“I’m just so happy for them that they get to have this experience.” “That’s the part that’s emotional,” Kelly Caufield said the day before the game. Having Brock and Cole wearing the same Wisconsin uniform, playing in this building – one Cole, in particular, seemed born to play in (it’s called the Kohl Center, after all) – has significance for everyone involved. This is a big moment for the Caufield family. The next day, when Paul and Kelly Caufield make the 90-minute drive south on I-39 from Stevens Point to Madison to watch Cole and his big brother Brock play together for the Badgers, The Athletic is along for the ride. “He didn’t struggle last weekend, he scored a few goals, but he’s playing against some men.” “Now Cole’s in college and he’s going to … well, I think he’s going to struggle,” Paul said. He did, it is extremely safe to say, just fine. When Cole made the USNTDP team, his dad didn’t know how he would fare facing that kind of competition.

It’s yet another milestone in Cole’s long march toward the NHL. So I think, being small, he’s going to have to keep proving himself.”Īt the rink in Stevens Point in mid-October, Paul’s reflections come as Cole is preparing for what’s to come the next day: his first home game for the University of Wisconsin Badgers – a dream come true, of sorts, for the entire Caufield family. There’s a chance.’ It hit me there’s a chance he can do it, but still, he hasn’t done it and I still haven’t put forth that idea of whether it’s really going to happen because he’s going to have to keep proving himself. … We’re at the draft in Vancouver and we have a guy following us around from NHL Network all day and I’m thinking, ‘He’s going to go in the first round. “I’ve been around the game a long time, I know how hard it is. Paul has not yet allowed himself to accept that reality. First-round draft picks, with few exceptions, get the opportunity to at least play an NHL game.

But he will likely be given a chance to play in the NHL. No one knows if Cole Caufield will become an NHL star, if he will have a long career or any of that.

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