Comments on: Could Matt Cooke be the poster boy for player safety?

By: carol6645

carol6645 — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 02:24:25 +0000

Matt Cooke is working hard to change what hockey has expected from him-hard, dirty hits! Unlike many others he is working at it with help from others. He is literally being retrained. I am proud of him as a Penguins fan. The team shines and Matt Cooke shines as a productive player! Love the clean, real hockey he is playing!! Let’s see how other dirty players do in comparison. I hope more follow Cooke’s lead!

By: danphipps01

danphipps01 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:26:10 +0000

Meh. I said it in the pre-season discussions of what Shanny’s new rule would mean – guys like Carcillo and Cooke would have to heave back on the reins if they intended to play more than twenty games this season, and so far, both have. It seems like the guys with a penchant for dirty play in their histories have played the season thus far with great caution, and the results have been pretty cool – the two players I mentioned have turned into significant point producers on their teams and gone a long way to demonstrate additional skillsets beyond “Be a fucking jackass.”

Obviously, we’re not even a quarter of the season in here. Plenty of time. Even Cooke generally only makes one major cheap shot a season, so the window is vast – but I like what I’ve seen so far. I’ll reserve judgment one way or the other until season’s end. It does seem like he’s committed to the game so far, but it only takes one lapse of control and it’ll be the wrath of Brendan Shanahan upon him.

By: rainyday56

rainyday56 — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:05:04 +0000

30 hours of video eh? Wonder if they had ol’ Cookie strapped to chair with his eyes forced open to watch it like in Kubrick’s “A Clockwork Orange”? … cool!

By: charlutes

charlutes — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:42:23 +0000

Cooke has thrown multiple cheap shots, far worse than anything anyone did to Sidney Crosby. He’s ended a career from an elbow to the head. I’m supposed to praise this guy for not doing it in the first 15 games this season? Absolute popycock. This is a prime example of how screwy the perception of “dirty players” and illegal hits is warped. There’s no real consensus on what is legal, what is a head shot etc. We see it every time anyone gets injured, there’s always a big argument about who’s to blame because of how rediculously vague the NHL rules are. Cooke is a half decent player who has no problem ruining other players lives when he feels like he wants to. Ill wait until his next elbowing incident to drop the I told you so.