The Cole Caufield Kick Ass Tour Is Officially Underway In Montreal
Icon Sportswire. Getty Images.Cole Caufield is a goal scorer. Plain and simple, this cat loves to put the puck in the back of the net. And he's delivered at every level he's played at so far. Whether it's being the all-time career goal leader for the USNTDP with 126 goals (beating out guys like Phil Kessel, Patrick Kane, and Auston Matthews). Or 30 goals in 31 games with the University of Wisconsin. Or even those first 10 games of his NHL career when he joined the Habs late in the 2020-21 season and had 4 goals in those 10 games, and was a huge part of the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final that year.
But then last year happened. It was the story of two Coles. And sure, you can certainly just chalk it up to a young player finally needing to make adjustments to his game to produce in the NHL. But at the beginning of last season, Caufield had just 1 goal and 8 points through his first 30 games of the season. Clearly the biggest dry spell of Goal Caufield's short career. But then something magical happened.
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You see, Cole Caufield is a Short King. He's listed at 5'7". His goal totals are high but his stature is short. So when the Montreal Canadiens fired Dominique Ducharme in the middle of last season and brought in one of the greatest Short Kings in league history to takeover behind the bench--5'8" Marty St. Louis? Well that was all Cole Caufield needed to turn his season around. Because after 37 games with St. Louis behind the bench, Cole Caufield ended his season with 23 goals and 20 assists. Still not numbers that are going to blow your dick away, but clearly there's some magic behind the way that Martin St. Louis coaches Cole Caufield.
Which finally brings us to last night. Opening night of the 2022-23 season for the Habs. A chance to see whether Cole Caufield just caught fire in the back half of last year, or if Goal Caufield is truly here to stay and to wreak havoc on NHL goaltenders for the rest of time. We got our answer to that question rather quickly.
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2 goals on the night for Cole and that 2nd shot was NASSSSTY. That's a shot where I don't give a hoot who is between the pipes, they're not stopping that puck from drilling the back of the net. That's a shot of a guy who is putting up at least 40 tucks this season.
Again, Cole Caufield is a goal scorer. But something inside of him needed to be unlocked in order to achieve the highest form of himself in the National Hockey League. Ironically the highest form of himself is still pretty short, and the key to that success all comes back to bringing in another short legend like Martin St. Louis to lead Goal Caufield to greatness. So basically this is just a long-winded way of saying that the rest of the league is fucked until Martin St. Louis' time runs out in Montreal. Because as long as those two are connected, it's going to be pure destruction.
P.S. -- Josh Anderson with the game winner with just 17 seconds to go in regulation last night. Looks like Toronto is already in postseason form with the gut punching losses.