By now, we have all seen the Matt Cooke hit on New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh.
The NHL responded by handing out a minimum 14-game suspension (10 regular season games followed by up to seven games in the first round of the playoffs) to Cooke for what is widely regarded as one of the ugliest hits in all of hockey: The head shot.
Cooke intentionally caught McDonagh in the head with an elbow. Try as he might to excuse his actions or suggest that the incident was an accident, the video shows that Cooke intentionally targeted McDonagh’s head.
Cooke’s undisciplined actions could have cost McDonagh his career or worse yet, his mobility or even his life.
While the suspension seems to be to the liking of many hockey fans, players and management types, there are still questions as to why it took so long for the NHL to suspend a player with Cooke’s reputation?
God knows everyone within NHL circles knew that it was only a matter of time before Cooke did “this” to somebody. The question is, if we all knew Cooke was a ticking time bomb, why was he afforded the opportunity to continue his NHL caree ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Ritter
Matt Cooke’s Hit: Where Does The NHL Go From Here?
March 22nd, 2011 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
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