Cole Cassels Finally Scored a Goal And It Was… Something
By Jeremy Davis
8 years ago
Photo Credit: Lindsay A. Mogle / Utica Comets
Twenty two games into his professional career, Canucks prospect Cole Cassels finally put a puck in the back of the net. Cassels has been off to a pretty rough, largely due to lasting effects from an abdominal injury incurred last season. It must be a pretty incredible feeling to finally get your first pro goal, and a huge weight lifted off of the 20-year old’s shoulders.
When you’re slumping as hard as Cassels was, you’ll take absolutely anything, even the stinkers. And boy, was this goal a stinker.
The goal had to go under video review because it was just so bad, but they eventually counted it.
Yep, that’s what we’ve been waiting a third of a season to see. Hey, there’s no judgment here: all goals count on the scoresheet and that goal tied the game in an eventual 3-1 Comets win. All that matters for Cassels is that there is a 1 under the ‘G’ column instead of that hideous goose egg that’s been ominously staring at him since day 1 in the AHL.
Cassels extremely slow start in the AHL hasn’t gotten as much play as one would have thought it would. The slow starts last season on Hunter Shinkaruk and Brendan Gaunce were often talked about, yet Shinkaruk took just five games to pot his first goal, and Gaunce only three games.
The Hartford, Connecticut product does have a bit of a built in excuse however: he’s on the long, slow road to recovery (extra emphasis on long and slow). He played through an abdominal injury through a large part of his final season in the OHL, including his Oshawa Generals fabled run through the OHL playoffs on their way to becoming Memorial Cup champions. The fact that Cassels was such an integral piece of that team while playing hurt was all the more impressive.
However, that injury which made his last season so impressive has made his current season considerably less so. Cassels has been a non-factor on the Comets for much of his rookie campaign. In 22 games this season, he has just two points, including the one scored last night. Worse, he’s managed just 15 shots on net. Even worse than that, he’s carrying an even strength on-ice goals-for percentage of 30.8 per cent, easily the worst of any Comets player on an NHL contract.
In terms of his production, his absence on the scoresheet is at least partially accounted for by the fact that he likely plays less minutes than any other forward (I say likely because the AHL does not release Time on Ice stats. He has an estimated Time on Ice (eTOI) of just 6:30. This is likely well under his actual ice time, as the eTOI is an imperfect estimated and will shortchange low event players. Less goals by either side when Cassels is on the ice means less eTOI.
Still, it indicates that he’s not seeing the ice very much at all. A guess of about nine or ten minutes per game would probably be a fairly reasonable one. Cassels often centers the fourth line, and even then it isn’t uncommon for other centres to double shift into his spot at times.
On the other hand, he’s also been deployed as the first line centre a handful of times, typically between Utica’s most talented offensive wingers in Hunter Shinkaruk and Alex Grenier, and hasn’t managed to make anything out of it.
Cassels does get a shake at special teams though. When he is in the lineup, he’s almost always on the second unit power play, which is where he tallied his lone assist this season. He hasn’t been a part of the Comets’ penalty kill at all this year though.
His careful usage is all part of a long term recovery plan devised by Canucks and Comets staff. Before the entire organization was overrun by injuries, he was a regular healthy scratch – usually once every three games or so, totalling seven games so far. Typically this is scheduled rest on double headers, or his game time is replaced by a session of his intense off-ice workout regimen.
What he’s currently experiencing is similar to, albeit worse than, what Hunter Shinkaruk went through last year following season ending surgery in his final year with Medicine Hat. Both prospects had their summer routines nearly wiped out entirely by rehab sessions, and were not able to properly prepare for a massive step up in competition moving to pro hockey. Shinkaruk’s start was not as bad as Cassels’, but there are parallels, including similar limited usage with second unit power play. Perhaps as teammates, Cassels can draw from Shinkaruk’s experience in that area.
What lies ahead for Cassels is unknown. He’s still a solid prospect and a good bet to improve over time. I don’t know what his PCS numbers are this year (*sobs*), but it’s a safe bet that they’ve taken a pretty harsh dip from where they were last season.
Last year, there was so much optimism surrounding him, hopefully he gets back to 100% eventually and starts turning heads again. Utica Comets head coach Travis Green told Nation Overlord Thomas Drance earlier in the season that he didn’t expect Cassels to be “right” until after Christmas – lo and behold, he scores his first professional goal in the first game after the holiday. Perhaps this is a sign that things are starting to turn around. The Comets are back at it today at noon, so we’ll look to see if he’s got an extra spring in his step.
He can relax a little now that after nearly three months of pro hockey, he finally got off the Schneider. Even if it was the ugliest goal he’s even scored, it probably felt better than most.
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