On March 4, 2006, Erik Cole of the Carolina Hurricanes was hit from behind by a certain player, from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and got injured. Who hit him, and how injured is Cole?

gtho4

Brooks Orpik Cole has acompression fracture in a vertebra in his neck, and isoout for 6 to 8 weeks. Carolina left wing Erik Cole will miss at least the rest of the regular season with a compression fracture in a vertebra in his neck caused when he was driven headfirst into the boards by Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik during a 7-5 Hurricanes victory Saturday night. Cole, tied for second on the team in scoring, will be out at least 6-to-8 weeks -- a major loss for what currently is the team with the NHL's best record. The Hurricanes have not ruled out Cole returning for the playoffs, which begin in mid-April. Cole had scored two goals for the second night in a row before he was rammed into the dasher boards from behind by Orpik with 14:42 remaining as the Hurricanes were trying to hold off the Penguins, who trailed 5-0 and 6-1 before rallying. Cole was slammed into the boards near the right circle, along the side of the ice where the bench areas are located, after he appeared to lose his footing just before Orpik hit him. Cole, who had hit the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career earlier in the game, was doubled over in pain while being helped off the ice. He was taken to Pittsburgh's UPMC Presbyterian, where he was examined and released Sunday morning before returning to Raleigh to be examined by team orthopedic physician Douglas Martini. http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AvUF4zxpuxePsjHV4T19i197vLYF?slug=ap-hurricanes-cole&prov=ap&type=lgns http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=AvUF4zxpuxePsjHV4T19i197vLYF?slug=ap-hurricanes-cole&prov=ap&type=lgns">www.sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news Mar 06 06, 6:37 PM