Meet the Wilds Ian Cole, a dentists son with a propensity for blocking shots |

ST. LOUIS – Since Ian Cole was a young boy, he loved getting his teeth cleaned. Every six months, like clockwork, Cole would go to his dad’s dental practice in Ypsilanti, Mich., to keep his teeth healthy and sparkly white. He loved the smooth sensation afterward, the taste of the mint- or cherry-flavored polish.

“His teeth were perfect,” Doug Cole, a dentist for 38 years, proudly said of his son. “They were so perfectly aligned. He never had a cavity. I mean, his teeth were … you could have taken a picture of them as a model of perfect dentition.”

So, imagine the father’s heartbreak that Oct. 7, 2017, evening when he and his wife, Connie, were at the University of Michigan-Michigan State football game at the Big House and suddenly were inundated with texts from panic-stricken friends.

“People saying, ‘Oh my God, have they taken Ian to the hospital?’” Ian’s mom recalled. “We could hardly get reception at the football game, so I couldn’t get ahold of anybody to tell us what happened.”

“It was horrible,” Doug said.

“It was. It was really bad. It was really bad,” Connie said.

“We didn’t know what had happened,” Doug said. “We thought he got rolled off, paralyzed or something.”

Ian Cole, the Minnesota Wild’s most rugged defenseman, was then playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was the third game of the season and they were facing the Nashville Predators, the club that Cole and the Penguins knocked off four months earlier for their second consecutive Stanley Cup.

Cole was struck square in the mouth by a blistering Roman Josi one-timer from point-blank range. Doug’s first question? “Was he wearing his mouth guard?”

Turns out he was. The puck instantly knocked Cole’s mouth guard onto the ice. When Cole lifted his head, looked down and saw the blood starting to spill, his mouth guard sat next to his left glove. When referee Chris Rooney gathered the mouth guard, inside were Cole’s three upper front teeth.

“Just a crushing blow,” Cole’s father said. “He had to go to an oral surgeon because the puck not only knocked out his three front teeth, but it smashed the jaw bone around them. Sometimes if you get a tooth knocked out, you can stick the tooth back in and it’ll take, you can replant it.

“But there was no way because the bone around the teeth got smashed, too. So they had to do some bone grafting and things like that. The Penguins had very good people, and the surgeon called me and we consulted about it the whole time and he seemed to really know what he was doing. I felt he was in good hands.”

“Yeah,” Connie said, laughing. “Doug was hovering over Ian from afar.”

“Well,” Doug said, with a hint of sorrow in his voice, “his teeth were perfect! For as long as I can remember, I always yelled at him, ‘Do not go on the ice without your mouth guard.’ I guess a mouth guard is not going to protect you from a direct Roman Josi 100 mph slap shot.”

Doug made his son a flipper (i.e. fake teeth) that he can insert and remove at will. But when Cole’s career is over, he will likely get permanent implants. He can’t get them now because if he’s nailed in the mouth by another puck, which quite frankly is probable with the way he plays, “it could take a big chunk of his whole face out,” Doug said.

And that would be, uh, problematic for the rest of Cole’s perfect teeth.

“I still make sure to get my other teeth cleaned. I just love it!” Cole said, laughing. “I usually go to the team dentist for one of my cleanings, but I always hold the other for when I’m back home.

“This way, my dad feels like he still has some say in my dental hygiene.”

Ian Cole at the Stadium Series game in 2020. (Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today Sports)

There’s something wonderfully ironic about a dentist’s son becoming one of the NHL’s toughest combatants, someone willing to throw his “perfect teeth” in front of any oncoming puck.

The latter is one reason why former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford acquired Cole from the St. Louis Blues in 2015, and why Wild GM Bill Guerin did the same from the Colorado Avalanche three months ago.

“He’s that important to a winning team,” Rutherford said. “He’s one of those players where his contribution doesn’t show up in the box score. He was a good team guy, knew how to win, knew what it took to win, and at key times in the game, he did key defensive things. Whether it was a big hit, or whether it was killing a penalty, a defensive play at a critical time, he did all those things over those Cup runs here in Pittsburgh.

“He did what it took. He didn’t hold anything back, and other players followed. When you make a big defensive play or a play where there’s a high risk of getting injured and not even thinking twice about it, that rubs off on other players. That’s leadership.”

