Red & Black Hockey
Entries with the tag: Erik+Cole
broken legs and broken records for Cole.
by David Lee on 10/05/09 at 08:13 PM ET
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Erik Cole has played a lot of games for the Carolina Hurricanes. He has also missed a lot of games with injuries. He plays hard, and sometimes he plays recklessly. Even after his gruesome neck fracture in March of 2006, he continues to play and hit hard, which leaves him vulnerable to injury.
We all know all about Cole’s fracture of the c-5 vertebrae. He missed a total of 45 games (22 regular season, 23 playoff), and returned for games six and seven of the SCF. When he returned, he hadn’t lost any of that recklessness, and it made us all a little nervous. Nervous because we know how Cole plays and we know that he could get hurt again at any second.
There’s a long list of injuries that Cole has suffered throughout his career. Most of them normal, some of them freak. This latest one, unfortunately, is a familiar injury for Cole. It’s also beginning to sound like a broken record around here. “Erik Cole was injured in the game… Erik Cole was injured in the game… Erik Cole was injured in the game.”
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole,
Broken leg will sideline Erik Cole for 4-6 weeks.
by David Lee on 10/04/09 at 07:47 PM ET
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The Hurricanes announced today what we all knew without needing the confirmation: Erik Cole suffered a broken bone in his left leg after a nasty collision with the Bruins’ Dennis Wideman on Saturday night. Wideman’s check was clean, but it unfortunately resulted in yet another injury for Cole.
Tuomo Ruutu will slide up to the first line right wing, then some other shuffling will leave a vacancy on one of the fourth line wings. Tim Conboy, who can play on either wing and also on defense, will be the short-term solution. The former Albany River Rats captain is known more for pugilism than for his offensive acumen, but will have an excellent opportunity to prove that he has earned his one-way contract. If you’re in a fantasy league that rewards PIMs, go ahead and snatch up Conboy. He’ll be good for at least 4 penalty minutes per game.
I don’t mind seeing Conboy in the lineup on a game-by-game basis, but I’m a little frightened by the prospect of seeing him as a regular. I’m much more into the idea of bringing up Zach Boychuk or Drayson Bowman from the Rats.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole, injuries, Tim+Conboy,
Canes lose ugly game. Cole hurt.
by David Lee on 10/03/09 at 09:55 PM ET
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On Saturday night, the Hurricanes traveled to Boston and left with a lot of cuts, bruises, and possibly a break. They also lost the game 7-2 to the Bruins.
The first period did not go well, as the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Marc Savard, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler. After that, it went from bad to worse as Cam Ward was chased, no fewer than five different Hurricanes players ended up getting cut. One was Eric Staal, who left the game, bloodied, in the second period after being hit in the ear by a teammate’s slapshot. Erik Cole suffered an ugly-looking knee injury late in the game. Carolina managed to score two goals, but if you’re a Canes fan, there really isn’t anything good to take from this game.
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Tags: Boston+Bruins, Carolina+Hurricanes, Eric+Staal, Erik+Cole, Marc+Savard,
Erik Cole re-signs for hometeam discount
by David Lee on 07/01/09 at 06:48 PM ET
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Even though it seemed like the Erik Cole chapter was finally over, it continues. Today, the Hurricanes and Erik Cole agreed to terms on a two year deal that will pay him $2.8M in 2009-10 and $3M in 2010-11. The 30-year old right wing was paid $4M in 2008-09.
I gave up on him a long time ago, and I’ve written in a number of ways and on a number of times that I’m not a big fan of his anymore. Now I’ll be forced to either stand my ground or eat my hat. Honestly, I hope I’ll be eating my hat, but either way it’s a good sign that he agreed to take a pretty significant pay cut.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole,
Still no progress with Canes UFAs
by David Lee on 06/30/09 at 10:06 PM ET
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Today is the last day for teams to re-sign their potential UFAs before they enter the market at noon on Wednesday. Everyone in Raleigh was hoping that an announcement would come that the team had come to terms with Chad LaRose. It didn’t. As expected, there was also no announcement about Erik Cole. Jim Rutherford has made it clear that he will not initiate any more negotiations with them. He has put “final offers” on the table. Ryan Bayda has also declined Carolina’s “final offer” and will test the free agent market. Although no doors are permanently shut and no bridges are burned, this has ruffled Jim Rutherford’s feathers.
