Danton Cole

Danton Cole
Born	(1967-01-10) January 10, 1967 (age 58) Pontiac, Michigan, U.S.
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Right wing
Shot	Right
Played for	Winnipeg Jets Tampa Bay Lightning New Jersey Devils New York Islanders Chicago Blackhawks
National team	United States
NHL draft	123rd overall, 1985 Winnipeg Jets
Playing career	1989–2000
Coaching career
Biographical details
Alma mater	Michigan State
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1999–2001	Grand Rapids Griffins (assistant)
2001–2002	Muskegon Fury
2002–2005	Grand Rapids Griffins
2004–2006	Motor City Mechanics
2006–2007	Bowling Green (assistant)
2007–2010	Alabama-Huntsville
2010–2017	US NTDP
2017–2022	Michigan State
Head coaching record
Overall	81–160–24 (.351)
Tournaments	0–1
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
2010 CHA tournament champion

Danton Edward Cole (born January 10, 1967) is an American former professional hockey player and the former head coach of the Michigan State Spartans men's hockey team. He had guided the USA Hockey Under-18 team to a pair of gold medals and a bronze medal at the IIHF World U18 Championships during his seven seasons at the helm from 2010 to 2017. As a player, he spent seven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Winnipeg Jets, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks.

Playing career

Cole was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the 6th round, 123rd overall in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He then went to Michigan State University where he played for 4 years, scoring 62 points in 47 games his senior year there. Cole then reported to the Moncton Hawks of the AHL for the 1989–1990 season, playing in 80 games. That year he also made his NHL debut with the Jets, scoring 2 points in 2 games. The next year he earned a full-time spot with the Jets and played there for another 2 years.

Prior to the 1992–1993 season Cole was traded to the newly formed Tampa Bay Lightning and became part of the original Lightning roster. While with the Lightning Cole enjoyed his best season in the NHL, when he scored 43 points in 81 games during the 1993–1994 season. The 1994–1995 season saw Cole play the majority of the season with the Lightning before being traded to the New Jersey Devils. That year the Devils won the Stanley Cup and Cole had his name engraved on the Cup.

Following the Stanley Cup win Cole played the majority of the 1995–1996 season in the IHL. He also played with the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks but saw only 12 games the whole season. This would be the last time Cole played in the NHL. He then split a year playing in Germany and the Grand Rapids Griffins, followed by two full years with the Griffins. Cole then played 2 games with the Griffins during the 1999–2000 season before officially announcing his retirement.

Coaching career

Immediately after retiring, Cole joined the Griffins as an assistant coach. He stayed there until the 2001–2002 season when he coached the Muskegon Fury of the UHL for one season, leading them to a championship win. He then joined the Griffins again, this time as head coach, and coached there until he was replaced midseason during the 2004–2005 season. Cole was assistant coach at Bowling Green State University during 2005 to 2007. Cole was the head coach at the University of Alabama in Huntsville starting with the 2007–2008 season. As head coach of the UAH Hockey team, in the 2009–2010 season, Cole brought UAH to its second ever appearance into the NCAA tournament by winning the CHA conference tournament in over time 3–2. Following the 2009–10 season, Cole resigned as UAH's head coach to accept a coaching position with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. ^[1]

On April 11, 2017, he was appointed head coach at his alma mater, Michigan State. ^[2] On April 12, 2022, he was fired by Michigan State. During five seasons as head coach, he led the Spartans to a 58–101–12 record. ^[3]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983–84	Fraser Flags	GLJHL		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
1984–85	Aurora Tigers	OJHL		41	51	44	95	91		—	—	—	—	—
1985–86	Michigan State University	CCHA		43	11	10	21	22		—	—	—	—	—
1986–87	Michigan State University	CCHA		44	9	15	24	16		—	—	—	—	—
1987–88	Michigan State University	CCHA		46	20	36	56	38		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Michigan State University	CCHA		47	29	33	62	46		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Moncton Hawks	AHL		80	31	42	73	18		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		2	1	1	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Moncton Hawks	AHL		3	1	1	2	0		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		66	13	11	24	24		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Winnipeg Jets	NHL		52	7	5	12	32		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Atlanta Knights	IHL		1	1	0	1	2		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		67	12	15	27	23		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		81	20	23	43	32		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		26	3	3	6	6		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	New Jersey Devils	NHL		12	1	2	3	8		1	0	0	0	0
1995–96	Utah Grizzlies	IHL		34	28	15	43	22		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Indianapolis Ice	IHL		32	9	12	21	20		5	1	5	6	8
1995–96	New York Islanders	NHL		10	1	0	1	0		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Krefeld Pinguine	DEL		28	7	12	19	14		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Grand Rapids Griffins	IHL		35	8	18	26	24		5	3	1	4	2
1997–98	Grand Rapids Griffins	IHL		81	13	13	26	36		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Grand Rapids Griffins	IHL		72	14	11	25	50		—	—	—	—	—
1999–00	Grand Rapids Griffins	IHL		2	0	0	0	0		—	—	—	—	—
IHL totals				257	73	69	142	154		13	5	7	12	10
NHL totals				318	58	60	118	125		1	0	0	0	0

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1990	United States	WC		10	2	1	3	6
1991	United States	WC		10	6	4	10	14
1994	United States	WC		5	1	1	2	2
Senior totals				25	9	6	15	22

Head coaching record

Statistics overview

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Alabama-Huntsville Chargers (CHA)(2007–2010)
2007–08	Alabama-Huntsville	6–21–4	3–13–4	5th	CHA Quarterfinal
2008–09	Alabama-Huntsville	5–20–5	3–11–4	4th	CHA consolation game (Tie)
2009–10	Alabama-Huntsville	12–18–3	6–10–2	t-3rd	NCAA Midwest Regional semifinals
Alabama-Huntsville:		23–59–12	12–34–10
Michigan State Spartans (Big Ten)(2017–2022)
2017–18	Michigan State	12–22–2	6–16–2	7th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
2018–19	Michigan State	12–19–5	8–12–4–2	7th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
2019–20	Michigan State	15–19–2	11–11–2–0	6th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
2020–21	Michigan State	7–18–2	5–16–1	7th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
2021–22	Michigan State	12–23–1	6–18–1	7th	Big Ten Quarterfinals
Michigan State:		58–101–12
Total:		81–160–24
National champion        Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

^[4]

References

1. Benson, Reggie (June 21, 2010). "UAH's Cole accepts new job with USA hockey program". The Huntsville Times.
2. ""Danton Cole Named Michigan State Hockey Head Coach," Michigan State University Athletics, Tuesday, April 11, 2017". Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
3. Paul, Tony (April 12, 2022). "NCAA drought at 10 years, Michigan State fires hockey coach Danton Cole". The Detroit News . Retrieved May 10, 2022.
4. "Alabama-Huntsville Chargers Hockey Year-by-Year". Alabama-Huntsville Chargers. Archived from the original on December 5, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2014.

External links

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com , or  Eliteprospects.com , or  Hockey-Reference.com , or  The Internet Hockey Database