No suspension for Cooke
It’s the news the Bruins feared would come and might be a shock to those who actually witnessed the incident, but it’s hardly a surprise for anyone familiar with the warped world of NHL discipline.
Matt Cooke will not be suspended. Not for a single game.
While Bruins center Marc Savard may miss the rest of the season, and the Bruins might miss the playoffs as a result, the Penguins head-hunter won’t miss a shift or see a single dollar lifted from his wallet for his brutal, cowardly blindside hit to Savard’s head on Sunday.
So much for Claude Julien’s decision to “let the league take care of it and hopefully make the right decision here.” Were those two points really (that the Bruins didn’t even get) worth not making a statement and standing up for Savard on Sunday really worth it? The only good news is that this decision means Cooke will be eligible to play next Thursday in Boston. But after their disgusting display in Sunday’s closing minutes, how can anybody have any confidence that the Bruins will actually attempt any payback? And if they do, you can be sure the league will issue suspensions for that.
The NHL has yet to officially announce its decision, but TSN has reported that Cooke has escaped punishment for his blatant cheap shot. TSN reported that league senior vice president Colin Campbell explained his decision as being based on consistency involving similar incidents. The prime example was Mike Richard’s hit on David Booth earlier this year that knocked Booth out for 45 games and cost him a shot at playing in the Olympics. Richards was not suspended for that hit.
The only problem with the NHL applying the consistency standard to this decision is the fact that Campbell has never consistently ruled on any discipline matters. The league’s double standards are legendary. That’s especially true in this case, as Cooke himself was suspended twice for almost identical hits, getting two-game bans in January 2009 for a blind-side hit to the head of Carolina’s Scott Walker and again for a similar headshot to the Rangers’ Artem Anisimov last November.
Adding some salt to the wound is the fact that the league’s GM unanimously approved a new rule recommendation at their annual meetings today that would outlaw exactly the kind of hit Cooke put on Savard. If approved by the competition committee and board of governors the rule change will go into effect next season. Maybe by then Savard’s headaches will have ceased and he can open his eyes around bright lights again.
I’d say maybe someday the league would open its eyes toward protecting its employees, but I know better than to expect that to ever happen as long as Campbell and Co. are making the calls.