“If they go into tomorrow then they’re obviously making the choice to go somewhere else,” he said. “We’ve given our best offer within our budget to try to keep them, and at this point it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”
Contrast that quote with one about Jussi Jokinen, which I’ll point to later in this post.
Rutherford has also pledged not to be aggressive in the FA market and might wait until August to sign anyone. He went as far as to tell Puck Daddy that the only thing he’d be signing on July 1 would be a birthday card to his cousin. ...
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Chad+LaRose, Erik+Cole, free+agency,
Canes off-season. The forwards
by David Lee on 06/14/09 at 03:57 PM ET
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So we’ve got a few days before the Awards Show, then another week before the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Carolina will have the 27th overall pick, and most prognosticators are saying that Carolina will draft a defenseman.
A few days after the draft, the real fun begins. The free agent signing period. Carolina has never been a big spender in the FA signing period, and I don’t expect them to be this summer. Their primary focus will be on re-signing the guys they have, then picking someone up in the bargain bin. Last summer, they were inactive in the FA market, but made the blockbuster trade with the Oilers, sending Erik Cole that way for Joni Pitkänen.
This summer, while some people are dreaming up elaborate ways to get Dany Heatley here, I expect little if any activity from the Hurricanes camp. At least not as far as the forwards are concerned.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Chad+LaRose, Erik+Cole, free+agency, Jussi+Jokinen, Tuomo+Ruutu,
Carolina’s game two lineup changes
by David Lee on 05/21/09 at 06:19 AM ET
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With each cryptic update of the injury situations with Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole, it seems more and more evident that neither will suit up for tonight’s game two at Mellon Arena. Ruutu’s right ankle umm… “lower body” sounds like it’s worse than it looked and Cole’s left knee umm… “lower body” sounds like it might not be as bad as it looked.
The updates are cryptic, confusing and contradictory. One hour, they’re saying that Ruutu is definitely out and Cole is a gametime decision. The next, they say that Cole is doubtful and Ruutu is out. The next, they say both players are hopeful. No details have been released about the MRI results for either player. I’m going to assume that neither player will go tonight.
There are a load of different lineup options which have been outlined by Luke Decock. Here’s what I think:
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole, injuries, Pittsburgh+Penguins, playoffs, Tuomo+Ruutu.,
Cole Ruutu doubtful for game two
by David Lee on 05/19/09 at 07:35 PM ET
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The headline of the article in the N&O says that Erik Cole and Tuomo Ruutu are “questionable” for Thursday’s game two with Pittsburgh. The text of the article suggests that it’s worse than that. Canes GM Jim Rutherford and head trainer Pete Friesen both said that it “doesn’t look good for either player”.
Both players suffered knee injuries in game one resulting from questionable hits by the Pens. Mark Eaton was not penalized for his play on Ruutu (which some people are wrongly calling a slew foot). Nor was Matt Cooke for his knee on Cole. Neither player will be facing supplemental discipline.
The officials and the league got it wrong with Ovechkin v Gonchar, and they have gotten it wrong with Cooke v Cole. I’m not calling Cooke a dirty player, but the play was very dangerous and it resulted in an injury. If they don’t tighten up their officiating and disciplinary standards, things could get really ugly. Frontier justice is not a pretty thing.
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Tags: Erik+Cole, injuries, playoffs, Tuomo+Ruutu,
Canes lose game one, Ruutu, Cole
by David Lee on 05/19/09 at 12:13 AM ET
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For the third time in a row, and the fifth of the last seven, Carolina has lost game one of a playoff series. In every other series, Carolina has come back to win the series. More important than losing the game is that they may have also lost Tuomo Ruutu and Erik Cole to knee injuries.
