NHL 2010-2011

[tho0505]

I could've sworn that Lindstrom won the initial puck toss.

It looked to me like they spun the pick to give the 1st. pick to Staal so he could get his goalie.

Very good idea by the NHL. It brings back memories of pick-up games.

Yeah it was, brought me back as well. The only thing cooler was if threw sticks in the middle!

[Smoggy]

My cousin from Los Angeles called today saying what a cool idea this was and how him and his buddies checked it out last night and they aren't hockey people.

[Ray77]

I lost a lot of respect for Rick DiPietro last night. Not that I condone Brent Johnson's reaction to DiPietro's thuggery, but that was straight-up cheap. I think fines and suspensions are in order.

Ugly incident from last night's Pens game

So predictable. I saw that DaveK had a reply on this thread and knew EXACTLY what he was going to be commenting about. As a matter of fact, before reading his comments I could have almost told you word for word what he had typed.

[redwing77]

Why would the league suspend DiPietro?

He got into a goaltender fight with Johnson, it looked like Johnson only got one punch in and now DiPietro has a broken bone in his face and a swollen knee. IR here he comes again.

No suspension necessary. The guy is made of glass.

As for DaveK and his assertions on the Pens... meh. I don't look to Dave for objective commentary on hockey... ESPECIALLY if one of the parties involved wears a Penguins sweater.

But, yeah, DiPietro did commit a rather cheap fine.

More to the point though....

Last night in the Lightning vs. Caps tilt, Lightning Goaltender Rolison and Caps forward Hendricks got into a kurfuffle when Hendricks "Fell" onto Dwayne while Dwayne was down. It was the best staged fall I've seen in quite some time. And what was amazing is that Hendricks has a future in the WWE as he dropped The Rock's "People's Elbow" to Rolison's head. It luckily was a glancing blow and not a big deal, but.... Rolison got called as did Hendricks. Sorry, folks. 4 on 4 was no the right call. It should have gone like this:

TB Roloson 2 MIN ROUGHING

WAS Hendricks 2 MIN GOALTENDER INTERFERENCE

WAS Hendricks 2 MIN Contact to the Head Elbowing

TB Powerplay

[soohockey15]

Here's Matt Cooke doing a bunch of Matt Cooke things:

My link

[redwing77]

Pens leading 2-0, Isles pull DiPietro for the extra attacker, Pens score the empty net goal to make it 3-0, then DiPietro re-enters the game and commits the clasless act. The game is over, no need to hit anybody in the head with your blocker/stick (it happens at the 0:56 mark). The league should have a no tolerance policy agianst that kind of garbage. As for objectivity, Brent Johnson should be fined and suspended as well. What he did to DiPietro was disgusting, regardless of what DiPietro had just done seconds earlier. There's no place in the game for that crap, and it makes no differene to me if the offending party wears a Penguins jersey or the jersey of any other team. I call them as I see them.

Now go ahead and tell me again about how unobjective you think I am when it comes to the Penguins. Sheesh!!!

It's ok to condemn a backup goaltender.

I'm waiting for the condemnation of Matt Cooke, the tsk tsking of Crosby's crybaby attitude, and the pointing of fingers towards players of more than "medium" importance.

[Goon]

Pens leading 2-0, Isles pull DiPietro for the extra attacker, Pens score the empty net goal to make it 3-0, then DiPietro re-enters the game and commits the clasless act. The game is over, no need to hit anybody in the head with your blocker/stick (it happens at the 0:56 mark). The league should have a no tolerance policy agianst that kind of garbage. As for objectivity, Brent Johnson should be fined and suspended as well. What he did to DiPietro was disgusting, regardless of what DiPietro had just done seconds earlier. There's no place in the game for that crap, and it makes no differene to me if the offending party wears a Penguins jersey or the jersey of any other team. I call them as I see them.

Now go ahead and tell me again about how unobjective you think I am when it comes to the Penguins. Sheesh!!!

If anything if DiPetro is going to hit that gutless P.O.S. puke Matt Cooke with his blocker at least hit him harder and make it hurt. That was an excuse me punch. Thank God Cooke has finally been suspended by the league again.

[soohockey15]

I find it hilarious how some people are constantly crying like little girls about big bad Matt Cooke. Those who don't like his style of play are free to watch women's hockey if they can't handle the rough stuff.

If you don't like fighting in the NHL, you are free to watch women's hockey.

