Matt Cooke Is Suspended

Pittsburgh Penguins' forward Matt Cooke, who has twelve goals and thirty points this season, has been suspended for an elbow-to-the-head hit on New York Rangers' forward Ryan McDonagh. Cooke is suspended for the rest of the season, which is currently ten games, and the first playoff round. If the Penguins don’t make the second round, you can go ahead and say Cooke was suspended for the rest of the season and playoffs.

Cooke has a reputation of being an agitator; he once said in an interview with HBO, for the 24/7 special back in December, "I like to think there is no easy ice when I’m out there. If that makes me an agitator, then so be it." This suspension will count as Cooke’s fifth.

But perhaps Cooke’s most famous controversy was that of March of last year. Cooke delivered an un-suspecting head shot to Boston Bruins centre, Marc Savard. Savard suffered a Grade 2 concussion on that hit and missed two months of the season. Cooke received no suspension or even penalty for that hit.

Watching these hits online, I’ve admitted that yes, Matt Cooke is a repeat offender and deserves what he’s getting. I do hope that he learns his lesson. This season there has been far too many hits. Whether or not they are dirty, is up to you to decide. But hockey is a rough sport and if you watch a single game, you’ll realize that players get shoved into the boards many times. Although Cooke’s hit was not a shove into the boards, I just thought I’d remind you all.

Matt Cooke was suspended for ten games. If the Penguins make it to seven games in the first round, that will count for a number of seventeen games. The last time I checked, Ryan McDonagh was not said to be missing any games. So was the suspension necessary or is the NHL actually starting to do something about head-shots? Remember that Zdeno Chara was not suspended for his nasty hit -in my opinion- on Max Pacioretty, who was knocked out, taken to the hospital, diagnosed with a non-displaced fractured fourth vertebrae and a concussion. Pacioretty will most likely not return this season. Neither will David Steckel or Victor Hedman, who were suspended for their hits on Sidney Crosby. Although, I don’t think I would suspend Victor Hedman, he’s the cutest thing I ever seen. I’d also like to remind you that Zdeno Chara is also a repeat offender.

Some NHL players have spoken out on this situation, including Detroit Red Wings centre, Henrik Zetterberg. He said, "I don’t think that he should play anymore this year."

Brad Marchand, a Boston Bruins winger who just completed a two game suspension for his elbow-to-the-head hit on an opposing player, 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 centre. 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 Marc Savard. He could have easily hurt McDonagh."

I suppose a lengthy suspension in the NHL is just like a spanking when your a child It will most likely teach you a lesson. I do hope Cooke has learned his lesson because the Penguins are missing enough players. The fact that he’s going to be gone, well, it's disappointing.

I suppose this suspension also proves who the real leaders of the Penguins are. I cannot say that Matt Cooke is one of them any more. You can tell who the real leaders are because, even in tough situations like these, they haven’t made bad decisions like Cooke did. If Cooke hadn’t have made that hit, the Penguins probably would have won their game yesterday. The Rangers had the 5 on 3 advantage due to penalties, and they scored two goals in about ten seconds.

This is bittersweet for me and probably for the Penguins too. The bitterness is Cooke’s suspension, and the sweetness is the fact that the NHL is finally stepping up to the plate. Unfortunately, they still should have done it a long time ago.