Miro Satan, who wasn’t even in the lineup when the playoffs began, got things started for the Pens at 9:17. He stepped out of the penalty box, where he had been sitting for being found guilty of holding, accepted a pass from Matt Cooke, and was off to the races. He came in alone and ended up lifting a backhander past Cam Ward. Hal Gill picked up the secondary assist. Those kinds of goals are always a little more painful, and it was certainly a tone-setter.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole, injuries, Pittsburgh+Penguins, playoffs, Tuomo+Ruutu.,
Erik Cole is terrible against everyone except Jose Theodore.
by David Lee on 05/03/09 at 03:34 PM ET
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Carolina has gotten scoring from Eric Staal, Ray Whitney and Chad LaRose (who’d have predicted that??). Each guy has seven points. Newcomer Jussi Jokinen has five. They’ve gotten some great scoring from the blueline. Joni Pitkänen has five, Timmmmmaaaaay Gleason has four, and Joseph Corvo has three. Fourteen different players have at least one point. Conspicuously absent from that list are Erik Cole and Rod Brind’Amour.
Brind’Amour has had a very disappointing season, and I’m not at all surprised to see his points total at zero. Erik Cole, however, had a great stretch run after coming back to Raleigh. His lack of points is a complete surprise. But then, maybe it isn’t.
Against teams not named Montréal Canadiens and against goalies not named Jose Theodore, Cole has had very little success in the playoffs. His drought goes way beyond these eight games so far this postseason. He’s been pointless in the last 21 playoff games. And it gets worse…
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole, Jose+Theodore., playoffs,
Staal, Canes destroy Tampa
by David Lee on 03/07/09 at 09:24 PM ET
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On Saturday night, the Hurricanes scored a season high nine goals in a rout of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Eric Staal had a career high six (4/2) points, which matches a franchise mark set by Ron Francis back in the Hartford days. Carolina did all its scoring in the first 40 minutes, then eased off the throttle, settling for a 9-3 final.
Staal’s six point night was huge, but his first line mates also had huge nights of their own. Tuomo Ruutu pitched in with five (2/3) points and Erik Cole had four (0/4). 15 points out of the top line is one heck of a night. There was way too much scoring to enumerate the goals, but it was one shorthanded goal, two power play goals and six even strength markers. When it didn’t matter, Tampa scored two unanswered goals in the third.
On Carolina’s current three-game winning streak, they’ve scored 20 goals and given up just six.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Eric+Staal, Erik+Cole, Tampa+Bay+Lightning, Tuomo+Ruutu,
Canes rout Flames
by David Lee on 03/07/09 at 02:17 PM ET
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On Friday night, there was a lot of excitement in Raleigh surrounding the visit from the Northwest leading Calgary Flames. Not the least of which was the return of Erik Cole to the Hurricanes lineup after a 63 game stint with the Oilers. Added to that, the Hurricanes longtime nemesis Olli Jokinen was just traded to Calgary. Added to that was the fact that Carolina desperately needs standings points. Even an overtime loss would have been acceptable. The 6-1 rout by Carolina was beyond anyone’s wildest imagination.
After the meltdown in Atlanta last week, Carolina has beaten two of the top teams in the league, and beaten them convincingly. First, there was a 5-2 win on the road against the Southeast leading Capitals, then this blowout over the Flames. The hard part now will be to keep that mojo going against a considerably less formidable opponent tonight in Tampa.
Since the trade deadline on Wednesday, the entire league has been talking about how the Flames top line of Mike Cammalleri, Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen were the best line in the entire league. Carolina contained that line, holding Cammalleri and Jokinen to zero shots each and Iginla to three. Iggy scored a meaningless goal at 16:11 of the third. Aside from that, the “best line in hockey” didn’t do anything.
Instead, it was all about Ray Whitney, who tallied three goals for his third career hat trick and his 300th career goal.
