Milbury's Turn

[B21]

Not to be outdone by Jack Edward's, Mike Milbury decides he is not getting enough attention so cue the Matt Cooke rant...

By Allan Muir

Now that Alex Ovechkin is back in his good graces, NBC Sports analyst Mike Milbury has a new target: Pittsburgh forward Matt Cooke.

Milbury struggled to find the right words to describe his disdain for the edgy forward ahead of tonight’s game between the Pens and Sens. He did not have any trouble describing what he’d like to see, though.

“Should I try putrid? Cowardly? Because this guy’s a skunk, he’s a freakin’ skunk!” Milbury stammered. “I think somebody ought to set him straight and I hope it’s Ottawa tonight but if it doesn’t, I don’t care who it is.”

“They might have to do something, just like the rest of the league,” he continued.

Milbury acknowledged that Cooke had reformed his act somewhat after his vicious hit ended the career of Boston’s Marc Savard, but his game seems to be trending back towards the grey area after his hit on Erik Karlsson left the Ottawa defender with a sliced Achilles’ tendon. Case in point: his questionable hit on Boston’s Adam McQuaid on Saturday afternoon.

“That’s either a charley horse if you’re lucky or a knee [injury] if you’re not,” Milbury said of that collision. “It’s gutless and it should be out of the game.”

It’s been a banner week for Cooke haters. Boston announcer Jack Edwards was forced to apologize after comparing Cooke to Robert Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan during Saturday’s broadcast.

I half expected him to segue into Bager Bob's "goonism" in the 1991 Conference Finals. I mean...that was only 22 years ago.

It's been 2 years, Mike. Cooke did the crime and then did the time and has been good ever since. STFU already.

Paging Don Cherry? Tortsies? Roenick? Did I forget any other blowhards who crave attention?

Edited April 23, 2013 by B21

[flyerrod]

Cooke will go several games playing solid clean hockey but he still has a penchant for the cheap hit if he thinks he can get away with it. The last thing the league needs is for Cooke or someone like him to get credit for being a clean player. I will readily admit he has cleaned up his act dramatically but he still takes the opportunity for the cheap shot whenever he thinks he can get away with it. I would compare him to Jordin Tootoo.

[B21]

Cooke will go several games playing solid clean hockey but he still has a penchant for the cheap hit if he thinks he can get away with it. The last thing the league needs is for Cooke or someone like him to get credit for being a clean player. I will readily admit he has cleaned up his act dramatically but he still takes the opportunity for the cheap shot whenever he thinks he can get away with it. I would compare him to Jordin Tootoo.

Cheap hits like...?? This alleged hit on McQuaid that no one seemed to "notice" until it appeared in a Milbury rant??? Christ, even Jack Edwards left that one alone.

No one is saying Cooke is a clean player. Just that he's cleaned up his act which apparently drives Milbury nuts. It's been two seasons now (knock on wood). At some point even the haters have to acknowledge this.

[nossagog]

Mibury's a tool. Sometimes he goes off and you wonder what he's thinking. Yes, Cooke has a dark past. But what's his point here, does he want hip checks out of the game, because that's all this was. I wonder if he'll go off on Sergei Gonchar for his hip check on Dustin Jeffery last night, he was actually alot lower that Cooke was on the McQuaid hit, and in the same area of the ice.

[flyercanuck]

@nossagog

Wait a minute...Gonchar hit?

[Polaris922]

Mail bury is, was, and always will be a tool. Cooke deserves praise for cleaning up his act. Now he's just the gritty, hard nosed on the edge guy we'd hoped he'd become. Nothing dirty about the accident with Karlsson or the hip check on McQuaid.

[nossagog]

@nossagog

Wait a minute...Gonchar hit?

SOrry, let me rephrase, Gonchar slipped on the ice, and ended up off balance hitting an opposing player low, looking very much similar to a hip check.

Edited April 23, 2013 by nossagog

[flyercanuck]

@nossagog

Ok that sounds more realistic.

[flyerrod]

I will readily admit he has cleaned up his act dramatically

What part of that statement passed you by? Yes he has been playing cleaner than he has in the past but I am not ready to put him up for the Bill Masterson trophy...

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

I can think of plenty of names that would be in front of Matt Cooke (even on his own team) that would be more deserving of that award.....

[B21]

@nossagog

Wait a minute...Gonchar hit?

What...you didn't hear? Cal Clutternuts. Wild. Back in 2008. I'm sure your recall OddManRush bringing that up a few times.

[B21]

Mail bury is, was, and always will be a tool.

I have a garage full of tools that you just made very upset with that comment.

[B21]

What part of that statement passed you by? Yes he has been playing cleaner than he has in the past but I am not ready to put him up for the Bill Masterson trophy...

The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

I can think of plenty of names that would be in front of Matt Cooke (even on his own team) that would be more deserving of that award.....

Nothing. What did I say to make you think otherwise? "At some point even the haters have to acknowledge this." wasn't directed at you.

As for the Masterton, it's evolved to become more about "perserverance and dedication" than "sportsmanship". That's what the Lady Byng is for.

Graves won in 2001. I recall him two-handing Lemieux with his stick breaking Mario's wrist (and being suspended). I'm sure it was conincidence that Mario was knocked out for the rest of that playoff series. Pacioretty won in 2012....the same season he was suspended 3 games for a head shot on Letang.

In the last 20 years there have been only two winners (Graves in 2001 and Yzerman in 2003) who won because of something other than coming back from a career threatening injury or disease. Not that Cooke did...but I'm not going to act like this award is all about sportsmanship and he was not worthy of a nomination. It was a nice way to recognize how he changed his playing style. He was never going to win.

