he added.

Eric, 21, is leading the Hurricanes in National Hockey League playoff scoring as Carolina and Buffalo begin the Eastern Conference final today.

Jordan, 17, already has bragging rights in the game of one-upmanship between competitive siblings, as neither Eric, when he was with the Petes, nor 19-year-old Marc, a defenceman with the Sudbury Wolves, played in the Memorial Cup.

"This has been kind of neat for me, carving my own path," Jordan said.

Eric was selected second overall by the Hurricanes in the 2003 NHL entry draft and Marc was the 12th pick by the New York Rangers in last year's draft.

While American defenceman Erik Johnson is the front-runner to go No. 1 this year, Jordan's stock has risen steadily this season and he shouldn't go lower than fourth.

Either he or Winnipeg forward Jonathan Toews, who plays for the University of North Dakota, should be the top Canadian pick in the draft in Vancouver on June 24.

Jordan is bigger than Eric -- 6 foot 3 and 200 pounds -- with room to grow. Jordan skates and handles the puck with the kind of ease that makes NHL scouts buzz.

Jordan has a long reach and uses his size to create space for himself. It's been said his skill level is higher at this age than Eric's was.

"I had the pleasure of playing with his brother Eric for a full season three years ago," Petes captain Jamie Tardif said. "I would say Jordan is at the same [level], if not a little higher. Jordan is a little bit bigger, hits a little more."

Jordan says his brothers didn't offer a lot of advice about his draft year.

"They just said go and experience it yourself, but the one thing is you have to play consistent hockey," he said. "You have to show up every game, because if you don't do that, you're not going to go very far."

Jordan will turn 18 on Sept. 10 and a late birthday is seen as a disadvantage when it comes to the draft because some others at the top of his draft class will have played one more season of major junior hockey than him.

His development curve in the Ontario Hockey League has been steep, but Jordan has met the challenge, as he was a dominant player for the Petes in last year's playoffs at the age of 16, with five goals and five assists and a plus-7 rating in 14 games.

Jordan was a key piece of the Petes' puzzle in winning an OHL title and a berth in this year's Memorial Cup, with 10 goals and six assists in 19 playoff games. He had 28 goals and 40 assists in 68 games in the regular season.

"When Eric was here, he was our top guy, our go-to guy, whereas we have a lot of those guys with Steve Downie and Daniel Ryder, so the attention is not all on Jordan," Tardif said. "But he's definitely one of the reasons we're here."

Jordan is the third of the four Staal brothers. Jared, a 15-year-old forward who is 6 foot 2, will follow Marc to Sudbury as the Wolves selected him in this year's OHL draft.

Cup notes: Vancouver Giants head coach Don Hay expects Pat Quinn, former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach and part-owner of the Giants, to attend today's game between Vancouver and Moncton. . . . Moncton Wildcats forward Philippe Dupuis is competing in his third Memorial Cup after playing for the Gatineau Olympiques in 2003 and 2004. Gatineau lost in the final both years. . . . The Petes have the most NHL draft picks with 10 followed by Moncton with eight. . . . Vancouver Giants forward Gilbert Brule is the highest-drafted player in the Memorial Cup (sixth overall last year to Columbus). . . . The Edmonton Oilers and the Colorado Avalanche have the most draft picks in the tournament with three each.