Erik Cole

Playing career

Erik Cole began his hockey career at Oswego High School in his hometown of Oswego, New York. He then spent the 1996-97 season with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL, where he put up 30 goals and 34 assists for 64 points over 48 games. Cole moved on to Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, playing for the Golden Knights in the ECAC conference of the NCAA. After his first year at Clarkson, the Carolina Hurricanes picked him 71st overall in the third round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. He stayed with the Golden Knights for two more seasons before leaving in 2000.

In his rookie NHL season of 2001-02, Cole scored six goals during the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs. He was also a member of the "BBC Line," alongside Bates Battaglia and Rod Brind'Amour, during Carolina's run to the Stanley Cup Final that year. On December 19, 2005, Cole was selected to represent Team USA at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, joining fellow Clarkson alum Craig Conroy on the roster. He also played for the United States at the 2007 IIHF World Championship in Moscow. In 2005, Cole became the first NHL player ever to receive two penalty shots in a single game.

On March 4, 2006, Cole suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck after a hit from Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik. The injury sidelined him until game six of the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, which the Hurricanes won in seven games over the Edmonton Oilers. Later, on November 12, 2007, Cole crashed head-first into Florida Panthers goaltender Tomáš Vokoun. He lay face down on the ice for more than five minutes and was taken off on a stretcher with a neck injury that turned out not to be serious; he traveled with the team to Tampa Bay afterward.

On July 1, 2008, the Oilers acquired Cole from the Hurricanes in exchange for Joni Pitkänen. As a member of Edmonton, he recorded his fifth NHL hat-trick on January 14, 2009, against Washington Capitals goaltender José Théodore. Cole also set an unofficial NHL record in the Fastest Skater event by circling the entire rink at Rexall Place in 13.117 seconds.