Detroit Red Wings forward Erik Cole said Wednesday he has been advised by doctors to sit out the remainder of the regular season and the Stanley Cup Playoffs because of a spine contusion.
Cole said he sustained the injury in the first period of an overtime loss against the Arizona Coyotes on March 24. He had missed the past eight games with what was termed a neck injury. The Red Wings acquired the veteran left wing in a trade with the Dallas Stars on March 1.
"I consulted with a few doctors last week and I've been advised not to play the remainder of this season," Cole said Wednesday, according to MLive.com. "Just really disappointing and I was looking forward to be a part of the playoff run here and helping this team make a run to the [Stanley] Cup and I'm not going to be able to do that.
"Doctors feel that right now there's just a little too much risk for me to be playing, so just going to have to wait and see how things go down the road."
Cole said the injury was related to the broken neck he sustained in 2006 as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes.
"It's kind of something I've had to deal with and know the risk involved since I had my neck broken," he told MLive.com. "It's just disappointing right now, it's hard to look past that at this point but hopefully it'll get better here in the next week with the guys winning a couple big games for us and getting into the playoffs. It'll be easier to focus on other things."
Cole had three goals and six points in 11 games with the Red Wings.
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