With 3:05 remaining in Saturday night's eventual 7-2 loss against the Boston Bruins, little did Erik Cole know it would have been wiser to bare the brunt of an incoming hip check from Dennis Wideman than to try to avoid it. The Hurricanes winger chugged over the blueline (in his typical fashion) along the boards with the puck and, upon seeing Wideman had him lined up, quickly shifted to his right to dodge the hit. The two collided awkwardly, and Cole's left leg absorbed majority of the force.
Cole, unable to rise to his feet, laid on the ice for several seconds before trainers and teammates Scott Walker and Sergei Samsonov helped him to the Carolina bench.
TSN is reporting Cole suffered a fractured left leg, and will be out for 4-6 weeks.
In contrast to a few rumblings I overheard after the game, Head Coach Paul Maurice expressed that the hit was not done in malicious fashion by Wideman. "I think they both got twisted around." Maurice said during his post-game interview. "I don’t think there was anything to it."
Wideman spoke informally with a few writers about the incident after the game, and seemed genuinely remorseful about the resulting injury.
Cole, who re-signed with Carolina on July 3rd (2-yr, $5.8m deal), could miss upwards of 18 games if he remains sidelined for the full six weeks.
JC
To check out my full recap of the Bruins' 7-2 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday:
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=23410
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