Humble Cole to enter Hockey Hall of Fame
Hours after the Pittsburgh Penguins had hoisted the Stanley Cup and the last of seemingly countless stories had been filed last June, yours truly and Postmedia colleagues Cam Cole and Michael Traikos walked onto the ice at San Jose’s Shark Tank and knelt on the blue line for our own team photo.
At that time, who knew that, after covering more than 30 Cup finals, this would be the last of Cam’s illustrious career?
Looking back, it truly was a special time, especially given that Cole would go on to tap out his final column back in December when he announced his retirement. The fact that Traikos and I were able to share in that moment with the man Postmedia types referred to as “The Franchise” is one of those occasions during your career that you’ll never forget.
Not that you could ever forget Cole, anyway. From the way he could turn a phrase in print, to how he could use his words to paint a mental picture that made you feel as if you were in the rink with him, few in this profession did it better.
And we’re not the only ones who feel that way.
Indeed, Cole and his outstanding work will forever be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame after Scott Burnside, president of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, announced Monday that Cole will receive the Elmer Ferguson Award for excellence in hockey journalism.
Also being honoured is longtime outstanding play-by-play man Dave Strader, who is this year’s recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award for outstanding contributions as a hockey broadcaster.
In a profession full of egos, Cole, one of the few scribes who actually deserved to have one, never really did. As such, it should come as no surprise that he was humbled upon receiving the news that he’d been picked for the Ferguson.
“To be honest, I was totally surprised when Scott told me,” Cole said. “I’d always associated the Ferguson with people like Red Fisher and Frank Orr and Helene Elliott and Kevin Allen, people who covered the sport on a daily basis and were in tune with the daily rhythm of the hockey world.
“It wasn’t until I did the research ... that general (sports) columnists like myself had also received the honour, legends like Trent Frayne and Milt Dunnell.”
A proud Alberta native, Cole’s 41-year career included stints with the Edmonton Journal, National Post and Vancouver Sun. His rise to prominence as one of the greatest Canadian sportswriters coincided with the emergence of the Edmonton Oilers dynasty of the 1980s.
Asked what he misses most about the business, Cole pointed to the vibrancy, camaraderie and adrenalin rush that goes with covering the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“Certainly not all the flights and the deadlines,” he said, chuckling. “But the games, the writing, the going out with colleagues afterwards and staying out far too late, then getting up too early to start working and do it all over again — those are the things you remember.”
As a colleague of Cole’s for more than two decades, what I’ll remember are the countless times I read a Cole column the next day and said: “I wish I’d written that.”