Ice time feels good for 'Canes' Cole

Due to injury, the Carolina player won't be back until next season, if then.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- It was a regular practice on an off day during the playoffs, and not a very strenuous one at that. Still, the ice time was pretty special to Erik Cole.
He joined the Carolina Hurricanes' full-squad workout Sunday for the first time in 21/2 months, when a compression fracture in a vertebra in his neck ended what already was a career regular season.
Will he be back in the postseason? Cole won't be sure until he has a CT scan in the upcoming week to check his progress.
"I am hopeful that the next CT scan looks good and that both fractures are fully healed or close to being fully healed," he said Sunday. "If they are, we'll sit down with the doctors and talk about what the options are, what the repercussions are, sit down with my wife and figure it out."
Missed
The Hurricanes certainly could use their left wing, and not only because they lost Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final to Buffalo Saturday. With him in the lineup and contributing 60 points in 60 games, they were 42-14-4.
After he got injured March 4 in Pittsburgh, Carolina finished 10-8-4 in the final 22 games.
"I think shortly after that we became a little bit more inconsistent with our play," coach Peter Laviolette said. "I am not sure if that was due to complacency on some nights or the fact that one of our top players is now missing from the lineup."
The devastating injury came when Cole was driven headfirst into the boards by Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik. A few weeks later, Orpik tried to reach Cole through Mark Recchi, a former teammate with the Penguins who was traded to Carolina.
It came at a particularly bad time for Cole. He recently had traded in a simple neck collar for a large, cumbersome brace in hopes of avoiding surgery, and he really wasn't in the mood for an apology.
"After the week that I had, and after the three weeks I had, for 'Reccs' to come up to me and he just asked if he could pass along my number to Brooks and I told him no," Cole said. "I told him not to bother."
The reception
On Sunday, Cole was welcomed back to practice with open arms, even if he might not be able to rejoin the team until next season. He donned a blue sweater to signify his status as an injured skater, and as he warmed up, several teammates took time to tap the ice with their sticks, the hockey equivalent of a standing ovation.
At the end of the 60-minute session, alternate captain Kevyn Adams gave up his normal spot in the center of the faceoff circle during stretching, motioning at Cole to replace him.
"Just a good lift for the guys to see him able to go out and really enjoy being out there with the guys," Adams said. "It's good to have him back."
Sunday's playoff game between the Oilers and Mighty Ducks was not completed for today's edition.
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