Erik Cole Explained

Position:Left wing
Shoots:Left
Height Ft:6
Height In:2
Weight Lb:205
Played For:Carolina Hurricanes
Edmonton Oilers
Montreal Canadiens
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
League:NHL
Ntl Team:USA
Birth Date:November 6, 1978
Birth Place:Oswego, New York, U.S.
Career Start:2000
Career End:2015
Draft:71st overall
Draft Year:1998
Draft Team:Carolina Hurricanes

Erik Thomas Cole (born November 6, 1978) is an American former professional ice hockey left winger. Originally drafted by the Hurricanes in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Cole played 15 seasons in the NHL for the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Detroit Red Wings.

Playing career

Amateur

Early in his career, Cole played high school ice hockey for the Oswego Buccaneers in his hometown of Oswego, New York.[1] He played 48 games for the Buccaneers during the 1996-7 USHL season, scoring 30 goals and 34 assists for 64 points.

Cole then attended Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, where he played college hockey for the Golden Knights ice hockey team in the NCAA's ECAC conference. At the end of his first season, the Carolina Hurricanes selected him 71st overall in the third round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. Cole would play two more collegiate seasons with the Golden Knights, departing in 2000.

Professional

In the 2001–02 season, his rookie year, Cole scored six goals during the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs. Additionally, he was one-third of the "BBC Line," which also featured Bates Battaglia and Rod Brind'Amour, during the Hurricanes' Stanley Cup run in 2002.

On December 19, 2005, Cole was chosen to represent Team USA ice hockey for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. He was named alongside fellow Clarkson University alumnus Craig Conroy, then of the Calgary Flames. He also represented Team USA the next year at the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Moscow.

On March 4, 2006, Cole suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck after getting hit by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik.[2] The injury kept him out of the lineup until Game 6 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals, where the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in Game 7 over the Edmonton Oilers. On November 12, 2007, Cole went head-first into Florida Panthers goaltender Tomáš Vokoun; he was face down on the ice for over five minutes and was escorted off the ice via stretcher.[3] It was a neck injury but not serious, and he traveled with the team to Tampa Bay.

Cole was the first player in the NHL to ever be awarded two penalty shots in the same game.[4] On July 1, 2008, Cole was acquired by the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Joni Pitkänen.[5] On January 14, 2009, Cole, as a member of the Oilers, recorded his fifth NHL hat-trick against the Washington Capitals on goaltender José Théodore. Cole set an unofficial NHL record in the Fastest Skater event by skating around the entire ice at Rexall Place with a time of 13.117 seconds.

On March 4, 2009, Cole was traded back to Carolina in exchange for Patrick O'Sullivan and a second-round draft pick; O'Sullivan was traded to Carolina for Justin Williams and second-round pick earlier that day.[6] On July 1, 2009, the Hurricanes signed Cole to a two-year, $5.8 million contract, which paid $2.8 million in 2009–10 and $3 million in 2010–11).[7] On December 5, 2009, Cole scored his sixth career hat-trick against the Vancouver Canucks in Raleigh. The second goal went off the skate of former Clarkson University teammate, and then-Canuck, Willie Mitchell. Cole scored the third goal on an empty-net after goaltender Andrew Raycroft was pulled in favor for an extra attacker in the last minute of play.

On July 1, 2011, Cole signed a four-year, $18 million contract as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens.[8] Cole wore jersey number 72 for the Canadiens. During his first season with the Canadiens in 2011–12, Cole set career highs with 35 goals and 61 points. On March 23, 2012, Cole scored a natural hat-trick just 5:41 into a game against the Ottawa Senators, setting a Canadiens record for the quickest hat-trick from the start of a game.[9]

On February 26, 2013, during the lockout-shortened 2012–13 season, after a slow start offensively, Cole was traded to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Michael Ryder and a third-round draft pick in 2013.[10] In 28 games with Dallas, Cole would record six goals and one assist as the Stars would miss the 2013 playoffs.