[flyerrod]

"At some point even the haters have to acknowledge this."

I am a card carrying member of said club...

[B21]

I am a card carrying member of said club...

I'm assuming Milbury is "Chairman" and Cherry is "Blowhard Emeritus" with Gene Melnyk pegged to succeed Milbury when his term us up?

[mojo1917]

Cheap hits like...?? This alleged hit on McQuaid that no one seemed to "notice" until it appeared in a Milbury rant??? Christ, even Jack Edwards left that one alone.

No one is saying Cooke is a clean player. Just that he's cleaned up his act which apparently drives Milbury nuts. It's been two seasons now (knock on wood). At some point even the haters have to acknowledge this.

sadly, once a person views a another person a certain way it is very difficult to change the first person's thinking.

this is why so many people cannot accept that Joe Paterno didn't do what was right in regards to Jerry Sandusky, it is why Snoop Lion will always be Snoop Dog to many.

Cooke may be the most professional , fair-minded player in the league but because he spent so much time acting like a douche nozzle it will be hard for people to make the switch and acknowledge it in their minds.

[B21]

sadly, once a person views a another person a certain way it is very difficult to change the first person's thinking.

this is why so many people cannot accept that Joe Paterno didn't do what was right in regards to Jerry Sandusky, it is why Snoop Lion will always be Snoop Dog to many.

Cooke may be the most professional , fair-minded player in the league but because he spent so much time acting like a douche nozzle it will be hard for people to make the switch and acknowledge it in their minds.

Fair. Heck - even deserved. But a natural point to argue for those of us who follow the Flightless Birds.

[mojo1917]

@B21

i thought his hit on Karlsson was weird, awkward and still can't determine if it was intentionally dirty, but because of his track record it makes it a shorter throw.

i still don't know why he went in to him with his leg up ... just a weird awkward and unfortunate play.

[flyercanuck]

sadly, once a person views a another person a certain way it is very difficult to change the first person's thinking.

this is why so many people cannot accept that Joe Paterno didn't do what was right in regards to Jerry Sandusky, it is why Snoop Lion will always be Snoop Dog to many.

Cooke may be the most professional , fair-minded player in the league but because he spent so much time acting like a douche nozzle it will be hard for people to make the switch and acknowledge it in their minds.

Snoop Lion?!? Is that fo' shizzle? Can't say I got the memo on that one.

[mojo1917]

@flyercanuck

yeah FC he's now officially Snoop Lion, changed his name to show his commitment to his newly discovered Rastafarian religious views.

[flyercanuck]

@mojo1917

Rastafarian as in I pray that "I smoke a ton of weed?"

[Polaris922]

Mil-bu-ry = hy-po-crite

[DaGreatGazoo]

@B21

i thought his hit on Karlsson was weird, awkward and still can't determine if it was intentionally dirty, but because of his track record it makes it a shorter throw.

i still don't know why he went in to him with his leg up ... just a weird awkward and unfortunate play.

IMO..I've seen players make that hit where the use their leg to 'wrap" the opponents leg, while using their upper body to check. It's hard to explain...without it sound like a dirty hit. Basically, the lower body wraps up while the upper body drives the players towards to boards/glass. To me, that's what Cooke was trying to do, but his leg ended up coming down on Eriksson's leg, not pushing his legs into the boards. Like I said, I know the hit I'm trying to explain in a very poor manner. But I'm not talking about a slewfoot.

I am not a Cooke apologist, but there was nothing dirty about that hit. It was a crappy outcome of a hockey play. Pure and simple.

I must now go shower with lye and a wool brush to scrub the dirty off me for defending Matt Cooke.

[mojo1917]

DGG

I know this play you cannot describe, usually the players are much closer to the boards when they make the " Cooke " move. Was he unsure of his position on the ice? It was awkward, I wonder if he was disoriented for a moment . It was the worst possible result.

Either way I'm no fan . I

[DaGreatGazoo]

@mojo1917

Not a fan either...not many players have the infamous line of "I ended a player's career" on their resume. That being said, I am shocked at how he's changed his game the last 2 years...not many players have made such a dramatic turnaround in their style of play, that I can remember.

It would be like Lemieux turning into a tough guy and fighting his own battles, or clawing thru the obstruction/holding, rather than whining about it in the media.

Sorry guys...I couldn't resist the last comment. I TRIED not to write it, it just came flowing out of the keyboard.

[nossagog]

@mojo1917

Not a fan either...not many players have the infamous line of "I ended a player's career" on their resume. That being said, I am shocked at how he's changed his game the last 2 years...not many players have made such a dramatic turnaround in their style of play, that I can remember.

It would be like Lemieux turning into a tough guy and fighting his own battles, or clawing thru the obstruction/holding, rather than whining about it in the media.

Sorry guys...I couldn't resist the last comment. I TRIED not to write it, it just came flowing out of the keyboard.

That's okay, no need to apoligize, I'm sure it makes you feel better after that earlier statement, we wouldn't want you to be sick on your keyboard..

I have my own love hate relationshiop with Cooke, as he is a Pen. I will call it as I see it, and on the Savard hit, I called it, it was dirty. I don't care whether it was within the "rules at the time". Its still dirty. But Savard DID come back from that hit. He played again. So the lable of a "career ender" is a little harsh. Did he contribute? Sure, but he did not end Savard's career. That would be like if Crosby got another concussion and had to retire, can we say that Stekel ended his career with that hit in the winter classic?