Cole didn't shy away from physical contact in his first game back.

Cole will be back for Game 7
By Shawn P. Roarke
NHL.com Senior Writer
June 19, 2006

RALEIGH, N.C. -- It's all systems go for Carolina's Erik Cole.

There was more than a little trepidation that Cole would wake up Sunday morning in Edmonton after his first NHL game in almost four months and feel like he had been playing every day for the last 16 weeks.

But after a close to five-hour flight from Edmonton back to Raleigh to begin preparations for Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final -- the biggest game in franchise history, as well as the biggest game in Cole's professional career -- the power forward pronounced himself fit for action.

"I feel fine today," Cole said Sunday at media availability at RBC Center, just after the team's plane touched down from Edmonton.

Cole, who suffered a broken neck during a regular-season game in early March, made a dramatic and unexpected return to the lineup in Saturday's Game 6, replacing the injured Doug Weight. While his appearance was certainly an emotional boost to the entire team, it had little effect on the Game's outcome as Edmonton bulled its way to a dominating 4-0 win in Game 6, completing its fight back from a three-games-to -one deficit and force Monday's winner-take-all game.

Schedule / Links:   Gm. 1: CAR 5, EDM 4 | Photos Gm. 2: CAR 5, EDM 0 | Photos Gm. 3: EDM 2, CAR 1 | Photos Gm. 4: CAR 2, EDM 1 | Photos Gm. 5: EDM 4, CAR 3 OT | Photos Gm. 6: EDM 4, CAR 0 | Photos Gm. 7: June 19, 8:00 p.m. ET at Carolina (NBC, CBC, RDS) Oilers force Game 7 with 4-0 win Oilers' physical play turning the tide With Cup on the line, Carolina turns in poor effort Cole makes surprise return to lineup Complete Playoffs coverage Hurricanes official site Oilers official site Hurricanes team stats Oilers team stats Buy your 'Canes merchandise Buy your Oilers merchandise

Despite the ugly final score, Cole was happy he could not only get back in the lineup, but take a regular shift on one of the team's two scoring lines. He played his customary left wing, flanked by Eric Staal and Cory Stillman, managing 23 shifts and more than 18 minutes of mostly effective hockey. He fired off two shots in the game, played his trademark aggressive north-south game without shying away from contact, and his line accounted for four of the 16 shots the 'Canes recorded in a desultory offensive showing.

"I felt comfortable," Cole said, although he did admit to some dehydration issues late in the game. "I looked for a hit my first shift, didn't find it, then one found me my second shift. But it was good. I felt comfortable from there on and I thought I played pretty well -- but kind of ran out of steam in the third period a little bit.

Wavering is to be expected. Although Cole has been skating with the team during non-game ice sessions throughout the playoffs, extra work and bag skates can only go so far in preparing a player for game conditions, especially the brutally physical tone Edmonton has established in the last two games.

Now with a game under his belt and the knowledge that he can survive a hit without complications, Cole believes he will be better for Monday's desperate Game 7 at the RBC Center. Plus, he argues that he has the freshest legs of any of the 36 skaters who will take the ice for Game 7 because he has not been involved in the last two months of pitched playoff battles.

"It definitely going to benefit me," Cole said Sunday. "I can come home and (I'm) going to get a good meal, get a good night's rest in my own bed, come to the rink and go through a normal game-day routine. I think that this building should be rocking tomorrow night and like I said I am real thankful that I got the opportunity to play with these guys."

Carolina coach Peter Laviolette also is glad to give Cole the opportunity -- even though he spent the first two weeks of this series casting Cole as a non-entity that would not be ready until next fall's training camp. But Laviolette revisited the issue after Weight was hurt and, in consultation with a fleet of doctors and specialists, determined that Cole was, indeed, ready to play.

Considering the circumstances, Laviolette was happy with what Cole brought to the table. He used Cole extensively on the team's suddenly struggling power-play units and also liked the way Cole initiated contact when the opportunity presented itself. As Laviolette's team fights the fatigue inherent in playing back-to- back seven-game series, the coach also believes that Cole's freshness could be a tide-turner in Game 7.

Especially now that Cole's teammates know he is not only a go for the game, but that the young power forward -- who had 30 goals in 60 games before being injured -- can handle himself out on the ice. With Cole passing his dress rehearsal in Game 6, Laviolette says he plans to use Cole for between 15 and 20 minutes Monday night, depending on the way Game 7 develops.

"(It's) hard to give exact numbers or minutes, but probably somewhere between 15, 20 minutes depending on the game, how he's playing, and how he's feeling," the coach said. "I think the good thing is getting him in Game 6. One, the players now know that he's in there as well. Yesterday afternoon showed a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not he was going to play. Players left the morning skate and team meal not knowing if he was in the lineup, as I did. (He got) good clearance later in the day, but it was good to get him in there for his teammates.

Cole will be back in the Carolina lineup for Game 7.

"I think, for his point of view, to get out there and get a hit and take a hit and get his legs under him a little bit (was good)."

To hear Cole tell it, it was great to be out on the ice again, in the heat of battle, testing the body that he has spent endless hours rehabbing and returning to game shape. By stepping on the Rexall Place ice for his first shift in Game 6, Cole proved to everyone that his efforts were worth it. He also put to rest the nagging voice in the back of his head that he might not ever play the game he loved again.

Cole understands that he suffered a broken neck and that there will always be a slight risk every time he laces on the skated. But, through the passage of time -- often too slow for his own tastes -- that risk has been minimized. Waiting to return no longer was a medical necessity. Once that fact was established, he was raring to go Saturday night.

He did admit, however, that it was a little harder to convince his family that all was well. They suffered with him each step along his grueling road back from the Pittsburgh hospital bed in the first week of March when he learned his life had changed forever. Nobody close to Cole wanted to have to see him go through anything like that again. But, in the end, Cole's enthusiasm and calming words from the doctor Bill Richardson, one of the many doctors that treated Cole, carried the day.

"Everyone was really supportive about the decision," Cole said. "It was great that Dr. (Bill) Richardson was on the family plane (to Edmonton), so he was able to meet with my wife and my mom and dad that were on the plane and answered their questions. Kind of reassured them. Before I had even talked to the doctor, my wife was calling me and she was pretty excited. So, yeah, it was emotional for my family and I am sure for management and everything, but it worked out."