Cole Pearce Biography

[N0HBDY 1,119]

Cole Pearce in his time was one of the first of the then unexpected wave of highly talented goaltenders which would make his goal of success that much more difficult on the path ahead of him. Coming in from Greece with his two brothers and finding his standing in the hockey world Cole, Nico, and Calix all elected to sign with the Minnesota Storm for the remainder of their season in season 80. Cole Stepped in as a backup for Minnesota as they finished 2nd in the Eastern Conference with a record of 54-12-6, 2 wins of which Cole contributed. Moving into the playoffs Cole wouldn’t see the ice as the Storm rolled past the Reapers to the 2nd round to get shut down by the soon to be champions Ottawa Lynx.

 

Now Cole’s signing was up and he was eligible for the draft and in the S81 VHLM Dispersal draft the rebuilding Saskatoon Wild took Cole Pearce 1st overall. As much as Cole was in love with the title “1st Overall” he was perplexed as to why the Wild would draft him so high with the next goalie to be drafted at pick #10. With the goal of competing Cole was not very happy but was loyal and showed up to be the starter for the Wild that season. 27 games into the season, a 7-17-3 record, 0.898sv% and 3.6GAA, Cole was in hell with those stats being very much to his disliking, but that would change when Cole would be involved in a three-way trade sending him to Philadelphia for next to nothing.

 

In Philly, Cole would split time with their other starting goaltender and would get his hands on 18 games going 10-7-1 with a 0.898sv% and 3.15GAA, a slight improvement but still not what he was looking for as luck was not on his side. Moving into the playoffs after finishing 3rd in the East the Reapers would take down the Bulls and then lose to the Aces in the 2nd round.

 

S82 would be Cole’s eligible season for the VHL Entry Draft where he expected himself to go high and he would be 3rd overall to the London United. London was an up-and-coming team that needed a prospective goalie to fill the job, and with no starter to compete with Cole jumped at the opportunity to play in the highest league, skipping his chance to play and develop in the VHLE.

 

Season 82 was all Cole could dream of playing 64 games, going 40-16-7, and a 0.909sv% + 3.61GAA. The United were a dominant and young team finishing on top of the European conference and heading into playoffs they would lose to Moscow in 7 games. A terrible end to such a fun rookie season for Cole who would land S82 All-VHL Rookie Team after the playoffs finished. Cole’s heart was set on London

 

Season 83 London would finish around the same record as the previous season, only their conference had upped their game and dominated so the past European Conference Regular Season champs would end up as a wildcard team moving into the playoffs. That however wouldn’t stop Cole from becoming a seemingly new person playing 65 games with a record of 38-20-7, and a 0.924sv% + 2.37GAA. A dominant showing from the young goaltender whose confidence could not be matched. But in the playoffs Cole’s luck of not winning a series would continue with London falling to Prague in the wildcard round and ending their season.

 

Season 84 however would be nothing like the previous two seasons for the United. A management change would happen and the new manager would start with losing key pieces of the team and put the franchise in the direction of a rebuild. Cole, stuck in London with one season remaining on his contract, would have to bite the bullet and forgo his goal of competing for the season until he could be traded or signed in free agency. Playing in 59 games with a record of 22-27-9, and a 0.924sv% + 2.65GAA, Cole did his best to be the great goaltender he was but with little support in front of him he’d for the first time in his VHL career, miss the playoffs, but on a bittersweet note he would become the United’s All-Time Winningest goaltender which would sit as his title until S89 with Jesse Teno taking the title over from him.

 

Threatening free agency, London management was desperate to get some value out of Cole and worked with him to find a suitable home over the offseason. Cole would end up signing a single season contract extension with a team option for the season after that and make his way across the pond to Chicago along with his teammate Juice Box for a 1st round pick.

 

Season 85 would be back on the road of success for Cole, Chicago had some wrinkles to straighten out but were a good enough team which satisfied Cole, as well as his teammates being very likable. Playing in 64 games with a record of 32-27-5, and a 0.918sv% + 2.56GAA, Cole could live with that. Chicago would squeak in as a wildcard team, upset Seattle, and move on to lose to the soon to be champions D.C. Dragons.

 

Though halfway through his career Cole was happy with how he was playing, however he was not happy with how little awards he was earning.

 

Season 86 Chicago straightened out the wrinkles. They were a dominant team in North America. Playing in 64 games with a record of 43-18-3 Cole’s best season yet, and a 0.933sv% + 2.05GAA a stellar performance. Chicago finished 2nd in NA and went into the playoffs against the defending champions D.C. who they would take down in a dramatic 7 games. In the farthest point Cole has ever made it to in the playoffs Chicago faced Vancouver and would lose in another dramatic 7 games and Vancouver would move on to become that season’s champions.

 

As for the awards Cole received that season, he achieved the Greg Clegane trophy which is the lowest regular season GAA by a goalie handed out by default and All-VHL 2nd Team. Yep that was it, in a controversial awards voting Cole had lost to one other goalie in all other voted-on goalie awards, with no chance at a co-winner either.

 

Season 87 Chicago picked up the team option of Cole but as quickly as they got the wrinkles out, they came back. Playing in 64 games with a record of 32-29-3, and a 0.918sv% + 2.72GAA, the awards voting took a hit on Cole’s morale and Chicago finished just above a wildcard spot but found themselves in the wildcard matchup against Seattle who in 5 games would top Chicago and move on.

 

Moving into the offseason Cole was unwilling to return to Chicago, unhappy with the direction of the team, but also not as spirited in his goals anymore with the age starting to show. The contract rights to Cole were traded to Warsaw for a 2nd round selection, where Cole would then sign for a single season with a NTC.

Season 88 Warsaw was hopeful but not able to win the race for a wildcard spot and would miss the playoffs. Playing in 60 games with a record of 28-26-6, and a 0.926sv% + 2.75GAA, they were Cole’s typical numbers once again, but nothing outstanding.

 

Given one last chance at a competitive season before Cole would ultimately call it quits Warsaw would trade him to Seattle along with a 3rd round pick for a 1st round selection

 

Season 89 be that currently ongoing, Seattle has been Cole’s savior for his last season wanting to help him achieve his goal of a championship, as of now having played in 44 games with a record of 28-14-2, and a 0.924sv% +2.55GAA, the numbers show a glimmer of hope for a final small improvement in Cole’s game which likely won’t result in any awards, but a championship?

 

It was a fun career, being a goalie was hella fun, though we got shafted with the massive amounts of high earning goalies which put us off some awards. I'm still very proud of your career Cole. Just wasn’t feeling that 9th season. Rest easy, you were the best Pearce there was. 

 

If you wanted to see all of the trades Cole was involved in I’ll also link them here:

https://vhlforum.com/topic/113302-phihoussk-s81/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/126137-childn-s85/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/134389-warchi-s88/

https://vhlforum.com/topic/136430-warsea-s89/

 

[Spartan 4,437]

Why did you write this after retirement when you can't get the TPE.....?

[N0HBDY 1,119]

4 minutes ago, Spartan said:

Why did you write this after retirement when you can't get the TPE.....?

don't matter, glory to cole