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Entries with the tag: matt+cooke
Video Style, All Matt Cooke
by Paul on 12/04/11 at 09:48 AM ET
Comments (1)
Christine Simpson of Sportnet has a sit-down interview with Matt Cooke.
The interview is almost 20 minutes long and can be viewed below.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke The Recipient Of An Elbow/Shoulder To The Head?
by Paul on 12/01/11 at 10:11 PM ET
Comments (33)
The hit was delivered by John Carlson, no call on the play.
thanks ot the pensblog for the pointer…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: John+Carlson, Matt+Cooke,
Video- Is This Sarich Hit Worth A Suspension?
by Paul on 10/09/11 at 08:01 AM ET
Comments (22)
via Steve MacFarlane of the Calgary Sun,
While even members of the Pittsburgh Penguins sitting up in the press box considered Flames defenceman Cory Sarich’s hit on Penguins pest Matt Cooke clean Saturday night during a 5-3 Calgary loss at the Saddledome, hockey operations will offer up tape for a closer look.
It’s tough to argue against the idea of making sure it was clean — even against a guy as polarizing as Cooke — but if every big hit in the league is going to be shipped to Sheriff Shanahan, he’s not going to have much time to himself.
The hit in question was a hard check from Sarich in the second period that looked like it first connected with Cooke’s sternum. Cooke’s head snapped back on the followthrough, but after shaking it off, he joined the scrum when teammates jumped to his defence.
Sarich was not penalized for the hit but did receive a double minor for roughing in the altercation that took place after the hit.
Watch the hit in question below…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Cory+Sarich, Matt+Cooke,
Video- Bad Goal Of The Night
by Paul on 09/30/11 at 10:24 PM ET
Comments (2)
Ray Emery (I didn’t realize he attended the Hasek School of stickhandling) turns it over to Matt Cooke.
The rest is history, Pens 4, Hawks 2.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Chicago Blackhawks, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke, Ray+Emery,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 09/17/11 at 02:42 PM ET
Comments (3)
“I always went for the big hit. Whenever I had a chance to hit, I tried to make it as impactful as I could, trying to stay within the rules. The problem with that is there are a lot of situations during that game where that approach didn’t allow for much room for error and in a hurry, things can go bad. That’s only been proven more and more the more I watch video, the more I watch other games, the more I watch other players.”
-Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins. More from Chris Stevenson of the Ottawa Sun.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Why Matt Cooke Just May Change
by Paul on 08/24/11 at 08:23 AM ET
Comments (8)
from Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
About 600 miles separated him from his wife, who was lying in a hospital bed at UPMC Mercy, Uptown. She had fallen ill a day after the Winter Classic, another presumed reoccurrence of a kidney infection. Four days later, as her husband — one of the most infamous players in the NHL for his controversial hits — was frantically calling before a game-day breakfast with Penguins teammates in Montreal, Michelle Cooke was dying.
“I get a hold of a doctor, and he says, ‘I think you should come back right now,’ ” Cooke said. “I got there, and they’ve got a chaplain giving her the blessing (for recovery) and our kids are in that room.”
Seven months later, Cooke warmly gripped his wife’s right hand during a lunch at Aviva Brick Oven Pizzeria in Warrendale. He had not played an NHL game in five months and acknowledged the next could be his last — even if he unintentionally hits an opponent in the head.
thanks to a few KK members for pointing out the article...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Cooke With A New Mentality
by Paul on 08/23/11 at 05:06 PM ET
Comments (17)
from the Sporting News,
But like most players of his ilk, Cooke is different off the ice—he is generous, gregarious and has a charity in Vancouver. He was in Altoona, Pa., on Monday to shoot a ceremonial first puck at a minor-league baseball game when The Altoona Mirror caught up with him.
Lemieux is the Penguins’ president, a member Hockey Hall of Fame and Steel City immortal. So Cooke had better live up to his word – and he says he will.
“It’s a mentality, it’s how I’m going to approach the game,’’ Cooke told The Mirror. “And the team has worked hard in supporting me to accomplish these minor tweaks in my game.’‘
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Morning Line
by Paul on 04/30/11 at 10:36 AM ET
Comments (4)
“After it happened, I asked Ray and ownership if I could leave for a little while. They were OK with it. Everyone has times in their lives when you need help or you need to talk to somebody. I`ve had the chance to work with some people. I spent a week specifically dealing with those things.”
-Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins on dealing with his style of play. More from Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Changing Matt Cooke
by Paul on 04/23/11 at 06:59 AM ET
Comments (7)
from Rachel Brady and David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
Matt Cooke is spending part of his days as a suspended NHL player in front of a video screen, with Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma or one of his assistants, Tony Granato or Todd Reirden.
There, Cooke sits and watches the dirty hits that brought the outrage of the hockey world down on him last month.
The idea, Penguins general manager Ray Shero said, is to bring back a changed man when Cooke returns from his latest suspension that covered the final 10 games of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh leads the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first-round series three games to one, with a chance to close it out Saturday (CBC, noon ET). If the Pens advance, he could be back in action as early as next week.
“The coaches say [to Cooke] you have to be careful with this, be more conscious of this,” Shero said. “I think he wants to change the way things happen for him.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
It’s A Matt Cooke Morning
by Paul on 03/22/11 at 06:24 AM ET
Comments (6)
The hockey headlines this morning are filled with Matt Cooke suspension stories.
In my opinion, what else is there to say about Cooke that hasn’t been said at least 50 times.
So, time to move on, but let’s hope not only has Matt Cooke learned what the NHL will and will not tolerate, but other players as well.
Hard hitting games, yes I am all for them. Game where players attempt to take another one out of the game, nope, don’t even go there with me.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke Suspended Through First Round Of The NHL Playoffs
by Paul on 03/21/11 at 04:07 PM ET
Comments (48)
via Nick Kypreos tweet,
Cook suspended by #NHL rest of regular season and 1st round of Stanley Cup play-offs.
added 5:25pm,
TORONTO (March 21, 2011)—Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season (10 games) and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for delivering an elbow to the head of New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh in NHL game #1080 yesterday, the National Hockey League announced today. Cooke will forfeit $219,512.20 in salary.
“Mr. Cooke, a repeat offender, directly and unnecessarily targeted the head of an opponent who was in an unsuspecting and vulnerable position,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell. “This isn’t the first time this season that we have had to address dangerous behavior on the ice by Mr. Cooke, and his conduct requires an appropriately harsh response.”
Cooke’s most recent suspension was for four games on Feb. 9, 2011 and under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (186). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The incident occurred at 4:36 of the third period and Cooke was assessed a major penalty for elbowing and a game misconduct.
Cooke will miss Pittsburgh’s remaining 10 regular-season games and be ineligible for the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
added 5:50pm,
Following is a statement from Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Ray Shero after the National Hockey League ruled today that Penguins forward Matt Cooke will be suspended for the rest of the regular season (10 games) and the first round of the playoffs:
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
If Colin Campbell Was On Twiiter
by Paul on 03/20/11 at 03:55 PM ET
Comments (19)
He’d be reading quotes like this….
I’d like to have heard Ray Shero’s chat with Cooke after the elbow on McDonagh’s head. Shero loves his players but Cooke is incorrigible.
Cooke is like compulsive gambler who wants to quit his behavior but can’t stop himself when he sees casino. An elbow here, an elbow there.
-Jim Matheson
NHL should throw the book at Cooke, suspend him for rest of season and postseason, then I dare Pens organization to claim foul for result
-Erik Erlendsson
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Video- Matt Cooke With An Elbow
by Paul on 03/20/11 at 01:57 PM ET
Comments (87)
The Rangers Ryan Mcdonagh was the receipent. He did return to the game while Cooke received five for elbowing, a ten and game misconduct.
note 3:14pm, Changed the video for one with better quality.
Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke, Ryan+Mcdonagh,
Matt Cooke- The Man Everyone Loves To Hate
by Paul on 03/09/11 at 09:26 AM ET
Comments (31)
from Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated,
There is actually much to admire in Cooke’s game. He has won a Cup, scored at least 10 goals in nine of the past 10 seasons—he scored 15 last year with essentially no power-play time—and made himself invaluable on the penalty kill. In his first game back from suspension, he cashed in a shorthanded goal in a 3—2 shootout loss to the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 20. (He is tied for the NHL lead with six shorthanded points.) Cooke is an actual player, unlike the Islanders’ Trevor Gillies, who is one of three skaters in the past 10 years to have more than 100 penalty minutes in fewer than 100 minutes of ice time. ...
