Adrian Dater
Ian Cole is the Colorado Avalanche player with the most Stanley Cup rings on his fingers (two), joining a group of four players on the current roster (Philipp Grubauer, Andre Burakovsky and Vladislav Namestnikov) who have at least one.
Ian Cole is also the Colorado Avalanche player with the longest beard – and the playoffs haven’t even started yet. Cole, as Avs fans know, has worn a beard all season – and for much of his NHL career, which includes two championship seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The beard now? If you’ve never seen the movie or play based on Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist”, kids, there is a character named Fagin. The movie character, played by Ron Moody, is my favorite version of Fagin:
Ian Cole looks quite a bit more youthful and fuller-bearded than Fagin, but like the character of the story, Cole is something of a wise, old sage on the Avs. His playoff experience is something the Avs are hoping will give them an advantage when they start the postseason, starting with a round-robin game Aug. 2 against the St. Louis Blues. Cole, too, is hoping it will be an advantage, but either way, he feels good about his team’s chances.
“Having a deep roster, having guys that can contribute, all the way through the lineup, is a huge first step to being a successful (playoff) team,” Cole said. “Having a lineup where you can rely on all four lines, with all three pairs of defensemen, one, if not two, goalies, any extra guys coming in. … every team has a good first line or a second line, but teams with third and fourth lines that can drive play, control pucks … I think we very much have a team that checks those boxes.”
Cole will start the playoffs paired with the guy who played with most of the time toward the end of the regular season, Nikita Zadorov. They are certainly the biggest and most physical defensive pairing of the Avs, and Zadorov says he picked up a few “hard-hitting” pointers skating over the summer with former Av and NHL defenseman, Darius Kasparaitis.
After starting the year on the injured list, Cole had a strong second season for the Avs, setting a career-high in assists (22) and tied his personal high for points (26). In Thursday’s training camp session at the Pepsi Center, Cole made an unbelievable, multi-deke play with the puck and scored on goalie Grubauer, earning slack-jawed looks from many teammates.
Cole, 31, also had the second-best plus-minus (+21) of his career.
About his beard, Cole spoke like a proud papa.
“Pretty much every year, I start it at the beginning of the season,” Cole said. “This is definitely the longest it’s gotten in my career. People seem to respond to it well. Am I incapable of playing without a beard, is this my thing? I don’t know, maybe it is. If you feel confident your team is going to make the playoffs, you want to start early.”
Cole, and Avs fans, hope the beard has at least two more months of growth.