On a Wild team that has blocked the second-most shots in the NHL (599) and leads the league in blocks per 60 minutes (15.58), Cole, 32, is tied for 20th in the league with 69 blocked shots (67 with the Wild) and ranks fourth with 7.22 blocked shots per 60 minutes (minimum 23 games). Since 2015-16, Cole has the seventh-most blocked shots in the NHL and ranks second in blocked shots per 60 minutes.

While Cole has logged the fifth-most shorthanded minutes (55:20) among Wild defensemen behind Jonas Brodin, Ryan Suter, Jared Spurgeon and Matt Dumba, he has played a significant factor in the league’s third-best penalty kill (84.9 percent).

“I think whatever team Coler goes to immediately gets better on the penalty kill,” said Nick Bonino, who won two Stanley Cups with Cole in Pittsburgh and has logged the most shorthanded minutes among Wild forwards (80:16). “He’s one of the best shot blockers in the league, one of the best shot blockers I’ve seen. Completely fearless. And with the shot blocking, he’s got a great stick. He’s got a great mind up there.”

Ian Cole (Courtesy of Connie and Doug Cole)

Cole grew up in Ann Arbor, Mich., in the shadows of the University of Michigan campus. His dad went to dental school there, so Cole grew up going to Wolverines hockey, basketball and football games. He was singing Michigan’s fight song, “The Victors,” by the time he was 2 years old.

And even though he’d ultimately play hockey and graduate from Notre Dame, Cole is still a Michigan fan, although “he won’t admit it,” his dad jokes.

Cole’s parents knew early that hockey was Ian’s first love. It was their preferred vocation for him since he originally aspired to be a snake curator.

“I remember thinking, ‘Boy, it’d be nice if he can play college hockey. Maybe he’ll get drafted,’ but we didn’t think we had Wayne Gretzky living in our house,” joked Connie, a former American Airlines flight attendant. “Nothing’s ever been given to him. He’s always been a grinder. I remember as a kid, probably in sixth grade, his friends were all taking power skating and had private coaches to work with. He’s like, ‘Mom, how can I compete with these kids, these rich kids that have all these resources?’ And I’m like, ‘You’re just going to have to work, dude. That’s it.’”

When Cole was 8, Jeff Jackson helped start the USA Hockey National Team Development Program in Cole’s backyard of Ann Arbor. The Coles got a brilliant idea – or, so they thought. Ian’s only sibling, sister MacKinzie, is six years younger, so Ian’s parents decided to billet USA Hockey teenagers so Ian could have an “older brother figure.”

“We thought that’d be a cool influence,” Doug said, laughing. “It didn’t necessarily always work out.”

Over the years, the Coles billeted six kids, but they quickly learned the players were pretty focused on solely hockey “and didn’t want to be bothered by a little kid. The problem is by the time we got to the fourth kid, Ian was about 13, 14, and he thought he was just as good as the kid that was living with us. So, they would go out and play hockey in the driveway and it got very competitive,” Doug said. “Ian was big and he was strong and he was good, and this kid was on the team and he was older and both of them wanted to win, and I thought there was going to be some fights.”

“Well, Ian doesn’t give,” Connie added. “They thought this little kid would back off and Ian wouldn’t give.”

But the experience of living with so many USA Hockey players gave Ian the goal of pursuing hockey as a life.

Wanting to be just like his now-teammate Suter, Cole eventually joined the National Team Development Program, coached by Ron Rolston and playing with such players as James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Shattenkirk and Colin Wilson.

Ian Cole at Notre Dame in 2008. (Fighting Irish Media)

Growing up, it was always assumed that Cole would wind up attending Michigan. In fourth grade, Ian accompanied his grandfather, Tom, a “Notre Dame wannabe,” to the South Bend, Ind., campus.

In awe, Tom said to his grandson, “Ian, what if you could ever go to school here?”

“My dad just kept going on and on and on, and Ian leaned over to me and goes, “I would never go here. Why would I go here?” Connie recalled.

Seven years later he was a Notre Dame student and hockey player as the first commit in the Jackson era after being the final recruit of the Dave Poulin era.

“Notre Dame swooped in there when I was young, a freshman in high school, and offered me a scholarship, and I sat on it for a while,” Cole said. “Michigan basically was like, ‘Yeah, we’re interested, but if you want to take a half scholarship, that would be great.’ My dad was like, ‘I am not paying for you to go to school when you can go to Notre Dame for free.’”