On March 1, 2015, the Stars traded Cole to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for Mattias Bäckman, Mattias Janmark-Nylén and a second-round draft pick in 2015.[11] On April 8, it was announced that Cole would miss the remainder of the season with a spinal contusion he suffered on March 24 in a game against the Arizona Coyotes.[12]

On September 20, 2017, Cole signed a one-day contract with the Carolina Hurricanes and subsequently announced his retirement from the NHL [13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGP PIMGP G A Pts PIM
1995–96Oswego High SchoolHS-NY40 49 41 90
1996–97Des Moines BuccaneersUSHL48 30 34 64 1405 2 0 2 6
1997–98Clarkson UniversityECAC34 11 20 31 55
1998–99Clarkson UniversityECAC36 22 20 42 50
1999–00Clarkson UniversityECAC33 19 11 30 46
1999–00Cincinnati CyclonesIHL9 4 3 7 27 1 1 2 2
2000–01Cincinnati CyclonesIHL69 23 20 43 285 1 0 1 2
2001–02Carolina HurricanesNHL81 16 24 40 3523 6 3 9 30
2002–03Carolina HurricanesNHL53 14 13 27 72
2003–04Carolina HurricanesNHL80 18 24 42 93
2004–05Eisbären BerlinDEL39 6 21 27 768 5 1 6 37
2005–06Carolina HurricanesNHL60 30 29 59 542 0 0 0 0
2006–07Carolina HurricanesNHL71 29 32 61 76
2007–08Carolina HurricanesNHL73 22 29 51 76
2008–09Edmonton OilersNHL63 16 11 27 63
2008–09Carolina HurricanesNHL17 2 13 15 1018 0 5 5 22
2009–10Carolina HurricanesNHL40 11 5 16 29
2010–11Carolina HurricanesNHL82 26 26 52 49
2011–12Montreal CanadiensNHL82 35 26 61 48
2012–13Montreal CanadiensNHL19 3 3 6 10
2012–13Dallas StarsNHL28 6 1 7 10
2013–14Dallas StarsNHL75 16 13 29 203 0 0 0 2
2014–15Dallas StarsNHL57 18 15 33 14
2014–15Detroit Red WingsNHL11 3 3 6 0
NHL totals892 265 267 532 65946 6 8 14 54

International

YearTeamEventResultGPGAPtsPIM
2005United States6th7 1 5 6 6
2006United States OG8th6 1 2 3 0
2007United StatesWC5th7 1 4 5 2
Senior totals 20311148

Awards and honors

AwardYear
All-ECAC Hockey Rookie Team1997–98
All-ECAC Hockey First Team1998–99
AHCA East Second-Team All-American1998–99
ECAC Hockey All-Tournament Team1999
All-ECAC Hockey Second team1999–00
DEL Champion2004–05
Stanley Cup (Carolina Hurricanes)2005–06

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Oswego school district Athletic Hall of Fame inductions set. The Post-Standard. Groom. Debra J.. 2008-12-17. 2012-01-04.
  2. Web site: Cole to Miss at Least 6-8 Weeks with Fractured Vertebra . . 2006-03-05 .
  3. Web site: Canes' Cole leaves game on stretcher after collision with goalie Vokoun. ESPN. 2007-11-13.
  4. Web site: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Buffalo Sabres Game Recap, November 9, 2005, ESPN. https://web.archive.org/web/20170429184409/http://www.espn.com/nhl/recap?gameId=251109002. dead. April 29, 2017. ESPN. 2005-11-09.
  5. Web site: Oilers bring in Cole, Brule with pair of trades. TSN. 2008-07-01.
  6. Web site: Hurricanes re-acquire Cole . nhl.com . 2009-03-04 . 2009-03-04.
  7. Web site: Hurricanes Agree to Terms with Erik Cole . carolinahurricanes.com . 2009-07-01 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090704221605/http://hurricanes.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=433048 . 2009-07-04 .
  8. Web site: NHL Free Agent Tracker. The Sports Network. 1 July 2011.
  9. Web site: Cole Scores Three in First Six Minutes as Habs Down Senators. The Sports Network. 24 March 2012. 26 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120326173230/http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=391222. dead.
  10. Web site: Canadiens acquire Ryder and pick from Stars for Cole . . 2013-02-26 . 2013-02-26.
  11. Web site: Red Wings acquire Erik Cole from Dallas . . Kyle . Kujawa . 2015-03-01 . 2015-03-01.
  12. Web site: Spinal bruise ends Cole's season . . Bill . Roose . 2015-04-08 . 2015-04-08.
  13. Web site: Cole, 38, retires from NHL; won Stanley Cup in 2006. nhl.com. 20 September 2017.