[soohockey15]

But fighting is not part of the game. It happens after the whistle when the clock is stopped. The rough stuff that happens while the clock is running and the puck is in play is in fact part of the game. You're making an apples to oranges comparison. As soon as Matt Cooke hits somebody with one of his trademark vicious hits AFTER the whistle, then and only then will you have a legitimate gripe.

So here's what DaveK constitutes as good, clean play:

Running around the ice headhunting and taking guys' knees out; intentional attempts to injure the other guy.

"Rough" stuff that has no place in the NHL:

Two guys, both of whom are agreeing to go at it, going at it. Perfectly within the rules.

It makes my brain hurt wondering how you're fine with the way Cooke plays while also being so vehemently against fighting.

[choyt3]

Wonder what DaveK's opinion is of Victor Hedman since he hit Crosby "between the whistles".

Malkin's injury was a fluke, though.

[redwing77]

Funny, DaveK....

I'm not a big fighting guy but I'd rather have fighting around and eliminate cheap shots than shrug off cheap shots and do away with fighting.

So I guess you can condemn Engeland all you want and covet Matt Cooke. That's your choice.

The rest of the hockey world (outside of Pens fans) will condemn Matt Cooke and turn a blind eye to Engeland (or however you spell it).

[redwing77]

Excellent!!! Engelland is a piece of garbage and a disgrace to the Penguins logo in my opinion. Can we finally agree to disagree and stop with the constsnt bickering? I don't mean you in particular, redwing77, that goes for everybody who likes fighting but not the Matt Cooke type hits. I won't try to convert anybody to my way of thinking and I would expect the same common courtesy in return. fair enough?

Doesn't much bother me who you like or dislike.

I'm just not going to sit here and listen to people justify Matt Cooke's playing style. You can instigate and be a menace on the ice without headhunting, going after the knees, or delivering cheap shots. I despise Sean Avery, but I must admit that he's found a way to do that.

Dustin Byfuglien did it so well last year in the playoffs that the Canucks spent all game chasing him instead of playing hockey and lost because of it. Tomas Holmstrom has done well at it in the past.

On the Pens, Rupp can do that (or I saw him do it while with the Devils). So can Kunitz. Matt Cooke isn't playing the game in a sportsmanlike manner. He is a danger on the ice. The league won't take action other than the barest necessary.

One of these days, I fear that Cooke is going to whallop a player and he's never going to get up. That poor player will end up rooming with Steve Moore or Travis Roy... Matt Cooke may not deserve the same rep as Todd Bertuzzi, but he certainly belongs in the same conversation as Steve Downie and Marty McSorley.

[soohockey15]

Okay then, in the spirit of this last post...

It doesn't much bother ME who YOU like or dislike but I'm not going to just sit here and listen to people condemn Matt Cooke's playing style and refer to it as "headhunting", "going after the knees", or "delivering cheap shots" when in fact I see it as trying to make a play. I believe that Matt's reputation far exceeds the reality of what he actually is. I think the only reason why he has that reputation is because unfortunately there are some gullable people out there who will believe anything that blowhard Don Cherry tells them to believe. Matt Cooke is a fan favorite in Pittsburgh, by the way.

There were multiple examples of Cooke going out of his way in an attempt to injure after the player had played the puck. The Savard hit is sickening, as are his repeated attempts to take out players' knees. I guess trying to injure a player (and justifying it by saying he's making a play on the puck) who isn't looking is just fine, but a line somewhere is crossed when two consenting players drop the gloves. The amount of hypocrisy in your argument is incredible.

[tho0505]

Pens' Cooke gives Unity teen boost in struggle to walk

What a big meanie, that Matt Cooke. He probably kills puppies and kittens just for the fun of it. He's such a mean-spirited, cold-blooded evil person (or so the zealots would like us to believe).

Now watch for the predictable spin from the hate mongers in 3, 2, 1...

Love this. What a goon he is. Clubs baby seals?

[Ray77]

Pens' Cooke gives Unity teen boost in struggle to walk

What a big meanie, that Matt Cooke. He probably kills puppies and kittens just for the fun of it. He's such a mean-spirited, cold-blooded evil person (or so the zealots would like us to believe).

Now watch for the predictable spin from the hate mongers in 3, 2, 1...