Cooke might even qualify as an impact player, but his impact is most apparent at the point of contact. With good checks and bad, with hits that stretched rules and in one memorable case rewrote them, Cooke has earned a great living and a poor reputation. He has devastated the careers of star players.
much more but worth a read…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Mario Melodrama
by Jon Jordan on 02/13/11 at 03:49 PM ET
Comments (66)
Hockey legend and Pittsburgh Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux dropped an unexpected bomb on the New York Islanders and the National Hockey League in the wake of suspensions and fines announced stemming from Friday’s night at the fights between his Pens and the Isles. In short, “Super” Mario whined in print to anyone listening that if the league doesn’t start X, Y and Zing to his liking, he might just take his ball and go home.
Sound familiar? It should, of course, considering this is the guy who once dubbed the NHL a “garage league” in the early nineties, as obstruction was on the rise, and swore he was close to retiring at that time because of it. (He didn’t, remember, not right away anyway and wouldn’t have for some time, if not for illness and injury.)
The game these days, without the hooks and holds that Lemieux once complained of is probably better, as a whole, but there are some who will argue that a little of that here and there, perhaps, might prevent some of the more serious injuries and questionable hits we seem to see every other game now. Case in point, a defenseman in pursuit of the puck in his own end is often a sitting duck for approaching forecheckers these days, with his partner unable to hold up the opponent in any way, shape or form as he once was.
That example carries some weight here only because Lemieux’s comments today centered around player safety, after New York’s Matt Martin suckered Pittsburgh’s Max Talbot and teammate Trevor Gillies took out Eric Tangradi with a head shot/flying fists combo.
One has to wonder, then, a few things:
Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL Talk, Cheap Hits | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Eric+Tangradi, Mario+Lemieux, Matt+Cooke, Matt+Martin, Max+Talbot, Trevor+Gillies,
Cooke Avoiding Those Dangerous Hits
by Paul on 02/11/11 at 08:30 AM ET
Comments (5)
from Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,
Addressing the media for the first time since the NHL suspended him for four games, Cooke acknowledged Thursday he has met with Penguins coach Dan Bylsma three times this season about not shying away from his physical approach.
Yet Cooke admitted he has, to a degree.
“I’ve altered my game,” Cooke said, a reference to eliminating hits like the one that sidelined Boston center Marc Savard for two months last season. “I’ve had a meeting with the coach for not hitting a guy coming through the middle. There’s a really high risk of being suspended, and I’ve not hit that guy.”
Cooke said he has received support from Penguins ownership and his teammates, but at least one teammate didn’t have a problem with the NHL’s punishment.
“I think it’s fair,” defenseman Brooks Orpik said. “That’s a dangerous hit.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Cooke Suspended Four Games
by Paul on 02/09/11 at 12:47 PM ET
Comments (82)
via Nick Kypreos tweet,
#NHL news. 4 game suspension for #Pens Matt Cooke.
Missed the hit, watch it here.
added 3:06pm,
TORONTO (February 9, 2011)—Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended for four games and will forfeit $87,804.88 for a charging incident involving Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin in NHL game #804 last night, the National Hockey League announced today.
“Two factors were considered in reaching this decision: Cooke delivered a forceful hit from behind on an unsuspecting opponent; also, he is considered a repeat offender under the League’s supplemental discipline rules,” said NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell.
Cooke was suspended for two games on Nov. 28, 2009 and under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement forfeits his salary based on the number of games in the season (82), rather than the number of days (186). The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Lightning/Sabres, 2/8/11 (Plus, Isles Goalie Woes and Matt Cooke)
by Jon Jordan on 02/09/11 at 12:41 PM ET
Comments (0)
As the second period of last night’s Sabres/Lightning game was nearing a close, anyone trying to get a jump on writing their game story had to feel pretty good about things.
Captain Vincent Lecavalier was putting together a dominant performance, the Bolts had a two-goal lead, goalie Dwayne Roloson looked sharp and entering the third period with a lead has been a near sure thing for this team, 22-1-1 in such a scenario before last night.
