Don’t want to see anything against the rules, but hopefully Chara will take EVERY opportunity to put a shoulder squarely on the chest of both cindy & gina.

Posted by Down River Dan on 03/11/10 at 08:52 PM ET

Copy and Paste - Cindy…pretty original.

How about Patricia Bergeron, or Tina Thomas?  Does that make me funnier, or smarter?  Or maybe I look like a bigger hockey fan?

Posted by original on 03/11/10 at 09:01 PM ET

How about Patricia Bergeron, or Tina Thomas?  Does that make me funnier, or smarter?  Or maybe I look like a bigger hockey fan?

No, it just makes you look like an angry Pens fan that understands Sid is a big target because of his constant whining and general wussery.

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste Marie on 03/11/10 at 09:20 PM ET

There you go, proved my point again on the Copy and Paste remark.

Posted by original on 03/11/10 at 09:23 PM ET

What Happens If The Bruins Target Crosby?

Jack Edwards explodes into pieces on live television?

Posted by Primis on 03/11/10 at 09:40 PM ET

The outrage if someone targeted Crosby?

From reading this and other hockey boards, it’s exactly what the lower rung of fan wants.

Both of them were targeted with goonery long before the Cooke incident, nothing’s going to change.

Posted by HNBCTB on 03/11/10 at 10:13 PM ET

But it will Make a difference for the Red Wing Fans who are So Jealous that they can’t take it

Meantime Their is in serious jeopardy of not making the Playoffs, But that doesn’t matter as much as any story posted with Sid in it

Posted by Evilpens on 03/11/10 at 10:22 PM ET

You know what would’ve been awesome?

It Patrick Sharp could’ve gone all the way and given us Nicole Lidstrom.

Posted by Claude Lemieux from Colorado on 03/11/10 at 10:27 PM ET

I think it might be a good idea for the Pens to scratch Cooke for the game.  Better than then a repeat of the Bertuzzi-Moore incident.

Posted by Rachel on 03/11/10 at 10:32 PM ET

Posted by Claude Lemieux from Colorado on 03/11/10 at 10:27 PM ET

As much as I hate to admit it….well played.

Posted by mike from austin on 03/11/10 at 10:43 PM ET

the only people that think the bruins are on a man hunt for crosby are misinformed writers who can recite the NFL’s code of conduct policy and the rest of the idiot fans who don’t understand hockey.

cooke will fight in the first period and honor his duties and he’ll have to fight whoever challenges him first.  end of story. 

if the bruins want to have zdeno chara and the rest of the team taking runs and cheap shots trying to equalize the savard hit, they’ll be on the outside looking in when game 82 is over.  the game will probably be chippy, boston will play hard, but not solely to avenge savard, they also need two points.  which is why they can’t afford to have chara going around head hunting, or anyone else.

crosby said it best on wednesday when asked about whether he was worried about getting his bell rung.  he said guys are probably trying to do that to him in every game, on every play no matter what the other circumstances are.  which is true.  all he can do is keep his head up and play his game.  savard getting leveled doesnt make it any easier for someone to crush crosby. 

and you’re really just a stupid fanboy if you think they’re going after him because of his “constant whining and general wussery”.  they’re going after him because its a hockey game and he’s the opponent who has the puck an awful lot, has ppg numbers, and in most games is the best player on the ice.  id bet money teams are planning defenses around him because he is an offensive playmaker, not because of his general wussery.

Posted by Heavy Orange from cardinals on 03/11/10 at 10:48 PM ET

I personally found the hit dirty. I think the time for retaliation however, was on the ice immediately after it happened. At this point, the Bruins are fighting for a playoff spot and can’t afford to lose the game or lose any other players because of suspension. If the B’s were to target crosby or any other player and injure him, it would result in a suspension which is something we can’t afford. I would like the bruins to come out flying and hitting everyone within the rules. Maybe arguably our best player will motivate everyone to step up and be like the Bruins of last year (I can dream right).

Am I the only one who thinks cooke should have been suspended for the hit? (I admit i may be bias as a B’s fan)

Posted by Matthew from Bruins on 03/11/10 at 11:23 PM ET

Well said, Orange.

The key is that the Bruins are more concerned about getting into the playoffs—the ultimate way to honor Savard—not killing Cooke out there or targeting other Penguins.  Yeah, we can expect Cooke to drop the gloves with someone (hopefully), be it Stuart or Thornton or Lucic, but even though the Bruins have some tough guys, I don’t see them as a team populated by psychopaths, a la Todd Bertuzzi, so any worries about a redux of the Moore incident seem off-base.