Spin from the hate mongers, eh? Dave, you're so classic. I suppose all these meanies that play for other teams and add no value to the game of hockey by fighting don't do any charity work. You find an article about Cooke reaching out and helping a kid in the Pittsburgh area and that somehow erases his on-ice character (or lack thereof). You don't think there are kids that love Georges Laraque, David Clarkson, Shawn Thornton, etc.? Don't get me wrong - it's great to see Cooke and other players doing this kind of work, but it doesn't change that he's a douschebag on the ice.

Just like it's cool that you're a Sioux fan and all, but that doesn't change that you're a...ahhh, screw it...never mind.

[Ray77]

Good read in case you haven't seen it.

Only 'failure' here is Lemieux's message

[Goon]

I find it hilarious how some people are constantly crying like little girls about big bad Matt Cooke. Those who don't like his style of play are free to watch women's hockey if they can't handle the rough stuff.

Like I said earlier Matt Cooke is a P.O.S. that will some day get what is coming to him, the hockey gods will see to it. Live by the sword, die by the sword... Cooke is as big a P.O.S. as ulfie was... Ironic that two of the top ten most hated hockey players of all time are from Cindy Crosby's team.

[Goon]

This is a perfect example of the over the top crusading that I made reference to in a previous post. Matt Cooke is NOT some mean-spirited evil person with a strong desire to make other human beings suffer horrific injuries. Goon and others may wish to make him out to be that, but he is not. He's just a hockey player. Get over it. Stop this infantile witchhunt and try to be rational for once in your life, Goon.

Again, Cooke is a fan favorite in Pittsburgh (as was Ulfie). If they played for the Bruins instead of the Penguins (or if you were a Pens fan instead of a Bruins fan) you would have a completely different attitude. Your reaction to and opinions about players depend ENTIRELY on what jersey they're wearing. A Bruin and a Penguin can do the same exact thing and it's okay only when the Bruin does it. You're the worst offender I have ever met or encountered when it comes to double standards. You hate the Pens, I get it. Now get over it already and stop being such a bitter whiny little crybaby.

Awww, I'm just spinning my wheels here. can't reason with somebody who is unreasonable. Sorry, Goon. Carry on spewing your irrational and misdirected hatred. I respect your right to have an opinion, and your opinion means nothing to me. So why should I waste my time arguing with you, right? Agree to disagree. I know I keep saying that, but we really should follow through one of these times.

Just think many NHL Hockey fans out side of the delusional Pens fans feel the same way that I do, I don't know two non-Pens fans that like that P.O.S. Matt Cooke, if his career ended tomorrow most of us would cheer.

[sprig]

Uh-huh, and that tells me all that I need to know about you and what kind of person you are. Carry on, Goon, I'll try to stay on the high road from now on.

Not sure how you determine the "kind of person" one is from an opinion on Cooke, but it would appear from this thread that it is you vs. everyone else here.

[Ray77]

So who has more credibility in the world of hockey, Scott Burnside or Mario Lemieux? Yeah, that's what I thought. Super Mario's rant was spot-on, Burnside just made a fool out of himself with that column.

Obviously Mario has a lot of credibility in the world of hockey, and I'll be the first to admit that I don't always agree with or like Scott Burnside's writing, but this article was spot on. And in reading it, I don't think that Burnside completely disagrees with Mario on getting after the league a bit, having a good debate on fighting and discipline in the league, but the way Mario did it was terrible. Hard to argue the following points:

Lemieux apparently didn't mind the state of the game so much when Matt Cooke, a player his Penguins signed to a new contract this past summer, put Marc Savard's career in jeopardy last season with a blindside check a thousand times worse than the one that recently felled Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby.

And Lemieux must have been too busy working on his short game last week to defend the game he loves when Cooke was suspended again, this time for four games, for drilling Columbus defenseman Fedor Tyutin headfirst into the boards.

What actions is he talking about? Fighting? His team leads the NHL in major penalties by a wide margin. The Penguins also lead the league in penalty minutes per game. Still, sure enough, folks rushed to laud Lemieux for being brave, for telling it like it is, for standing up and laying a wallop on the NHL.

It's more than a little rich that Lemieux is threatening to walk away from the game now that he's got a shiny new arena and presumably all the millions he was owed all those years back when he hated the game but saved the team in Pittsburgh nonetheless. Was this even Lemieux's doing, this "statement," or did it come from somewhere else in the posh offices at Consol Energy Center? Regardless, the statement has Lemieux's name attached to it and he must wear it.