Once Thomas Vanek’s 20th goal of the year cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-2 with less than two minutes left in the middle frame, however, a not-so-fast vibe filled the St. Pete Times Forum. That Vanek, a notorious Lightning-killer, started the turn of Buffalo’s tides should be no surprise. That the game got as out of control as it did beyond that, though, should be.
And now, the return of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, with some cameo appearances from other games (so as not to overly depress the Lightning faithful):
Filed in: NHL Teams, Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Dwayne+Roloson, Fedor+Tyutin, Kevin+Poulin, Matt+Cooke, Rick+DiPietro, Ryan+Malone, Sean+Bergenheim, Victor+Hedman, Vincent+Lecavalier,
Matt Cooke Hit On Fedor Tyutin Tonight
by Paul on 02/08/11 at 09:10 PM ET
Comments (84)
14:42 Pittsburgh Matt Cooke: 5 minutes, charging
14:42 Pittsburgh Matt Cooke: 5 minutes, fighting
14:42 Columbus Derick Brassard: 5 minutes, fighting
14:42 Columbus Derick Brassard: 2 minutes, roughing
Filed in: NHL Teams, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Fedor+Tyutin, Matt+Cooke,
Video- Matt Cooke Called For Tripping Alex Ovechkin
by Paul on 02/06/11 at 04:04 PM ET
Comments (29)
from Katie Carrera of Capitals Insider,
Ovechkin played another shift before the contest expired and appeared fine afterward but Coach Bruce Boudreau didn’t mince words when asked about the hit in his post-game press conference.
“It was Matt Cooke. Need we say more? It’s not like it’s his first rodeo,” Boudreau said. “He’s done it to everybody and then he goes to the ref and says: ‘What did I do?’ He knows damn well what he did. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s good at it and he knows how to do it. He knows how to pick this stuff. We as a league we still buy into this that oh it was an accidental thing.”
Colleague Greg Schimmel went to the Penguins dressing room afterward and got the Pittsburgh take on the hit by Cooke. Both Cooke and Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma downplayed the contact.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Alex+Ovechkin, Matt+Cooke,
Video- Matt Cooke Gets All Net From 185 Feet Away
by Paul on 12/23/10 at 09:34 PM ET
Comments (4)
Penalty and Caps score on the PP.
Also, early in the game, and a hit that is getting much hype, Ovechkin put a hit on Malkin.
Not something I would normally point out, but you know, the hype, the hype, the hype untill 1/1/11. Watch it below…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 12/21/10 at 12:16 PM ET
Comments (19)
“It’s just a dirty hit. Dirty player. He’s got no respect.”
“I mean, he’s killing a penalty, and he’s coming like that. His only intent was to hurt me with his hands high like that, and I hope they (the NHL) review it.”
“They’re up 5-0, and he cowers away from all our guys. I mean, every guy on our team tried to fight him.”
-Keith Yandle of the Phoenix Coyotes on Matt Cooke of the Pittsburgh Penguins. A bit more from Josh Yohe of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
added video below at 4:26pm...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Phoenix Coyotes, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Keith+Yandle, Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke Finds A Target In Rick DiPietro
by Paul on 10/16/10 at 02:26 PM ET
Comments (15)
via Darren Pang tweet,
Just watched VIZ of Matt Cooke vs Dipietro ...3 times by Cooke and no fight back from Isles when it happened? Hmmm
Filed in: NHL Teams, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke, Rick+DiPietro,
Evening Line
by Paul on 09/28/10 at 08:24 PM ET
Comments (23)
Marc Savard could not be a more pathetic figure during his Boston media meeting earlier this month, discussing post-concussion syndrome.
Without question, Savard’s future hockey-playing career is in grave doubt. His inability to fully suppress tears testified to the depression that engulfs a superior NHL talent. Meanwhile, a fully effective concussion cure remains as elusive as the culprit who thrust Savard into this unenviable state.
Matt Cooke remains a Penguins regular, a human torpedo on the ice, doing “his job.” The Pittsburgh agitator has paid his price in NHL justice while Savard questions whether he will ever have the luxury of taking another turn on a big-league rink.
One wonders if there could have been a better result for both victim and culprit.
