Has Erik Cole already retired?

[Gary320]

Of Eller Desharnais and Erik Cole. Cole is the least of the three I was worried about. He will come back to his form very very soon.

 

[habtastic]

Took him awhile last year (to become "the saviour"), prolly will this time. Not happy with his play, but the rest of the team is letting me give him a bye. If we are losing...I will be mad.

 

[CaptainBenn]

i think he was sure the season would be locked out entirely. and the agreement caught him off guard. he went into vacation mode. upon his return, the airline lost his intercranial luggage, likely still in barbedos.

so funny

 

[CaptainBenn]

Took him a while last year but thats because Martin wasnt playing him a lot, no pp time etc
No excuses this year.

 

[Maffew]

Was looking into his gamelog from last season, he scored his 1st goal during our 8th game, and he only had 1 assist in the 1st 7 games too. Slow starter indeed. Only 1 goal and 1 assist so far this season after 7 games too.

Fun fact: he had 3 multi-goal games last season (2 x 2goals + 1 x 3goals) and had the GWG each time.

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Cole spent most of the off-season and a good part of the lockout battling an injury he suffered while training during the summer. Stubbs reported this a few times.

It's possible he's not at the level we expect because of this. For a guy his age, training is extremely important. If he couldn't do what he normally does during an off-season, it would be normal that his game suffers.

Or perhaps he's just a slow starter.

 

[Milhouse40]

Okay...where to start?

Slow starter?
every years is different....had 4 points in 6 games the year prior to his signing with the habs! Was that a slow start?

Last year? Not the same situation at all. Cole didn't had any PP Time, even played on the
3rd line when he arrive with the habs, remember?

The things is.....Cole is not really a 35 goals scorer (never was before) Pacioretty is not (yet) a bonified 30 goal scorer and DD is not a first line center of 60pts/season.

This was last year when we had a fourth line who played 6 minutes a game and the 3rd line playing 9-10 minutes a game.......and DD-Cole-Pacioretty played 20 minutes a games with all the PP time in the world.

They will have their points, but not as much as last year.
They dropped from 20 to 16 minutes, 20% less ice-time should mean 20% less productions.

 

[TennisMenace]

My concern about Cole comes from the comments he made during the lockout. I wonder if his heart is in it this year.

 

[LaTenderness*]

Cole is a real ****ing pos

 

[Coldplay]

Most of you are whiny little bandwagoners who will be all over Cole like a dog on bacon when he starts producing again.

So ****ing predictable.

 

[Dominator13]

What an embarrassing thread..

 

[Neutrino]

The man clearly expected the lockout to be a year long thing, probably didn't train as hard as other players who thought hockey may be back.

Once he gets going you will forget all about your worries...

 

[LaTenderness*]

Isn't that what forums are for ? To whine and ***** about ****? Cole looks like **** right now, people are gonna complain. It's sad this has hurt so many feelings.

 

[Kylington]

Creates depth, will shake of the rust and produce soon enough, if we hit playoffs he'll stand up for sure, he's a vet and i feel he would pretty reliable in playoffs round and produce... also important having him in team with the gallys for some parenting )

 

[Cole Caulifield]

I see a lot of people being very patient with Cole in this thread (and rightly so). I wonder why DD isn't getting the same patience. Also wonder how long it would have taken for that thread to appear if DD had been the one to make some Pejorative Slured comment about retirement.

 

[TennisMenace]

I see a lot of people being very patient with Cole in this thread (and rightly so). I wonder why DD isn't getting the same patience. Also wonder how long it would have taken for that thread to appear if DD had been the one to make some Pejorative Slured comment about retirement.

People are more patient with bigger people than smaller people.

 

[Coldplay]

I see a lot of people being very patient with Cole in this thread (and rightly so). I wonder why DD isn't getting the same patience. Also wonder how long it would have taken for that thread to appear if DD had been the one to make some Pejorative Slured comment about retirement.

Because Cole is the better player and has been a proven NHLer his whole career.

 

[pine*]

People are more patient with bigger people than smaller people.

Bigger people are harder to intimidate. That's the truth.

ps: Erik Cole.

 

[Pigems*]

I think Cole could benefit from a couple games in the pressbox watching Eller rip it up in his place. Thats the best part about this years team is the 7th top 6 forward. It makes sure theres always a hunrgy player ready to jump in when someone in on a slump and gives the slumping player the time to get hungry sitting in the pressbox. Look what it did for Eller.

 

[disturbedraven]

Long story short, we are winning games. Cole's horrid starts are notorious, but right now it's not hurting us. Once we start losing games and can't find the back of the net that's the time to push the "panic" button on Cole's lack of productivity.

Hopefully it doesn't get to that, he has shown flashes of his old self. But right now the sky isn't falling just yet. Relax

 

[Strik_IX]

I see a lot of people being very patient with Cole in this thread (and rightly so). I wonder why DD isn't getting the same patience. Also wonder how long it would have taken for that thread to appear if DD had been the one to make some Pejorative Slured comment about retirement.

Because we know what to expect from Cole, slow starter that has consistent numbers every year (except for the year he spent in EDM which is an obvious anomaly). DD has had one good NHL season and hasn't yet had the chance to prove it wasn't a fluke or the product of excellent wingers.

 

[capebretoncanadien]

I think he's played alright.

He's skating pretty well and driving the net hard.

One thing I've noticed is he's not handling the puck very well. He bobbles it everytime he tries to make anything more than a really short pass. He's got a good shot he should just keep it simple and wire it on net and get in for greasy rebounds.

Cole will be fine. Short training camp, slow start for DD and no Patches for the last week have had their effect.

People here are like jackals. Cole is an important piece of this team.

 

[zzoo]

Normally, I don't like the second-guessing, the "I told you so, see now!" attitude, but I did see it coming.

Here were my reasoning:

1. Last year was his best year of his career and it's hard to repeat it when a player got older (35-36 years old). There are exceptions though, but exceptions are rare, no ?
2. Most of the UFA that have joined Habs have a good first season, then get worse afterwards. Ex: Gomez, Gionta, Cammalleri, Spacek.
3. Last year, his first line had plenty of ice-time and PP time. This year, the 2nd and 3rd lines are better. Cole may lose some PP time.
4. The lockout may affect his performance since he's less ready than the ones played actively in a League during those off months.
5. Cole usually starts quite slow. In the long season, his better stats at the end of season compensates the slow start. But in a short season, the better stats at the end may not compensate enough.

Being said that, I still believe that Cole will get better than what he's performing right now. However, he won't be as good as last year because of the reasons mentioned above.

 

[Pigems*]

I still think Cole could use a couple games to be reminded that it's the EFFORT that counts even when your slumping. Maybe watching a few would light the fire under his @$$ that he had last year

 

[Stjonnypopo]

I can't stand you "What have you done for me lately" fans.

I bet you'll be singing a completely different tune 25 games in when he's playing just as well as he did last season.