Cam Cole (born 1953) is a Canadian sports journalist. During his career, Cole has worked for the ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunn ...

,'' ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

,'' and ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, and is the larg ...

.'' After retiring in 2016, Cole was awarded the

Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award The Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award is an accolade presented annually to a print newspaper columnist or reporter in recognition of their achievements covering the game of ice hockey. The award is "to recognize distinguished members of the newspap ...

by the

Hockey Hall of Fame The Hockey Hall of Fame () is a museum and hall of fame located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Dedicated to the history of ice hockey, it holds exhibits about players, teams, National Hockey League (NHL) records, memorabilia and National Hockey Le ...

and Golf Canada’s Distinguished Service Award.

Early life and education

Cole was born in

Vegreville Vegreville () is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is on Highway 16A approximately east of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. It was incorporated as a town in 1906, and that year also saw the founding of the ''Vegreville Observer'', a week ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

in 1953. He attended the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

(U of A) where he was a journalist for the student newspaper, '' The Gateway.'' However, Cole dropped out of U of A's science program and pursued a career in book-and-magazine distributorship before returning to the University as a general arts student.

Career

In his second year back at U of A, Cole began working as a general sports journalist for the ''

'' after their high school journalist was fired. During his time with the Edmonton Journal, he covered high school sports, soccer, the

Alberta Junior Hockey League The Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) is an Alberta-based Junior A ice hockey league that belongs to the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL). It was formed as a five-team league in 1964. The 2023–24 season began with 16 teams, however 5 ...

, and the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

. In 1998, after covering the Edmonton Oilers 1980s dynasty, Cole moved to Toronto to work for the ''

.'' While with the National Post, Cole was inducted into the

Canadian Football Hall of Fame The Canadian Football Hall of Fame (CFHOF) is a not-for-profit corporation, located in Hamilton, Ontario, that celebrates achievements in Canadian football. It is maintained by the Canadian Football League (CFL). It includes displays about the CFL, ...

Reporters of Canada wing and awarded the Sports Media Canada Sportswriter of the Year award in 2004. The following year, Cole was hired by the ''

'' while covering the

2005 Super Bowl Super Bowl XXXIX was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles to decide the National Football League (NF ...

for the Post. In 2010, Cole was named a finalist for the 2010 Jack Webster Awards as "Best News Reporting of the Year" for his article "A Tragic Day in Whistler." While with the Sun in 2011, Cole became the first reporter to be awarded the Sports Media Canada George Gross Award as Sports Media Canada Sportswriter of the Year for the second time. Cole stayed with the Sun until his retirement in 2016. At the time of his retirement, Cole had reported on multiple general sports events such as the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, Grey Cups, Stanley Cup finals, golf championships, Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups, Canadian Opens, World Series, Super Bowls, and world figure skating championships. In 2017, Cole was awarded the

by the

. At the announcement of his award,

Scott Burnside Scott Burnside (born 1963) is a Canadian sportswriter. Burnside began a career in sportswriting with the ''Windsor Star'' where he covered the Stanley Cup championships by the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998. He was the ''National Post'' sp ...

, president of the

Professional Hockey Writers' Association The Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) is a North American professional association for ice hockey journalists writing for newspapers, magazines and websites. The PHWA was founded in 1967 and has approximately 180 voting members. The ...

, said "...Cam is widely regarded as one of the greatest Canadian sports writers of all time. You'll get no argument from this quarter." In 2018, Cole was awarded Golf Canada’s Distinguished Service Award for his sports journalism career.

Publications

The following is a list of Cole's publications: *''Ice level: Canadian hockey moments from the last 50 years: Canada's best from the best'' (2005)

Personal life

Cole and his wife Jan have two daughters together, Kelly and Michelle.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Cam Living people 1953 births University of Alberta alumni Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients Canadian male non-fiction writers Writers from Alberta Sportspeople from Alberta National Post people Vancouver Sun people Canadian Football Hall of Fame inductees