-Stan Fischler at the Hockey Journal, where you can read more hockey topics.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Marc+Savard, Matt+Cooke,
Post-Kovalchuk Thrashers Deep on ‘D’, Look to New Faces and Young Guns for Offense
by Jon Jordan on 09/16/10 at 11:14 AM ET
Comments (3)
For the Atlanta Thrashers, a team with just one playoff appearance in ten National Hockey League seasons (and not a single post-season victory to their credit), the time for a fresh start was clearly at hand.
By first turning a negative into a positive in moving on from superstar sniper Ilya Kovalchuk late last season and then raiding the cabinet of the cap-crunched Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks, Atlanta begins their new era, under both a new general manager and head coach in Rick Dudley and Craig Ramsay, with a wealth of promising youth and several veterans with recent championship experience.
They may no longer boast an individual showstopper but that formula wasn’t producing a consistent winner in Blueland anyway (and that alone rarely does as much anywhere). The post-Kovalchuk Thrashers appear to be headed for greener pastures, though there will be that little issue of replacing his 45+ goals, of course.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
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Guilty Before Being Proved Innocent
by Paul on 05/01/10 at 01:17 PM ET
Comments (11)
from Michael Traikos of the National Post,
Guilty until proven innocent.
That is how most opponents treat Matt Cooke. You cannot really blame them. The Pittsburgh Penguins forward is a repeat offender who has earned a reputation for repeatedly stepping over the line. The NHL, in fact, expedited a rule on blindside hits to the head after Cooke concussed a vulnerable Marc Savard with a nasty bodycheck during the regular season.
So when Andrei Markov left Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semi-final on Friday with a lower-body injury after being hit by Cooke, the initial reaction was to condemn.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke Hit On Andrei Markov Tonight
by Paul on 04/30/10 at 08:05 PM ET
Comments (15)
Clean hit but Markov is out with a lower body injury, probably a right knee issue.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Andrei+Markov, Matt+Cooke,
Evander Kane One Punch On Matt Cooke Tonight
by Paul on 04/10/10 at 07:49 PM ET
Comments (36)
Filed in: NHL Teams, Atlanta Thrashers, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Evander+Kane, Matt+Cooke,
Shawn Thornton & Matt Cooke Go At It
by Paul on 03/18/10 at 06:21 PM ET
Comments (23)
First shift for both players, they drop their gloves and go at it.
Hopefully the end of the story.
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Tags: Matt+Cooke, Shawn+Thornton,
Don Cherry Rips Matt Cooke
by Paul on 03/13/10 at 08:36 PM ET
Comments (9)
Both Don and Ron MacLean said the head shot proposal needs to be changed now, not next year.
The Cooke segment starts at the 2:00 minute mark.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Will Anyone Back-Up Matt Cooke?
by Paul on 03/11/10 at 03:33 PM ET
Comments (22)
from Mark Spector of Sportsnet,
Next Thursday, Pittsburgh visits Boston. By failing to find a way to suspend Cooke for even one game, the league puts the onus on the Bruins to mete out their own vigilante justice.
With that, we have the prospect of another Todd Bertuzzi-Steve Moore incident; an incident where Bruins players — who have been blasted at home for doing nothing at the time of the Cooke hit — act on the pressure to defend Savard.
Or worse, they target the Penguins best player. How would the league look if Savard were not the only one to miss the rest of the season because of a throw-away player like Cooke, but Sidney Crosby was injured as well?
Cooke’s problem, another NHLer said on Thursday, is that he likely doesn’t have any friends inside his own dressing room right now.
“Two guys punch each other’s lights out, then you go to bar and you have a couple of beers together,” said injured Edmonton defenceman Sheldon Souray. “When you’re Matt Cooke, you go to the bar that night and there is no camaraderie. There are no friends.
“When you fight, there is something honourable in that. But you flip that switch — you start hurting guys — there is noting honourable in that.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
NHL Could Not Find A Rule That Matt Cooke Broke
by Paul on 03/11/10 at 08:56 AM ET
Comments (6)
from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,
For the last three days at the GM meetings in Boca Raton, Fla., Chiarelli lobbied Campbell to discipline Cooke. Chiarelli said that Cooke, who has a pair of two-game suspensions on his résumé (questionable hits to Artem Anisimov and Scott Walker), qualified as a repeat offender.
Chiarelli’s efforts were for naught.
