UPDATED, 12:38 p.m.: Eric Staal named winner of team's Steve Chiasson Award for first time.

Two members of the Carolina Hurricanes were honored in voting by the Carolina chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association on Thursday. Eric Staal was named the team’s Most Valuable Player for the third time, while Jay Harrison won the newly renamed Josef Vasicek Award for cooperation with the local media.

The latter award, previously known as the Good Guy Award, has been renamed by the Carolina chapter in honor of Vasicek, the former Hurricanes forward who died in a plane crash in Russia in September. Vasicek, 30, never won the award in his six seasons with the Hurricanes, but his cheerful spirit and eagerness to cooperate with the media epitomized what the honor represents.

While the Hurricanes acknowledged the bad news about Jeff Skinner and Joni Pitkanen on Wednesday -- both are out indefinitely with what have finally been confirmed are concussions -- Jay Harrison couldn’t have been happier to be back on the ice.

He has missed 10 games and three weeks -- the entire Kirk Muller Era -- with an “upper body” injury that has now been revealed as a concussion of his own. While the team muddled its way across Canada, Harrison was at home, recovering. Wednesday, he was cleared to practice with the team, one of 10 skaters to take part in a small-scale practice.

“You spend as much time with these guys as you do with your family,” Harrison said. “I definitely missed them, and I missed it, for sure.”

Canes forward Jeff Skinner and defenseman Joni Pitkanen have been diagnosed with concussions and will be sidelined indefinitely, general manager Jim Rutherford said today.

Skinner, the team's leading scorer, was evaluated Wednesday by Dr. Sandeep Gavankar at Carolina Family Practice and Sports Medicine in Cary. Skinner, 19, did not play in the Canes' last two games, against the Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs.

"This is a big step back and you hate it for the players," Rutherford said. "And especially with a young player such as Jeff, at this point in his career. He's a player who plays so hard and loves the game so much."

The Canes have agreed to terms with defenseman Jay Harrison on a two-year contract. The deal will pay Harrison $650,000 in 2011-12 and $750,000 in 2012-13.

General manager Jim Rutherford noted Harrison, 28, took a "big step" forward last year and praised Harrison for bringing a "physical and defensive element" to the blue line.

Harrison had NHL career highs last season with 72 games played, three goals, seven assists, 10 points and 72 penalty minutes, while averaging 15:16 of ice time per game.

The Oshawa, Ont., native finished 2010-11 with a plus-5 plus/minus rating to rank first among Hurricanes defensemen who played in more than half of the team’s games. In 130 career NHL games with Toronto and Carolina, Harrison has scored four goals, earned 14 assists and accumulated 140 penalty minutes.

Updated 10:48 p.m.

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes finally, on their fourth try this season, beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, with a 4-1 win at the RBC Center Friday.

But even with grabbing a pair of big points, center Eric Staal left the game late in the second period with an upper body injury and did not return.

Staal, following through on a shot in the slot, was hit hard by just-acquired Pittsburgh defenseman Matt Niskanen.

Staal, who earlier this week delivered a bit hit to his brother Marc Staal of the New York Rangers, stayed on the ice for moments before being led to the dressing room.

Carolina coach Paul Maurice said Staal won’t play in Saturday’s road game against the Montreal Canadiens.

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes couldn't hold on and lost more than the game.

With seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings on the line, the New York Rangers held on to their place in the standings with a 4-3 shootout win at the RBC Center Tuesday.

That extended the Rangers' lead over the eighth-place Hurricanes to three points. Had the Hurricanes won in regulation, they would have moved ahead of the Rangers by pulling even in points with a game in hand.

Most days, Jay Harrison is a rugged, physical defenseman for the Canes. Tonight, he's simply Santa. And a pretty brave Santa, at that.

Harrison said his oldest daughter, Presley, will be getting a set of drums, which will require some Christmas Eve assembly. Considering Presley is 3, that should certainly make the Harrison house more lively than it already is.

"Absolutely, but that's the way we like it," Harrison said, smiling.

Troy Bodie and Ryan Carter knew this day, this game, this opponent, was coming.

"I've had this date marked on my calendar," Bodie said.

Until last month, Bodie and Carter played for the Anaheim Ducks, and Carter was part of their Stanley Cup run in 2007. But that all changed when Bodie was put on waivers by Anaheim and claimed by the Canes, and Carter then was traded to Carolina.

Tonight, the Ducks will be the guys in the other sweaters trying to beat the Canes at the RBC Center. Friends and former teammates but ...

"But now it's all business," a smiling Bodie said after today's morning skate at the RecZone. "I had a good chat with a couple of them yesterday but now they're the enemy."

The Canes have signed defenseman Jay Harrison to a one-year contract that will pay him $500,000 in the 2010-2011 season.

Harrison, 27, notched career NHL highs last season in games played (38), goals (1), assists (5) and points (6) as well as penalty minutes (50). He was tied for second on the team in fighting majors (6).

Jamie McBain should feel at ease in the Canes' locker room tonight. After all, it may look a lot like the Albany River Rats' room.

Around the defenseman will be Jay Harrison and Brett Carson, Patrick Dwyer and Zach Boychuk, not to mention Brandon Sutter. All were with the Rats at some point this season.

Harrison, recalled by the Canes on March 3, played a nice chunk of the season with McBain in the AHL and believes McBain is more than ready.

"It's great to see him get his first opportunity," Harrison said of McBain, who is expected to make his NHL debut tonight against the Boston Bruins. "It's probably the first of many, because he's such a talented young player and he's been playing well down there."