All I want for X-mas is a lump of Cole
Posted 2:46 PM ET | Comments 2
Ok I lied thats not ALL I want for christmas but it ranks up there with a new LCD TV (playing Nhl 09 on a regular flat screen TV does not do it justice!) and some new black socks (maybe the best xmas present ever!) Normally a lump of coal is the last thing any wide eyed child wants on Christmas morning but I am breaking away from tradition and am asking for piles and piles of COALS that come in the form of GOALS in the form of Erik Cole to be more precise! Now I am the first to say that I am an Erik Cole fan. How could i not be? He is one of the fastest and hardest skaters on our team and actually goes into the corners hitting! Right now he sits second our team in hitting with 51 only 3 behind of our hard skating hard hitting captan Ethan Moreau. Both of these players I love! They fit in great with the style of hockey Edmonton likes and is used to seeing. Hard nosed fast paced hockey! The differences between these players on paper however is the story here. Ethan Moreau has had only one 20 goal season and that came way back in 2003. While Erik Cole has had at least 20 goals in his last 3 seasons and had a 30 goal season back in 2005 when he, and the team that shall not be mentioned, captured Lord Stanley against what is now his new team. All early indications suggested that Erik Cole would fit right in with the Oil and keep up the pace he has set for the past 3 seasons. Then how come right now Moreau, who makes 1.75 million, has scored more goals and more points the Cole who sits at 4 million? What happened here? Did he really play that bad in his frst 28 games to warrant this reductuion in ice time? Now i understand that Erik is a right winger and didn't fit on that top line with Horcoff and Hemmer but is he really doing any good as a 3rd line player right now? Come on! Of course not! He has the skill set and he has the work ethic to be on the second line with Cogliano and Gagner. I like having Moreau with Nillson and Pouliot ( be better if it were Schremp but thats a differnt story.) Then that leaves Brodziak with Zach or Reddox or Big Mac, who should be back soon, for the fourth line. And you would think if you were serious about getting this 4 million dollar player scoring you'd give him a little powerplay time but instead we got him penalty killing. We already got that guy his name is Ethan Moreau remember? Erik cole needs to be scoring not killing penalties. Nobody's questioning his defensve game but how are you gonna get this guy going if you dont give him an honest chance? We only have so much time before the trade deadline comes and a decison needs to be made on Cole but we should give him anohter honest look first. Call it his second chance in an early season filled with unfulfilled expactaions in a city, that unlike Carolina, that does not tolerate losing. I know Santa is a good man and doesnt take part in fixing sports but maybe just maybe he can get the three ghosts of Christmas past, presesnt and future to visit MacT on Christmas eve and explain the situation here! MacT kind of resembles Ebenezer Scrooge dont ya think? Both in dire need of some head shaking and rethinking over this holiday season because we are, right now, heading into the most important part of our season and we need all the goals we can get.
Cole is 9th for SH ice time amoungst forwards, averaging 29 seconds/game. He is 5th for even strength TOI/G, the third line is that in name only. He played what? The first 8/10 games on the top line...all of them were brutal, as soon as they switched it up, Hemmer and Horc started producing. I love Coles game, and wished their was a way to hang onto him. But the only one to blame for Coles lack of production is Cole himself.
It is really hard to find top 6 forward minutes when you have 7 players that can fill the role. One of the biggest questions I have so far...why did it take so long to put Hemsky, Horcoff and Penner together? They had some chemistry last season, but because they brought in Cole they felt obligated to give him first line minutes. For the start of the year they had Penner playing 3rd line minutes, yet expected 1st line production. The Oilers will have to make a choice... a solid checking 3rd line using Cole or a offensive minded 3rd line using Cole, Puliot (or another center that doesn't end in "...ziak") and another scoring winger...maybe Schremp or Brule. Remember that the Oilers will have some roster issues once Pisani returns...that is if the "3 headed monster" is still in town when that happens.