Well, it’s better than nothing, but the two-game suspension issued the Penguins’ Matt Cooke for his deliberate blow to Artem Anisimov’s head in Pittsburgh on Saturday night sends no message at all that the NHL is prepared to get serious with what has become an epidemic of head shots.
Cooke therefore will not be in the lineup tonight when the Penguins come to the Garden to conclude the home-and-home that began with a humbling 8-3 defeat at the Igloo.
NHL vice president Colin Campbell’s leniency is all the more remarkable in light of the fact that Cooke was suspended for two games last for the exact same act, a blow to the head of Carolina’s Scott Walker.
Imagine if Cook hadn’t been a repeat offender as defined by the CBA. The league might have awarded him the Hart Trophy.
The blow delivered at 7:39 of the third period of what was then a 6-3 game by Cooke, long regarded as one of the league’s most malicious hit men, caught Anisimov completely unaware. He was knocked to the ice, his helmet coming loose. After a few moments Anisimov was able to skate to the bench, where he remained for the duration of the match. He is not believed to have suffered a concussion.
Cooke was somehow assessed only a two-minute minor for interference on the play by the officiating tandem of David Banfield and Stephen Walkom, the latter of whom served as the NHL VP of Officiating the past several seasons before returning to the ice this season.
Donald Brashear sought retribution upon Cooke’s release from the penalty box, but was prevented from doing so by an over-eager linesman. As a result, Brashear was issued a double minor for roughing while Cooke escaped unscathed. The Penguins then scored on both ends of the power play.
That scenario prompted head coach John Tortorella to call for either modification or abolition of the instigator rule, though Ryan Callahan engaged Cooke in an energetic bout of light-middleweights later in the period.