I found this lovely little article from back in December 2005 at how going head first into the boards wasn't exactly new to the recently injured Eric Cole of the Carolina Hurricanes.Cole suffered a head injury during Thursday's game against the Flyers when a player avoided his check, causing him to go head first into the boards. He left the ice under his own power, but was bleeding from the forehead. He is listed as day-to-day on the injury report. Details are still sketchy, but unless he suffered a concussion he should return to action shortly.OH WOW! You'd think he'd learn from this experience to NOT SKATE WITH HIS HEAD DOWN!
They teach this kind of thing in pee-wees.
I am also entering evidence on the internet about this incident I read in a book of quotations that Eric Cole once got a game misconduct penalty in 2002 after an incident with an Ottawa Senator defenseman Chris Phillips. How convenient for Carolina fans to forget this! I guess he's not so squeaky clean either!
The momentum swung Ottawa's way for good with 5:29 remaining.
Cole controversially was hit with major boarding and game
misconduct penalties. The left winger skated to the penalty box
before being informed he was out for the rest of the contest.
Cole visibly expressed his anger as he skated across the ice and
smashed his stick on the Hurricanes' bench.
"I was just trying to finish my check," Cole said. "I put a hit
on their defense (Chris Phillips), I thought it was good. But
(referee Kerry) Fraser saw it a different way."
"The hit was shoulder on shoulder," Hurricanes coach Paul
Maurice said. "But it didn't turn out well for us."
[Via: AOL Fantasty Sports & USA Today]
4 comments:
Players who skate with their heads down by the time they come to the NHL rarely, if ever, can change the habit. Eric Lindros is the poster child for that.
That being said, I never really noticed it was something Eric Cole regularly did.
Something to watch for after his return I guess.
You had to go back almost FOUR YEARS to find something to use to say STFU to those of us who are angry about the hit and the weenbag suspension that came with it?
You gotta be kidding me, Mike. Seriously.
What are you, Michael? In third grade?
First off, Michael, it's E-R-I-K. We all let it slide the first few times, and of course we know what you mean, but it's just a point of clarification.
Secondly, what's the point of bringing that up? Yeah, so Colesy was whistled for boarding and given a game misconduct before. It may or may not have been a dirty play. Truth is, I don't remember that play. I don't recall a suspension being handed to Cole, and I don't recall an injury sustained by Phillips. I know for a fact that his neck wasn't broken because of that play. Am I wrong.
Nobody was ever trying to say that Cole is infallible, so I'm not sure what your point is. Like every player in the NHL, he's commited penalties in the past. Some of them have been stupid.
Some people are going over the top, demanding a McSorley-esque suspension. Forget about those people. Some people are calling Orpik a dirty player, which isn't really accurate.
However, most people are simply criticising the play. That single moment, calling it "bad", "careless", "stupid", or even "dirty". Just the play. Not the player, or the city. Orpik is widely regarded as a guy who hits hard and hits often. Like Scott Stevens, his hits are of the predatory variety. He has said himself that "you hit guys to hurt guys". This one, however, went horribly wrong, and ultimately, the onus is on him to avoid hitting the vulnerable player from behind.
A good deal of Orpik criticism (and I am guilty of doing this) is also coming from the fact that Orpik thinks that he is being unfairly punished. His coach and teammates think it's fair, and I don't understand why he can't just accept the punishment. Three games isn't that bad. He'll lose ten grand, which isn't the end of the world for a guy making the kind of money he makes.
What I wish, though, from our end is that Erik Cole would shut up with some of his comments. He's been saying things in the paper about how "next time we play them...." and I have to say that I don't like that. I don't want to see any retaliatory hits. Colorado handled that situation with Vancouver well in that respect, and I hope that the Canes avoid the urge to go after Orpik in the future.
Um... I was at that game against the Flyers when Cole cut his head. It wasn't a result of careless play. It was a result of coming up completely empty when trying to deliver a big check.
Seriously, though. What was your purpose with this post? Erik Cole isn't perfect. We know this. No player is. He's never won a Lady Byng, and he never will. He's also never broken another player's neck.
I suppose your intent was to kick him while he's down.
Yeah man what are you? Are you a Sabers fan? :P You are a little out of line calling Erik a out about hits. He has always been an energy player. He has been one of those players that you hate to see on the other bench but love him on yours. But, you must respect him on the ice. No player has a squeaky clean career. Everyone has or will make mistakes. But you should not kick a man when he is down.
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