Posted by nosferatu from oh on 03/11/10 at 11:30 PM ET

Meantime Their is in serious jeopardy of not making the Playoffs, But that doesn’t matter as much as any story posted with Sid in it

If anyone who posts on any KK thread is dumber than Evilpens, I’d like to know who it is. A six-grader with a D- average could write better than this idiot.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 03/11/10 at 11:32 PM ET

But it will Make a difference for the Red Wing Fans who are So Jealous that they can’t take it
Meantime Their is in serious jeopardy of not making the Playoffs, But that doesn’t matter as much as any story posted with Sid in it
Posted by Evilpens on 03/11/10 at 10:22 PM ET

Wow, OTC beat me to it, but damn.  I’m not even going to get into the argument you’re trying to make because it’s stupid, but for Christ’s sake, learn how to write before you rip into somebody else.  Your posts remind me of those “hukd on fonix workz 4 me” pictures you see around the internet.

Posted by Riviera on 03/11/10 at 11:39 PM ET

i posted this on another article regarding this matthew, but yes, cooke should’ve been suspended. 

HOWEVER; a lot of writers and general opinions im reading here have misguided anger.  the problem here is with the league and its absolute refusal to nail this stuff down.  cooke made a pretty dirty hit, if he gets suspended, the bruins move on, bust him up next time they meet, which most likely wouldnt be this game coming up.  i think people feel like justice wasn’t served and want the bruins to take it out on the pens through retaliation.  the pens arent the problem.  matt cooke didn’t beg not to get suspended.  the league chose not to on its own.  deal with the situation as you’d deal with it regardless. the bruins need two points more than they need cooke, or crosby, or malkin, on a stretcher to feel some sort of vindication.  and that’s what’s really troubling. 

that this is how people think you correct the situation the league created by not suspending cooke, that you go out there and head hunt and try to injure cooke or his teammates.  the players, todd bertuzzi not withstanding, get this.  stupid fans don’t.  players understand that’s not the answer.  will lucic try to cave cooke’s cheek in?  yes.  and that will end the saga.

Posted by Heavy Orange from cardinals on 03/11/10 at 11:57 PM ET

My guess is if at any point in his career Crosby takes a hit like Savard took that knocks him unconscious, and they have to bring the stretcher out, the geniuses at Kukla’s Korner will post thousands of times that Cindy Crybaby dove on the play and lay there so they would bring the stretcher out so he could get sympathy and go on David Letterman.

Posted by old on 03/12/10 at 12:04 AM ET

Heavy Orange, I think you’re misreading a bit of fan concern.  I agree with your call.  Matt Cooke should have been suspended and I should be primarily mad at the league for getting this wrong. I am.

I’m also mad at Matt Cooke for laying a cheap shot on a guy and I think the Bruins should have gone after Cooke in the game in which it happened.

My main concern (especially as a fan of neither the Penguins or the Bruins) is that hockey doesn’t suffer another of those black eyes that makes the American media take notice of the sport only when something horribly violent happens, especially after such a promising showing at the Olympics.  I think Cooke should answer the bell when they meet and I think he will.  I hope it ends there and they get this rule fixed as soon as possible.  I hope the precedent the league has upheld here doesn’t come back to bite them in the ass through another hit like Cooke’s happening again.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 03/12/10 at 12:40 AM ET

why would the B’s respond when it happened though?  they were down by a goal with 5 minutes left and no penalty was called on the play. 

the refs, for what its worth, did a good job of corralling both teams because of the injury preventing anything from really going on, and given the severity of the injury, both teams sauntered back to the bench.  so, now you’re looking at taking an instigator if cooke even gets back on the ice, because he surely isn’t going to go looking for the fight with his team up by a goal.  if the score isnt 2-1, cooke is probably seeing a plastic surgeon the next day.

but that’s a whole other discussion that is really moot at this point. 

i think if any hit to the head, and i mean, shoulder-down contact to the head, not head to the ice, results in a concussion that is diagnosed by an independent and not a team neurologist, it should be an automatic three game suspension.  done.  doesnt matter who you are.  repeat offenders move up the scale, but you start at 3 games instead of “free pass”. 

i loved watching eric lindros getting his head jacked up as a kid.  that guy refused to skate without staring at the puck for some reason.  but this is getting ridiculous.

Posted by Heavy Orange from cardinals on 03/12/10 at 01:33 AM ET

Am I the only one who thinks cooke should have been suspended for the hit? (I admit i may be bias as a B’s fan)

No. Just about everyone thinks that, regardless of allegiance. See the Pittsburgh Post-gazette’s coverage for evidence.

My guess is if at any point in his career Crosby takes a hit like Savard took that knocks him unconscious, and they have to bring the stretcher out, the geniuses at Kukla’s Korner will post thousands of times that Cindy Crybaby dove on the play and lay there so they would bring the stretcher out so he could get sympathy and go on David Letterman.

And “Cry” to Letterman about his equipment, you mean. +1

Posted by steve on 03/12/10 at 02:31 AM ET

The repercussions of the non-suspension does worry me quite a bit, and not just from the Penguins angle. Were there to be ridiculous retaliatory action against in the Boston game, or a sharp increase in blindside hits with detrimental outcome, it would be a disaster and several steps backwards for the game.

Then again, the best players are targets in every game and should be able to handle themselves under normal game circumstances. But you can’t defend yourself against someone determined to cross-check you in the head while disregarding all personal consequences. I do hope the game has progressed beyond that.

