Well, first off, I am done attempting to write anything positive related to the health of this team, or a lineup that is getting stronger. Two days and one game after I wrote about the glut of forwards the Penguins are getting back, a key component to the grit factor, and more importantly to the league's best PK is now gone for the remainder of the season(10 games), and the first round of the playoffs to boot. This is not the first time that this kind of sequence has occurred this year. Well on to the main subject, all of the Penguins and Matt Cooke haters are hurting themselves patting Colin Campbell on the back for finally "getting it right!" Well, I have made no secret that I am not sure that Campbell even rises to the level of a shitcrumb stuck in the asshairs of life, and this decision has not changed that thought in any way. It has solidified it. I have no issue with hitting Matt Cooke with a 10 game suspension for his hit on Ryan McDonagh. Cooke is considered a repeat offender, and the hit could have resulted in a serious injury. It did not result in any injury though, and despite the fact that this SHOULD NOT MATTER, the fact remains that in the kangaroo court aka Colin's World of Justice in the NHL it always HAS factored in. A lack of injury has always mitigated the penalty, and a major injury has generally increased the sentence. If you buy into the theory that a playoff game suspension is the equivalent of two regular season games as many do, then Cooke's suspension is up to 24 games! Some will say that Cooke was the unfortunate first customer in a brave new world where the NHL is finally going to send a message to players who target the head, and if that is the case I can accept this suspension. If Alex Ovechkin elbows someone in the head tomorrow, or Jarkko Rutuu, or late in the season, Chris Pronger does it, and they recieve a 10-24 game suspension, then I applaud the harshness of this decision. It will then appear to be the league taking a stance on dangerous head shots. But we all know that this will not happen, even to other "repeat" offenders. No, in the Garage League known as the NHL, we will soon see that this was nothing more than an idiot who is in a position so far beyond his intellectual capacity getting a shot at sending a message to a player he does not like much. Even more so for the cement head to punish that "arrogant frog who dared to speak out about his ineptitude." I have no doubt in my mind that this is not the first step in actually getting it right in this league. Just look to the Gilles decision, the Chara decision, the Marchand decision, the Heatley decision, the Lucic decision. Also note that three of those involve the Bruins, where Campbell's son plays. The Bruins cannot afford to lose any of those guys during this stretch. On tonight's broadcast the VS crew showed Justin Abdelkader of the Wings taking a blatant elbow to the head, not once but by two different players on the same shift. No call, no league review. Really? Those guys who delivered those blows, one was Martin Erat, do not wear the Black and Las Vegas Gold. Again, make no mistake about my position. The Cooke hit intentional or not was dangerous, and I expected and agree with the 10 games, as that would have been at least somewhat consistent with the suspension given to Gilles. The first Gilles hit and subsequent taunting only drew 9 games, remember that......and Gilles is AT LEAST every bit the repeat offender Matt Cooke is, and nowhere near the actual hockey player. In fact, Gilles is an assclown with no place at all in the league. . His subsequent hit just 1:51 of ice time after returning from the Tangradi suspension, drew 10 games. In other words both of Gilles hits COMBINED got less than the actual value of Cooke's latest hit! It will be tough to convince me that this Cooke decision was not typical NHL schoolyard justice. Cooke loses $219,000 for the 10 games he misses, and the Pens lose a KEY component to the most consistently strong element of their game for the stretch and one round of the playoffs, the penalty kill. Despite the fact that a guy like Asham could probably spell Cooke fairly well in 5 on 5 situations, do not underestimate the impact his absence could have on the penalty kill. If you combine that with the missing offensive weapons, Campbell's axe to grind with Mario just dealt a significant blow to the Penguins playoff chances. Adding the entire first round of the playoffs to the suspensions was pure BS. On another note, Mark Madden is railing against the suspension also based on the fact that the NHL GM's chose not to ban head shots in their recent GM meetings, and I have to disagree with that logic. He is implying that the league must not care about head shots enough to ban them, but I am not sure about buying into the Madden mania. I am a big fan of Matt Cooke's so take my opinion within that context, but again, I was not shocked about 8-10 games for the hit, intentional or not. The speed of the game is a factor here, and the time players have to make decisions at a high speed is minimal. The additional playoff sentence carrying a value of 14 MORE crucial games put the sentence into the BS category for me, and perpetuates the Garage League status of the NHL.
**** As I am typing this I got a text that Ray Shero issued a statement siding with the NHL for their decision, but I suspect that is because they realize that in this Kangaroo Court, speaking out against the Kangaroo gets you kicked in the nuts. Speaking of which, what number does junior shitcrumb wear again? Maybe we will see junior in the playoffs, and send daddy our own message!
Anyway, sorry for the rambling style of this post, but what else would you expect? I find myself wondering a bit what this incident has done to Cooke's long term status as a Penguin. Hey, he is a key element to this team, and if you don't think so, remember Shero locked Cooke up with a three year deal for 1.8M per year. He NEVER gives third liners in this age bracket three years. We lost Ruutu a couple of years ago based soley on Shero's unwillingness to give him a third year. Giving Cooke that third year speaks volumes about what the organization THOUGHT of him. What we don't know is what they THINK of him now. He has been as advertised on the penalty kill, can deliver big clean hits when necessary, is a forechecking demon who fits in Bylsma's "Let's grind these bitches down" system, and has a knack for scoring some big time goals. However, to make a play like the play he just made the week after the SI article and the GM meetings to discuss eliminating this kind of hit may have put a favorite player of mine in a precarious position as a Penguin. After Lemieux made the statement he made about the league missing the boat on the situation in Long Island, I am certain he was not expecting to have one of his players involved in a significant incident involving a shot to the head. The taste of the shit Lemieux is now eating publicly won't be swallowed easily. I read that Lemeiux gave Cooke the "our way or the highway" speech this afternoon. I don't know if that is true or not, but questions are being asked by the media and fans. Will the Penguins view Cooke as a guy who has now learned a lesson who is too valuable to give up on? Or will they view the 1.8M per year they pay him as more than enough to go out and acquire the grit without the risk? Do they feel that Cooke's prescence causes them undue harshness from the league when their other players are involved in physical incidents, or a lack of protection from the same? My business is in no way on the level of an NHL franchise, so don't take this statement in a negative light, but I can recall several situations where we had to give up on talented managers or other employees, as the downside risk they posed with their lack of judgement scared me more than their upside excited me despite several counseling sessions. We also have at least one person whose talent and abilities helped them survive a series of situations that involved poor judgement and we have been amply rewarded for that patience over time. In my educated opinion Matt Cooke would be an example of the latter. He is a player who has been asked and paid to play "on the line" for many years in the NHL. He has made a great living for his beautiful family as a result. When you play anything "on the line" it is easier to CROSS that line than it might be for those who play nowhere near the line. Arguably, Matt Cooke in playing on the line over the years has also crossed the line at times, as most people "on the line" inevitably do at times. I firmly believe that now that it is deemed as the issue that it is, a man as intelligent as Matt Cooke can make the adjustments necessary to remain a key member of this Penguins team. I would have Matt Cooke riding shotgun with me any time, and I am betting the Penguins will make the same decision. I for one hope so, and that the hyprocrisy of the media, opposing fans, and especially the league dies down.
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