RALEIGH - Amid the on-ice chaos at the RBC Center after the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup on Monday night, Erik Cole sifted through the sea of fathers and brothers, daughters and mothers and found his wife, Emily.

"Can you believe this?" Cole said to his wife.

They hugged and wondered how they got to this moment after the 3-1 Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers. Nobody could believe Cole's story.

Fifteen weeks ago, he broke a bone in his neck. Four weeks ago, he was told for the second time in a four-month span that his season was over. Yet, there he was on Monday -- and not just as a bystander or inspirational figurehead.

In Cole's second game back, after he missed 46 because of the March 4 neck fracture, he showed that the Canes wouldn't be pushed around like they were in Game 6.

He threw his body around like a training-camp invitee trying to impress the coach.

"We really need to pressure them and try and be the aggressor," Cole said.

Cole provided the physical presence the Canes lacked earlier in the seven-game Stanley Cup finals series. He finished with a game-high nine hits and drew the penalty that led to the winning goal in the second period.

The game wasn't without its anxious moments. With about 14 minutes left in the second period, with the Canes up 2-0, Cole played the puck at the halfboards and Edmonton's Chris Pronger checked him squarely in the back. Cole's head whipped back, and he fell to the ice.

"That one made me nervous," said Emily Cole, who watched the game from section 116 with their 6-year-old daughter, Bella.

Cole did get up, but it took a second.

"I felt that one," Cole said.

Pronger wasn't surprised by Cole's resilience, but he was impressed.

"He played very well," Pronger said. "To come back after sitting out for 3 1/2 months, that's not easy to do. Kudos to him."

It was a vintage Cole move that led to Frantisek Kaberle's power-play goal early in the second period.

Up 1-0, Cole took the puck at the blue line and went for a wide rush down the boards. He got a step around Edmonton defenseman Jaroslav Spacek, who had no choice but to hold him.

It was the kind of move Cole perfected during the 2002 playoffs when he was just a rookie power forward and before he became a 30-goal scorer.

With Spacek in the penalty box, Kaberle provided what turned out to be the winning goal.

"He was physical and didn't back down," Canes center Eric Staal said. "For him to do that was unbelievable. He didn't look like he missed a step."

This final step, after watching his teammates celebrate wins in the first three rounds, is where Cole wanted to be on Monday.

An NBC television gig, the occasional Jumbotron appearance and a standing ovation were nice, but they weren't the same as being in the game.

"It was tough watching," Cole said. "You don't really feel a part of it until you are out there on the ice with the guys."