Wisconsin was also recruiting Cole hard and it was a true hockey school coming off a national championship. The Irish were coming off a three-win season and just made a coaching change, but Cole was convinced Notre Dame was the place for him, especially after years of being recruited by longtime associate coach Andy Slaggert, who coached Cole at a national festival in St. Cloud, Minn., and the Michigan State Select Festival at Ferris State when he was 15.

The comfort level of knowing Jackson a little bit from when he was in Ann Arbor with USA Hockey also convinced Cole. He still laughs when he recalls Jackson saying to him, “Oh yeah, you were like the chubby, little kid, right?”

“I mean, I was 8,” Cole said, roaring.

Michigan was stunned to hear Cole committed to Notre Dame.

“They thought they had the Michigan kids in their back pocket and suddenly were like, ‘You’re one of our boys, you should come here,’” Doug said.

At Notre Dame, Cole was a highly skilled, high-scoring defenseman, a first power-play guy who scored 65 points in 111 career games and helped the program reach the Frozen Four for the first time in 2008.

“He was a different player here than he is at the pro level, which is not unusual,” said Slaggert, who played four years for the Irish and has coached there since 1993. “He was really young. He came in as a true freshman. He had an awesome one-timer, a big power-play guy for us, played major minutes and had a much more offensive role for us than he does at the pro level. To watch him mature and get more comfortable with himself and see his personality come out is one of our biggest prides.

“We’ve had lots of pro players come through here, NHL captains (like Anders Lee), but it’s been really neat to see where his career’s gone.”

Ian Cole and family (Courtesy of Connie and Doug Cole)

In 2007, Cole was drafted 18th by the St. Louis Blues. When Cole got to St. Louis as a rookie, he learned quickly this was not college.

“Well, I had Ken Hitchcock in St. Louis and he’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re .. not a skilled defenseman anymore, you’re a stay-at-home D-man now,” Cole said, laughing. “I remember thinking, so it’s either get with the program or not be on the team.”

Or, not be in the NHL.

There are more than 700 players in the NHL and most of them likely scored at some level. It’s the players that adjust their style and conform that have long careers. The Blues had defensemen Alex Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk, so Cole needed to offer something different. And that became grit. A good stick. Physicality. A fearless mentality. A positive influence in the dressing room.

One coach who worked a lot with Cole was Hitchcock’s assistant, Brad Shaw.

“With Hitch, it was like, first mistake I made, I was out of the lineup for two weeks. One bad pass and you’re yanked,” Cole said. “So I spent a lot of time with Brad. He’s a fantastic hockey mind, a fantastic coach, very detailed, so it turned out to be great. We watched a ton of video and did a ton of extra work together, obviously, not playing.”

Shaw is proud of the player Cole has become.

“When Ian came to St. Louis, he had in mind a more offensive game that he was going to impact the NHL with, and I think his skill set is much more in tune with how he’s played the last six, seven years,” said Shaw, in his fifth year as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets after spending 10 years with the Blues. “If I helped Ian, it was probably in redirecting him how he can best impact a game. He’s an ultra-aggressive player. He makes defensive reads on the edge of aggression and being decisive and assertive as well as any defenseman in the league. …

“But the last thing I want to do is take credit for Ian Cole. He did the work himself. … A lot of what goes wrong on the ice gets blamed on defense. I think when you learn to work within that environment and recognize it for what it is, I think the guys that can sort of withstand that and then still find ways to have success and keep their confidence are the guys that can thrive. The greatest players I’ve ever coached all have an incredible inner confidence, and that describes Ian.”

There were times Shaw had to build Cole’s fractured confidence back up.

“It usually started at the bench when Hitch would yell, ‘Shawzy, tell that fucking Cole to wake up,’” Shaw said. “When you’re an assistant coach with a coach like that, a lot of your job is to let the storm cloud pass by and then you kind of build that player back up. Those are actually fun environments because if you say the right thing to get them refocused, that turnaround can be almost instantaneous. Not always. But it really was with Ian.

“Ian’s a sharp guy. He’s a driven guy. He’s a student of the game. When he wasn’t playing, he was all ears to ideas that could possibly get him back in the lineup so that he could try and prove that he belonged. That drive and that intelligence has really pushed him through some of the tough times; where if you’re maybe not as strong mentally or not as driven, it can be overwhelming.”

Cole adjusted his game from offensive-minded guy to defensive-minded. He’s the epitome of a stay-at-home defenseman, although every once in a while he reminds us all of the tools he possesses, like his scorching one-timer, his impressive mobility — especially when one considers the number of 100 mph pucks his legs have absorbed — and his passing ability, which he flashed Monday night against Colorado when he head manned a puck to Ryan Hartman for a breakaway that led to a Nick Bjugstad goal.