“What I tried to convince the hockey ops staff was to take it outside of the current rule,’’ Chiarelli said. “Use the repeat offender criteria and implement an infraction on an intent to injure. That infraction and the repeat offender should distinguish it from the Richards hit. They didn’t want to.’’
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke, Peter+Chiarelli,
Evening Line
by Paul on 03/10/10 at 06:49 PM ET
Comments (17)
“He’s got no respect for the players, he’s been doing that for a long time.”
“He knew exactly what he was doing when he came with his shoulder. He knew exactly that he was going to hit his head and that’s how guys get hurt.”
-Vinny Lecavalier on Matt Cooke.
“There are certain players in this league, that you tend to see on the highlights with hits like that. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that it was given by Matt Cooke. He’s a hard working player, I don’t want to take anything away from the way he plays the game but I think that there are times when guys are vulnerable and he still follows through. If that hit is not a suspension, I don’t know what is.”
-Martin St. Louis also on Matt Cooke. More at TSN.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 03/10/10 at 05:09 PM ET
Comments (1)
The only person who seems to understand Colin Campbell’s pattern of punishment is Campbell himself. The suspensions he hands down are arbitrary and erratic—swayed by non-evidence, hunch, gut feelings, anecdotes and back-channel influence peddlers—and they are almost never clearly explained. He establishes precedent and contradicts it. He makes exceptions based on flawed premises and then concludes his arguments illogically and capriciously. No one, no one, knows what is allowed and what is not allowed. It is Dartboard Justice.
-Jack Edwards of NESN. More from Jack…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Colin+Campbell, Marc+Savard, Matt+Cooke,
Report- No Suspension For Cooke
by Paul on 03/10/10 at 02:37 PM ET
Comments (37)
via Bob McKenzie tweet,
Matt Cooke is not being suspended by the NHL for his hit on Marc Savard. Penguins have been informed of that by the league.
added 2:39pm, again from a McKenzie tweet,
Colie Campbell explaining his decision now. Said it was a matter of consistency. No suspension for Richards. No suspension for Cooke.
added 2:41pm, In case you haven’t seen the hit or want to review it, watch the video here.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 03/09/10 at 03:56 PM ET
Comments (19)
“The word predatory does come to mind. And you know, I don’t have any trouble with that. When you’re playing hockey, you’re supposed to finish your checks. I don’t think he meant to give him a Grade 2 concussion. That’s Matt Cooke’s game. He’s supposed to be a guy that finishes his checks, that agitates a little bit, that can play a little bit of hockey. He’s not a slug, But he’s no Sidney Crosby. His job is to make sure he punishes people when he gets the opportunity. Intent to injure? I don’t know. That’s a hard one to pin on anybody. Certainly, ready to finish his check with authority.”
-Mike Milbury on the hit on Marc Savard by Matt Cooke. More from Milbury at WEEI.
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Tags: Marc+Savard, Matt+Cooke, Mike+Milbury,
Marc Savard Does Not Remember The Hit By Matt Cooke
by Paul on 03/08/10 at 01:08 PM ET
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from Stephen Harris of the Boston Herald,
All Marc Savard wanted to do was go home and sleep.
“Right now, I just need rest,” said the injured Bruins [team stats] star as he sat in Pittsburgh International Airport awaiting a mid-day flight to Boston. “I’m exhausted.”
Savard was knocked unconscious by a blindside hit to the head from Penguins forward Matt Cooke Sunday, suffering a concussion and damaged jaw during the Bruins’ 2-1 loss. He was walking and talking very slowly in the airport, although the fact he was able to traverse the several hundred yards to the Boston gate under his own power had to be a good sign. With many concussed athletes, it’s sometimes difficult to walk across a room.
“I think that’s a good sign,” said Savard of his being able to walk without dizziness or balance problems. He was examined by physicians in Pittsburgh yesterday before he was cleared to fly.
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Tags: Marc+Savard, Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke Hit On Marc Savard Today
by Paul on 03/07/10 at 05:48 PM ET
Comments (57)
No penalty on the play and no update on Savard who went off on a strether.
The video is raw and I will try to find a better quality vid soon (found one)
added 7:05pm, via the Boston Bruins,
Marc lost consciousness briefly on the ice after being struck in the head. He suffered a concussion from the hit. He was not transported to a hospital, but will remain at the team hotel in Pittsburgh with a member of the Bruins’ medical staff tonight as a precaution.
