Cooke Suspended For Season + First Round Of Playoffs

Added on Mar 22, 2011 by J Merrill in

NHL

Not many people predicted that Matt Cooke’s penalty would be this severe, but one thing is for certain, the NHL sent a very clear message about how they will treat repeat offenders with regards to head hits. The NHL handed the Pittsburgh Penguins left wing a suspension that will leave him off the bench through out the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for elbowing defenseman Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers in the head. The suspension is another setback for a team that has been without Crosby for two months and has lost Evgeni Malkin (knee) for the rest of the season. Crosby is skating, but there isn’t a timetable for his return to the lineup.

Cooke is the definition of a repeat offender, and his hit on McDonagh was the exact type of play the NHL is trying to avoid. This is Cooke’s fifth suspension and the fourth since he signed with the Penguins in 2008, and one of those came last month when he was suspended for four games for hitting Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin from behind.

NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell released the statement informing the media the decision, and why they came to the conclusion they did. The statement said “Mr. Cooke, a repeat offender, directly and unnecessarily targeted the head of an opponent who was in an unsuspecting and vulnerable position. 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 told the media that he accepts the penalty, and he now realizes he needs to make changes to the way he approaches the game. Cooke said “I realize and understand, more so now than ever, that I need to change. That’s what I wanted my message to be. I’m fortunate that Ryan McDonagh wasn’t hurt. I don’t want to hurt anybody. That’s not my intention. I know that I can be better. I made a mistake, and I’m the one who’s accountable for that. And I take full responsibility for it.”

Penguins general manager Ray Shero was in full support of the penalty handed down to Cooke. He said “The suspension was warranted because that’s exactly the kind of hit we’re trying to get out of the game. Head shots have no place in hockey. We’ve told Matt in no uncertain terms that this kind of action on the ice is unacceptable and cannot happen. Head shots must be dealt with severely, and the Pittsburgh Penguins support the NHL in sending this very strong message.”

Shero also said that they currently didn’t feel the need to cut Cooke from the organization, and that they would rather try to help the situation by standing by Cooke. He said “I’d prefer to be part of the solution to rehabbing him as a player as opposed to making the decision to toss him overboard to be somebody else’s problem and say, ‘We did our part.’ He’s a value to our team when he plays hockey. For him to stay in the league and be a player in this league, he’s going to have to do that.”

Late in the season last year Cooke hit Boston Bruin Marc Savard with a blindside hit, and the play lead to the NHL banning blindside hits. Savard was sidelined with a severe concussion for two months, and suffered from post-concussion syndrome over the summer. The hit caused an uproar when it was decided that Cooke wouldn’t be suspended for the play. Recently,the rising rate of concussions in the NHL has the league on high alert and was the biggest topic of conversation at last week’s general managers meetings.

Fellow Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand said before the penalty was handed down by the NHL that it was time to do something about Cooke before someone gets severely injured again. He said “I think it’s about time he gets suspended. He needs to be taught a lesson. He’s doing that stuff left, right and center. I expect he’ll get a bunch of games. He’s got to be taught a lesson. He can’t be running around doing that stuff all the time. He’s going to seriously hurt someone again — look at Savvy. He could have easily hurt McDonagh.”