Cooke-ie monster faces suspension

Unfortunately, one of the headlines that has hockey fans fired up is the hit Matt Cooke delivered to Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie in Monday’s game. Cooke received a minor kneeing penalty and will have an in-person hearing at NHL headquarters today. He faces a suspension that could exceed five games.

After the hit, Barrie skated gingerly off the ice and headed right to the dressing room. He’s out four to six weeks with an MCL injury.

The Wild signed the veteran Cooke to a three-year deal last summer. Avid hockey fans know that he has a reputation, and it’s not for his skating or scoring abilities. He’s a very physical player who many would classify as a goon.

I’ll admit, I was one of them. (I have a blog entry to prove it.)

I was disappointed when I heard Cooke was going to put on a Wild sweater this season. He’s known as a dirty player who’s delivered some nasty hits resulting in some devastating injuries. I didn’t want that kind of player on the team I cheer for all season.

But Cooke hasn’t been suspended since March 2011. Since then, he wanted to make it clear that he had changed his ways. I was skeptical at first, and Cooke proved me wrong throughout this season.

Those dirty hits I was almost waiting for didn’t seem to happen. In fact, Cooke turned into an offensive spark at times. He has 10 goals and 19 assists this season.

Everything changed, of course, with the hit on Barrie. I had a hard time finding my objectivity on this one, because now he’s a Wild player and my home team won the game.

Here’s my take: I did not see the hit as a dirty one with intent to injure. Barrie saw Cooke coming toward him and tried to avoid the contact. For whatever reason, Barrie’s left leg was the one sticking out at the time of the hit. It didn’t look intentional.

Of course, if the roles were reversed, I would probably be very upset if a Wild player was sidelined with an MCL injury.

Update: Cooke was suspended for seven games, starting with Thursday's game four. The suspension will carry over to next year's regular season if it cannot be fully served in the playoffs.