RALEIGH - Erik Cole's days as a fan favorite in Carolina have officially ended. In their first meeting since the trade which saw Cole, Rod Brind'Amour and Glen Wesley shipped to Colorado for Dean McAmmond and the injured Alex Tanguay, the Avalanche and Hurricanes skated to a 2-2 tie last night.
The first period was largely uneventful save for a goal by Avs winger Dallas Drake which lobbed itself over Kevin Weekes' shoulder after bouncing off defenceman Bruno St. Jacques. With the exception of a late-period roughing penalty by Martin St. Louis, the game had been a spirited but gentlemanly affair. Early in the second however, 'Canes centre Josef Vasicek clipped the Avs Teemu Selanne with a careless high-stick, opening up a nasty gash over his right eye. Selanne would return after a quick repair job from the trainer, but Vasicek was assessed a major penalty for the infraction.
Cole, obviously angered by the careless stickwork, could be seen jawing at his former teammate once his penalty was served. "He almost skewered Teemu's eye out," said a still-angered Cole after the game, "I knew Josef pretty well when I was with Carolina, but there's no excuse for that kind of thing on the ice."
Halfway through the period, tensions boiled over and Cole blindsided Vasicek with an open-ice hit, knocking him painfully to the ice where he remained for several minutes. After a brief rest on the bench, Vasicek - clearly winded and sore from the hit - returned to the game, but Cole was handed a charging penalty and a misconduct. The hit drew a chorus of boos from the hometown crowd, who pelted Cole with empty plastic beer cups as he headed for the dressing room.
"I liked Cole when he was here," explained local fan Cletus Roscoe, "But that hit on Vasicek was uncalled for. The highstick was accidental - that hit was intentional."
In the end, Marty Murray's two goals in the third tied the game and kept the Hurricanes in the running in the Eastern Conference.