No further update on Marc’s condition is expected tonight.
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Tags: Marc+Savard, Matt+Cooke,
What Would You Call Matt Cooke?
by Paul on 02/01/10 at 08:53 AM ET
Comments (11)
from Ron Cooke of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
How would you describe Cooke?
I took a shot at it and used the term “agitator” Sunday after the Penguins’ 2-1 shootout win against the Detroit Red Wings at Mellon Arena. Cooke smiled politely. But he clearly didn’t like it.
“I’ve always kind of been in that stereotype and I’ve always tried to get out of it,” he said. “An agitator, to me, is someone who gets 10 points a year and does his job. I like to think I contribute more to the team than that. I can get you 30-40 points a year and 10-15 goals.”
You know what? Cooke is absolutely right. Calling him an agitator just won’t do. Forget his 11 goals and 22 points so far this season. The term doesn’t fairly describe his defensive work, especially as a penalty-killer.
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Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Asham Claims Cooke Bit Him
by Paul on 01/24/10 at 06:16 PM ET
Comments (26)
from Chuck Gormley of Flyer Files,
Flyers right wing Arron Asham has accused Penguins forward Matt Cooke of biting him during a third period scrum. Asham told a small group of reporters following the Flyers’ 2-1 loss to the Penguins that while he was pulling Cooke off teammate Scott Hartnell, Cooke bit his finger.
Here is Asham’s account:There was a scrum, I grabbed him. There were two guys on Harts and my glove got tangled in his mouth and he bit me, so I lost it.
It’s not bad, but he’s a gutless guy. I have no respect for him at all. I lined up against him and asked him to fight and he didn’t want to. If you go and bite someone … I just have no use for him.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Arron+Asham, Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke Gets Two Game Suspension
by Paul on 11/29/09 at 06:49 PM ET
Comments (4)
from NHL.com,
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended for two games, without pay, as the result of a deliberate check to the head area of New York Rangers forward Artem Anisimov, the League announced Sunday.
Cooke delivered the hit Saturday during the third period of the Penguins’ 8-3 win over the Rangers at Mellon Arena. He was assessed a minor penalty for interference. Anisimov did not return to the game.
After Cooke served the two minutes, Donald Brashear of the Rangers attempted to engage him in a fight, but the officials stepped in between the two and Brashear was assessed a double minor for roughing.
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Tags: Matt+Cooke,
The Handshake Tradition
by Alanah McGinley on 06/12/09 at 04:18 PM ET
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From Chris Johnston at the CP:
“When you lose a series, the last thing you want to do is congratulate the other team or wish them good luck,” said veteran Detroit forward Kirk Maltby. “But it’s kind of the nature of the beast. It’s just part of our sport and something that’s carried over.
“I think it’s one of the few things that we do that maybe other sports don’t.”
Cooke can think of at least one where it does.
“You can go to one of the roughest games that’s out there in rugby and they do it after every game,” he said. “And most times they’re going for beers after with each other.
“They put their egos aside and know that they’re out there trying to win. That’s what it’s about.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: kirk+maltby, matt+cooke,
Home Team Gets The Calls
by Paul on 06/03/09 at 07:50 AM ET
Comments (10)
from David Staples of The Cult Of Hockey,
In Detroit, the referees favoured the Red Wings with a few crucial calls. But in the NHL, turnabout is fairplay and it’s expected. Pittsburgh would get its turn.
You see, there was no conspiracy at the NHL head office to favour the Red Wings. No, all there was at play was the very real human emotions of NHL referees, not wanting to incite the wrath of the most rabid of all fans, hometown fans during a Stanley Cup final….
There’s no doubt in my mind that the Pittsburgh Penguins got away with a few in the third period against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, in Pittsburgh’s 4-2 win.
Most outrageous was a late elbow by agitator Matt Cooke to the head of Red Wings hustler Darren Helm. It was a typical Matt Cooke nasty, sneaky late hit special, the kind of late hit that the NHL should outlaw.
