Public Menace Matt Cooke Faces Lengthy Suspension For Dirty Hit—Or Does He?

Matt Cooke is pictured shortly after signing with the Wilde as a free agent in July 2013

On Monday the Minnesota Wild’s Matt Cooke outraged many, but surprised none, when he took out Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie with a dirty knee-to-knee hit. Barrie was able to leave the ice on his own accord, but he was knocked out of the game and will miss at least a month.

As he left the ice, perhaps for the final time this season, Tyson Barrie told his teammates, “I’m done.”

[Click here to watch video of the ugly hit]

Don’t let that congenial demeanor and playful nickname (Cookie Monster) fool you—one part of Cooke’s nickname is especially siting to him, and it’s not the cookie part. His smile may look friendly, but those missing teeth are a constant reminder that this guy that he’s not nearly as nice as he looks.

And he doesn’t look all that nice.

The truth is, Cooke is a public menace who endangers the health of any player not wearing a matching jersey each and every time he climbs off the bench and takes the ice. Though a suspension for the hit on Barrie is still forthcoming, there’s no question that he’ll be handed the seventh one of his career on Wednesday when the NHL’s department of player safety meets in New York.

As is league policy for players facing the possibility of more than six games, Cooke is afforded the right to attend the hearing in person, should he choose to do so. This doesn’t mean he’s guaranteed six or more games, but with Cooke’s sordid history and publicly sentiment staunchly against him, it’s hard to imagine he’ll receive anything less.

Hard to imagine, but apparently possible. Though it’s not a popular opinion, there have been some hockey writers making the case, begrudgingly so, that Cooke isn’t technically a repeat offender—at least not under the letter of the NHL law.

Apparently, under the current CBA, a player’s slate gets wiped clean every 18 months. Cooke has kept his nose relatively clean since 2011, which is where the technically part comes into play. And that means there’s at least a small chance he could skate with a much shorter suspension.

But just to be clear, public sentiment is against him. The headlines on Tuesday ran the gamut from outraged and disgusted to resigned and indignant. For example:

• Toronto Star: It’s the Matt Cooke Show again
• CBC.ca: Throw the book at Matt Cooke
• Edmonton Journal: Matt Cooke claims yet another victim
• Denver Post: Dirty Matt Cooke knows exactly what he’s doing for Wild

The fact that he only received a two-minute minor, when a five-minute major was clearly warranted, for the hit on Barrie certainly isn’t helping matters either. When Cooke was first signed by the Wild he joked to the Star Tribune that “a lot of times [he] get[s] two minutes just for being Matt Cooke,” referring to his notorious reputation.

As is the case in most sports, players in the NHL generally keep their mouths shut about each other off the ice, but at least one spoke up after the game. Avs veteran Max Talbot, who actually played alongside Cooke with the Pittsburgh Penguins, clearly feels no loyalty to his former teammate.

Said Talbot, “Does he really need to do these nasty, dirty hits? … He’s been in that mode since Game 1. He has been chippy with his stick, going in, slashing guys and, you know, being dirty … We all know who he is; we all know what type of player he is.”

The Wild haven’t been tripping over themselves to defend Cooke either. When asked about the hit after the game, Minnesota coach Mike Yeo actually claimed he didn’t see it—seriously. Now if you’re thinking in this day and age that’s impossible, you’re absolutely right.

Colorado’s coach, Patrick Roy, on the other hand, didn’t mysteriously miss seeing the hit that resulted in the loss of his best defenseman. Roy expressed confidence in the league, saying “they will make the correct call” in disciplining Cooke for what he called “the play of the game.”

Hopefully he’s right, but most of us don’t share his confidence in NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, who almost never makes the right call about anything. Either way, we’ll find out Wednesday.