[Goon]

Not sure how you determine the "kind of person" one is from an opinion on Cooke, but it would appear from this thread that it is you vs. everyone else here.

Actually, it's the same silly argument but Dave has pitched me a softball with this moronic statement, “Matt Cooke is NOT some mean-spirited evil person with a strong desire to make other human beings suffer horrific injuries.” Yeah, oh, ah wait a minute… Unfortunately my work server won't allow me to post a hit parade of Matt Cooke performing his acts of head shots and kneeing fouls. I guess Pens fans really don’t get it, their favorite hack skates all over the ice taking liberties with other teams skilled players, ala Marc Savard and then looks shocked when someone wants to beat the tar out of him for his egregious acts of violence. In fact he was ranked 7th dirtiest in the NHL...

7) Matt Cooke(Pittsburgh Penguins)

Summing up Cooke perfectly are the following three words: hit and run. His preferred M.O. is taking a stab at someone and then fleeing the scene before they can get their hands on him. Also, he cherishes the sight of officials stepping in between the two. While Cooke isn’t the most threatening guy to look out for, his cowards way out routine gets annoying.

References: Derek Boogaard (shove and run), Chris Osgood (kick), Zach Bogosian (knee on knee).

Don Cherry Sums it up best in the coaches corner.

J.R. Sums it up best by calling Matt Cooke a Chicken $HIT...

Edited February 17, 2011 by Goon

[Goon]

It's not his opinion of Cooke (who is not the monster he makes him out to be) but rather the fact that he said he would applaud a career-ending injury. What kind of person would do that? That's absolutely sickening beyond belief.

Some day Cooke will get what is coming to him... When you skate up and down the ice kneeing people and going for their heads trying to hurt other players eventually some day someone is going to collect on a bill that has come due. Eventually, someone is going to catch Cooke in the open with his head down and someone is going to burry him... Let's just say I am not going to feel sorry for the disgusting piece of crap. I am sure many Bruins fans will also not feel sorry for him either...

[Snake]

Uh-huh, and that tells me all that I need to know about you and what kind of person you are. Carry on, Goon, I'll try to stay on the high road from now on.

So you can make assumptions about Goon based on his posts, but one can't make assumptions about Cooke based on his actions on the ice?

[Goon]

Goon can make all the assumptions he wants to make. They may be wrong, but that doesn`t mean he isn`t entitled to them. So Goon thinks Matt Cooke is a "disgusting piece of crap" because of the way he plays hockey. Fair enough, I suppose... but maybe somebody else out there might think Goon is a "disgusting piece of crap" because of the constant over the top hateful propaganda that he spews repeatedly. He comes off as an incredibly disturbed individual with some deep resentment issues. He talks about a hockey player as if he`s the equivalent of Charles Manson, Adolf Hitler, and Jeffrey Dahmer all rolled into one. He`s just a hockey player, nothing to get so worked up over. May I suggest psychiatric therapy?

I find it disturbing that you're not disgusted by Matt Cookes antics on the ice and condone them, that to me is more disturbing... There were a few of Cooke teammates that were disgusted with his antics after Cooked tried to end Savards career with a bush league hit.

Guerin expected Cooke to be suspended.

"If a guy gets hurt like that with a shot to the head, there's got to be something," Guerin said. "Actions happen. Guys don't mean to hurt each other, but they do. You got to pay a price for that."

Guerin said players must know they can play the game with protection against hits to the head, especially those that a player can't see coming.

"We're all under the same umbrella, whether the guy's on my team and I'm sitting right next to him or he's playing in California," Guerin said. "It doesn't matter. We're all playing in the same league. We all want the same safety. We all want to be looked after the same way. I understand [Cooke] is on my team but, hey, he's in a tough spot."

[Goon]

Guys don't mean to hurt each other. You don't get that part of it. You say that Cooke's intent was to injure Savard, but the game moves so fast that it is impossible to judge intent. You might think you know what his intent was but the fact of the matter is that you do not know. You don't have a clue. Again, you talk about this guy the way people talk about rapists and murderers. He's just a hockey player, settle down. To say you're being a bit over the top and melodramatic would be a gross understatement.

Doesn't mean to hurt anyone. Watch this video this pretty much explains it. [click to view] I agree with Ken Daneyko said that there should be an open season on Matt Cooke. That is an awesome idea.

Edit Here is the Video that I was talking about

Edited February 18, 2011 by Goon