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Tags: Calgary+Flames, Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole, Ray+Whitney,
Cole excited to be back (in more ways than one)
by David Lee on 03/05/09 at 07:14 PM ET
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The big news on Wednesday was about the return of Erik Cole to Raleigh. Loads of fans get their favorite player back, Eric Staal gets his BFF back, the locker room gets its deejay back. And then there’s something else.
The Raleigh News and Observer ran a few stories today about Cole’s return. They sent staff photographer Chris Seward to practice, and one of his photos was attached to a story about Cole’s reaction to the trade. There’s nothing special about the story, but there’s something quite special about the photo. It’s unintentionally funny and creepy and, umm… suggestive.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Erik+Cole,
Canes reacquire Cole in three-way
by David Lee on 03/04/09 at 05:45 PM ET
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I was working all day and the only trade news I was getting was through the very slow NHL.com text message updates. When 3:00, then 3:30, then 4:00 rolled around, I assumed that the Carolina Hurricanes stood pat with what they had. Then a buddy called me and dropped a ten megaton atomic bomb on me. And it played out like a horrible game of fortunately/unfortunately.
Carolina sent one of my favorite Canes, Justin Williams (whose sweater I wear) to the Los Angeles Kings for Patrick O’Sullivan. SCORE!!! Sad to see Willy go, but that’s a great deal. I’ve been watching him for a little while, partly because he’s the only player in the NHL who was born in North Carolina. Young kid on the rise, destined to be a 30 goal scorer, with two years of reasonable salary remaining on his contract. Of course that wasn’t the end of it. Of course it was part of a three-way deal, and my excitement quickly turned to nonplus, then instantly to anger. Lots of cuss words.
O’Sullivan was immediately dealt to Edmonton, and I didn’t need to wait for the rest. I knew who the other player was and I actually cringed. Not that I dislike Erik Cole, but I just don’t like this deal.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Edmonton+Oilers, Erik+Cole, Justin+Williams, Los+Angeles+Kings, Patrick+O'Sullivan., trade,
Canes - Oil, Oilers get some home cooking on the road
by David Lee on 11/01/08 at 12:38 PM ET
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Today, the Hurricanes will be facing the Edmonton Oilers. It’ll be the first time since October 13 that they’ve played at home. Thankfully, I got a personal phone call from Scott Walker to remind me that today’s game was a 3:00 matinee. Okay, so it wasn’t so much a “personal call” as a recorded message sent out to all season ticket holders, but there’s no need to split hairs.
Carolina returns home after a successful six game roadtrip, during which they earned eight of a possible 12 points (3-1-2). After winning their first four games, the Oil have lost five games in a row. This is the second of seven straight road games for Edmonton, who won’t return home until November 13. Being on the road for that long sucks, but the Oilers got a little bit of rest and home cooking this weekend when they stayed at Erik Cole’s home in Raleigh. On Friday, he and his wife Emily hosted the entire team for dinner at the house he still owns in Raleigh.
Cole was a fan favorite here, and his homecoming will be bitter-sweet for everyone.
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Tags: Carolina+Hurricanes, Edmonton+Oilers, Erik+Cole,
Erik Cole to make Oilers debut tonight
by David Lee on 10/12/08 at 07:00 PM ET
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Tonight, Erik Cole and the Edmonton Oilers will play their first game of the season, at home against the Avs. I will be among the Caniac nation keeping an eye on our boy.
The Oilers fans have high hopes for him, as well they should. Cole spent six seasons here in Carolina electrifying fans with his speed, skill, creativity and toughness. Cole scored 129 regular season goals for the Canes and six playoff goals, all of which came in 2002. By far and away, the biggest goal he’s ever scored was the game-tying goal in the Miracle at Molson. If Cole doesn’t score that goal, the Habs would have gone up three games to one in the Eastern semifinals. Instead, the Canes tied it, forced overtime and won. That absolutely killed the Habs. Carolina won the next two games easily to win the series, then beat Toronto in six games en route to losing the Stanley Cup to Detroit in five games.
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Tags: Edmonton+Oilers, Erik+Cole,