In 577 career games in 11 seasons with St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Colorado and the Wild, he has 27 goals and 142 points, is plus-108, has 529 penalty minutes, 620 shots, 753 hits and 1,054 blocked shots.

“I would love to play for as long as I can, as long as I’m still a good player,” Cole said. “I don’t want to be that guy that’s overstaying my welcome. As long as you can contribute, and you’re healthy, I’d love to play for as long as I can. But I feel very fortunate that I played even 11 years this far.”

Ian Cole talks to teammate Kirill Kaprizov (David Berding / USA Today Sports)

Talk to Cole for one minute, and it’s clear he’s an intellect. He’s one of the most well-spoken players in the league.

After leaving Notre Dame to turn pro after three years, Cole returned to the campus three consecutive summers and graduated with a degree in psychology.

He joked that “college was a really good gig” late in life. He had complete access to the rink and hockey facilities to skate and work out, so he’d take a couple classes, eat in the cafeteria, then go play golf.

“Doug and I told him always from the very beginning, we’re banking on your brain,” Connie said. “This is a short gig. However long this goes, this is going to be a short gig relative to the rest of your life. So I want you to always be thinking a step ahead. What are you going to do next?”

Cole has taken those words to heart. He’s currently getting his MBA at the University of Denver. He takes one live class virtually a week and catches up on his reading and studies during downtime on the road.

Following his dad’s advice to study union labor negotiations, Cole is very involved with the NHL Players’ Association. He was part of the return to play committee last summer and is a member of the benefits committee, which oversees the defined benefit pension plan.

At Notre Dame each summer, Cole and Lee help set up late-summer captain’s practices around the start of football season – Cole, his wife and son are actually renting Lee’s home in the Twin Cities.

“I can see himself doing something in hockey after he’s done playing because he is such a good mentor, whether it’s player development or coaching or management,” Slaggert said. “He would have a lot to offer.”

This is one big reason why Guerin is interested in re-signing the pending free agent after the season. Guerin just loves how Cole carries himself, and Guerin believes that Cole and Bonino have done a lot already to help change the culture inside the Wild’s dressing room. Whether he’s being humble or he genuinely doesn’t know, Cole says he just fits in with a “great group of guys” and he’s done nothing consciously to make an impact off the ice other than being himself.

“But guys that can change the culture and play leadership roles, it comes naturally to them, so they don’t see it,” Rutherford said. “He wasn’t there in Minny prior to have anything to compare to it. But the people that are there, like Billy, it’s a lot easier for him to see the difference. And, I can totally understand it because even though he was younger, I saw the same thing here in Pittsburgh.”

From afar, Connie and Doug couldn’t be prouder of the player and person Cole has become.

Connie suddenly started laughing.

“When I turn the TV set on and I see him, it’s still like, ‘Wow, that’s so weird. That’s my kid.’”

“That’s true,” Doug said. “That is weird.”

The Wild face the Blues seven times in the next 23 days beginning with back-to-back games in St. Louis starting Friday night. Cole’s parents will turn on that TV and watch their only son step onto that Enterprise Center ice where it all began for him 11 years ago.

There will be the same source of pride, the same nerves, too.

“I ask my angels in heaven to wrap their wings around him and keep him safe every time,” Connie said. “I asked Ian just recently, like a month or so ago, … ‘If someone told you when you were 10 the amount of pain you were going to go through to play in the NHL, that you were going to lose your teeth and take a puck in the mouth, that you were going to have your orbital broken and have a plate put in your face, that you are going to have two complete hips redone and you couldn’t walk for a full summer in addition to all the other little broken bones and everything else you’ve had, would you be fearful or not?’

“He’s like, ‘Nope, I’d still do it.’”

“Of course, he would,” piped in Doug. “I just wish he’d wear a full cage … but he will not do that.”

(Top photo: David Berding / USA Today Sports)

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57kW5ncG1mbnxzfJFqZmlsX2WGcLnEnqtmrJiaeri1y52qZqGRo3qku8ueZJpllJq7tbXSrapmq5%2Bjeri106FkmmWgp7yxsc2soK2xXZu8s3nBpaaco5mjtG6%2Fx6irrGc%3D

Meet the Wilds Ian Cole, a dentists son with a propensity for blocking shots

CATALOG

FEATURED TAGS