When the Detroit Red Wings acquired Erik Cole from the Dallas Stars last month, they knew they were getting a power forward and a proven goal scorer.
They also knew they were bringing aboard someone who had suffered a serious neck injury earlier in his career and Wednesday, Cole revealed that a flare-up related to the broken neck he suffered in 2006 would cause an end to his hockey season.
“Unfortunately, I consulted with a few doctors last week and I’ve been advised not to play the remainder of this season,… Cole explained.
Injured March 24 when Arizona Coyotes forward Lauri Korpikoski hooked him; Cole was diagnosed with a spinal contusion.
“It stems back from my neck injury in 2006 and when I ran into the player in the Arizona game, I bruised my spinal cord,… Cole said. “A spinal contusion is something that you have to let heal and obviously, a pretty serious occurrence.
“It’s something that doctors feel right now there’s just a little too much risk for me to be playing at this time. They feel I need to be looking out for my well-being as a person, not just as a hockey player.…
Cole originally suffered a broken neck while playing for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 when checked into the boards by Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik.
While disappointed to lose the services of a player he was counting on as being a big part of their playoff puzzle, Detroit coach Mike Babcock was more concerned that Cole take care of his personal well being.
“It’s hard for him,… Babcock said. “He addressed the team the other day. It was very emotional.
“If you’ve got kids, you have to make life decisions and I don’t know if this means he’s done for good or just done through the summer and they re-evaluate and they look at what they can do for him. But anytime you love doing something, it’s your passion and it’s taken away from you, it’s hard to deal with.
“That’s why you have to enjoy every second you have good health. Health is everything. It sends a message to our guys here, too. Embrace the opportunities you have.…
An unrestricted free agent at season’s end, Cole doesn’t know yet how this injury might impact his long-term ability to play, or even to get another NHL contract.
“Right now it’s just a wait and see and re-evaluate the situation once everything is done,… Cole said. “I mean I could probably run around the country and the world looking for doctors to do something right now but I don’t think there’s anything that’s a real short-term fix for it.
“When you have a contusion like that, it’ll affect your nerves, it can affect your motor functions, it can be a bit clumsy even sending a text message or something like that. So it’s something I definitely need to take serious and be careful with.…
As to next season, Cole isn’t even concerned about that at the moment.
“I mean I’m sure that teams are going to be scared regardless,… Cole said. “I’m certain that at my age (36) and my stage of my career I wasn’t expecting too many big offers coming across the table.
“It’s the least of my worries right now. It’s just about being a healthy individual and worrying about my future and being able to play with my kids and things like that.…
Abdelkader Back On Ice Just five days after suffering a right hand injury when struck by a shot from the stick of Minnesota defenseman Marco Scandella, Detroit left-winger Justin Abdelkader, fourth on the team with 23 goals, was back on the ice.
“It’s doing better slowly here,… Abdelkader said, adding that there were no broken bones in the hand. “Today was kind of (the) first step into that stage, skating today and that was big. Hopefully it will just keep getting better. It’s one of those things that hopefully keeps getting better day-by-day. Time, there isn’t necessarily much of it, so like I said, it was just good to skate today and we’ll see.…
Abdelkader hopes to play before the end of the regular season. Detroit has two road games left on the slate – Thursday at Montreal and Saturday at Carolina – and Abdelkader is making the trip.
“I’m not ruling out tomorrow yet, so we’ll see,… Abdelkader said. “The big thing is inflammation. Anytime you get a bruise or something like that, you need to get the inflammation out as quickly as possible.…
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