Right now, of course, the lateness of this hit wouldn’t get Cooke a penalty, though that elbow certainly should have.
read on with picture evidence of the Cooke hit…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Cooke Hit On Cole
by Paul on 05/19/09 at 06:46 AM ET
Comments (12)
from Luke DeCock of the News & Observer,
The Hurricanes lost Erik Cole midway through the third period after Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke caught him knee-on-knee in front of the Pittsburgh net. Cole played only one shift after that, and an angry Paul Maurice wasn’t happy about the hit afterward.
Asked if he thought it was a knee-on-knee hit, with the implication that it was an illegal one, a curt Maurice said, “Yes, I did. I felt that was, yeah.”
Cole officially has a “lower body” injury, but he clearly hurt his left knee in the collision. Cooke said the contact was accidental.
“He was cutting across the middle,” Cooke said. “I turned sideways to hit him, and he turned the other way. I almost fell over, too.”
continued and watch the hit (1:15 mark) within the video highlights below…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Carolina Hurricanes, Pittsburgh Penguins | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Erik+Cole, Matt+Cooke,
Matt Cooke Hit On Zach Bogosian
by Paul on 03/17/09 at 09:36 PM ET
Comments (16)
The Thrashers Zach Bogosian left the game in the 2nd period and did not return after injuring his left knee on a hit by the Penguins Matt Cooke.
About 2/3 of the way into the video, you will see the video in slow motion.
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Tags: Matt+Cooke, Zach+Bogosian,
Matt Cooke Suspended Two Games
by Paul on 01/27/09 at 04:55 PM ET
Comments (6)
via TSN,
Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward Matt Cooke has been suspended two games for a hit to the head of Carolina Hurricanes’ forward Scott Walker.
added 5:47pm, Official Release
TORONTO (January 27, 2009) – Pittsburgh Penguins forward Matt Cooke has been suspended for two games, without pay, as a result of a blow delivered to the head of Carolina forward Scott Walker during NHL Game #687, Jan. 20 against the Carolina Hurricanes, the National Hockey League announced.
Cooke was assessed a minor penalty for interference against Scott Walker at 12:58 of the first period. Walker left the game and did not return.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Cooke will forfeit $12,903.23. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Cooke will miss games against the New York Rangers on Jan. 28 and New Jersey on Jan. 30. He will be eligible to return Jan. 31 at Toronto.
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Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Cooke Fined For Hit On Lecavalier
by Paul on 04/04/08 at 05:36 PM ET
Comments (12)
from Lightning Strikes,
Washington’s Matt Cooke, who’s hit on Vinny Lecavalier caused the Lightning star’s shoulder injury, was fined Friday $2,500 by the league. There was no suspension. The league decided Cooke’s open-ice hit on Lecavalier, who was not carrying the puck, should have been an interference call.
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Tags: Matt+Cooke,
Good Trades
by Alanah McGinley on 03/18/08 at 11:54 AM ET
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From Tarik El-Bashir at the Washington Post,
Trading for “Huet was the easiest decision because he played really well for a few years,” McPhee said. “It’s worked out the way we had hoped. He’s playing well and Olie is better rested and playing really well, too.
“We couldn’t be more impressed with how [Fedorov has] handled this situation,” he added. “How great he’s been with our young players, and how well he’s played. And Cooke is playing better than he played in Vancouver.”
more… *requires registration (free)
Filed in: NHL Teams, Washington Capitals | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: cristobal+huet, george+mcphee, matt+cooke, sergei+fedorov,
Keenan On Langkow Hit
by Paul on 11/10/07 at 10:48 AM ET
Comments (3)
from Canada.com,
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Calgary Flames coach Mike Keenan didn’t exactly leap to the defence of his injured centre Daymond Langkow on Friday….
“I looked at the tape again today,” said Keenan. “I know Matt Cooke, I coached him, he’s a little bit of a hunter, and you know he’s out there, you know he’s coming at you, and you know he’s going to body you.
“But he didn’t leave his feet. He hit him hard into the boards; at the same time, you have a responsibility to know that players like that are out there. It’s a fine line between playing the game hard; he cracked him good, and Daymond maybe should have positioned himself in a more protective manner so he wouldn’t have had the whiplash effect against the glass.”
more NHL talk including Bouillon explaining his hit on Aaron Ward…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Calgary Flames | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: calgary+flames, daymond+langkow, matt+cooke, mike+keenan,