Certainly, the Boston game has become more “interesting” than necessary.

Posted by Moq from Denmark on 03/12/10 at 07:32 AM ET

No, it just makes you look like an angry Pens fan that understands Sid is a big target because of his constant whining and general wussery.

Posted by Red Winger from Sault Ste. Marie on 03/11/10 at 09:20 PM ET

He said “Sid”!  Not “Rosby” or “Cindy” or “Crysby” or “Thid”...he called him Sid!

Ladies and gentlemen…do you believe in miracles?!

Anyway, to answer the question…90% of the Kukla’s Korner faithful will rejoice…and probably call him a cry baby.

Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 03/12/10 at 07:55 AM ET

Heavy Orange pretty much nailed it….

Sid said it best yesterday, he said he has his head on a swivel every game…..

Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/12/10 at 08:00 AM ET

anyone who posts on any KK thread is dumber than Evilpens, I’d like to know who it is. A six-grader with a D- average could write better than this idiot.

Oh…and, I’m pretty sure it’s impossible for anyone to be dumber.  Literally…impossible.

Posted by Flashtastick56 from Milford, CT on 03/12/10 at 08:00 AM ET

What happens? The NHL cancels the season.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 03/12/10 at 08:15 AM ET

Yes, the best players are targets every game, but 90%+ of time are targets of hard, but fair hits. It’s one thing being ready to avoid or take those, quite another avoiding somebody who is only looking for a head shot. Boston is not in a position to lose players because of revenge, but think what can happen if Cooke repeats that against a team that is out of playoffs and is playing Penguins in the last week.
As for Bertuzzi, except for the outcome, what has he done what hundreds of players haven’t done before ? It was bound to happen sooner or latter, but it could have happened to some hundred players every year. He and Moore were unlucky pair.
(and I never liked Bertuzzi much, not like I’m his fan defending him)

Posted by Davor on 03/12/10 at 08:19 AM ET

Is there any question there are two sets of rules in the NHL, one for Crosby and one for the rest of the players?

The NHL’s infatuation with Crosby is hurting the game.

Posted by Rugsby from NE on 03/12/10 at 08:41 AM ET

Sid said it best yesterday, he said he has his head on a swivel every game…..
Posted by Tony from Virginia Beach, VA on 03/12/10 at 08:00 AM ET

As anyone in the NHL should. Star status or not.

Posted by MOWingsfan19 on 03/12/10 at 09:33 AM ET

I would be shocked if anything happens the next time these two teams meet. The NHL will be all over the Bruins if they attempt to retaliate and I’m sure the incompentents running the NHL have already made it clear that they don’t want to be shown up for their stupidity. If Cooke or any other Penguin were to be targeted or hurt, the Bruins will face fines and suspensions whether the infractions are in the rule book or not.

THe NHL will use the same clause they used to suspend Avery for comments to the media. Remember six games for being an ass and none for putting a player on a stretcher. Talking trash is far more detrimental to the game than having players taken off on back boards. I’m still waiting for Savard to sue the NHL for an unsafe work environment since the NHL stated they knew they had a problem of worker safety as far back as the Richards/Booth incident, but refused to take any action in a reasonable amount of time.

Posted by hockey1919 from montreal on 03/12/10 at 09:48 AM ET

Boo Hoo, where were all the Boston fans against these type of hits when Richards did the same to Booth? Panthers lost their only 30 goal scorer and a chance at the playoffs. Jack Edwards, Mike Milbury and all these Boston fans were quiet until it happened to their team. Suck it up like men and stop crying. The hit is legal under the current rules. End of story.

Posted by Bo from FL. on 03/12/10 at 11:22 AM ET

Meanwhile, in 10 other games in the NHL this evening 8 players leave on stretchers due to non-illegal hits to the head. Zero suspensions handed out.

Two weeks later all teams have called up approximately 6 forwards to replace their headached team. Kaleta, Rutu and Cooke all lead their teams in scoring for remaining starters.

No, nothing bad could come of this… nothing at all. Revenge isn’t what I would be worried about with this decision.

Posted by clownfat from Seattle on 03/12/10 at 02:21 PM ET

Cindy is just lame, and misses the mark. The Little Prince is much better!

Posted by Out west on 03/12/10 at 05:44 PM ET

Who on the b’s is going to run crosby or malkin?  the only two i can think of that would think of that is thorton and lucic, both of which would have to be lucky to catch either of them.  Cookes going to fight one of them and rupp will fight chara if he has too.  If by some chance eric godard is ready to play by next thursday(doubtful) he will fight chara.  Too spend the game chasing crosby up and down the ice is stupid unless ur name is zetterberg.  For the fans calling for a headshot to crosby, arent these the same people that have been saying headshots need to be outlkawed all week.  I hope cooke doesnt get bertuzzied and i think he should fight any of the b’s players that challenge him and i think he will.

Posted by raymond flower from Pittsburgh on 03/13/10 at 03:49 PM ET