canadianguy77
Registered User
- Apr 20, 2006
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Is Cooke Back to Being a **** Disturber?
- Thread starter canadianguy77
- Start date
He seems to be playing a bit more physical. I didn't really care for the stupid penalty he took though.
#66
Registered User
Yep he's finishing every hit and seems to be walking the line better. There are ways to annoy without getting dirty. I don't even mind a dirty play if the game call for it. FE: If PK wants to step on people... pool que him in the temple coming up ice.
I wouldn't say back to being a **** disturber...at least not yet.
Cooke is an agitator and while I wouldn't say that I'd want him to bring the "dirty" edge back to his game, it would be nice if he played a little more physically again. And over the course of these first 2 games he seems to be doing just that. Part of what makes him such a great third liner, is his physical play. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't have to be recklessly dirty, but at the same time he shouldn't have to play soft as a kitten either. Hopefully he can find a nice balance again. While yes it was nice to see that he had changed last year, I think part of the problem was that he had changed his game a bit too much (partly due to fear I'd imagine)...and was being too soft as a result.
Of course even with that, I'd imagine it's tough for him to gauge the factor of "how much grit to play with is too much." Obviously he has a reputation (and he knows it) so even if he wants to play with a bit more grit again this season, guys are still going to be looking to make him out to be Jack the Ripper on skates and are gonna wanna try and draw every penalty they can on him. Simply because of who he is. Yet if he continues to play with the same dare I say "neutered" lack of physicality as he did last year, he loses his effectiveness.
In a way he can't win.
Cooke is an agitator and while I wouldn't say that I'd want him to bring the "dirty" edge back to his game, it would be nice if he played a little more physically again. And over the course of these first 2 games he seems to be doing just that. Part of what makes him such a great third liner, is his physical play. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't have to be recklessly dirty, but at the same time he shouldn't have to play soft as a kitten either. Hopefully he can find a nice balance again. While yes it was nice to see that he had changed last year, I think part of the problem was that he had changed his game a bit too much (partly due to fear I'd imagine)...and was being too soft as a result.
Of course even with that, I'd imagine it's tough for him to gauge the factor of "how much grit to play with is too much." Obviously he has a reputation (and he knows it) so even if he wants to play with a bit more grit again this season, guys are still going to be looking to make him out to be Jack the Ripper on skates and are gonna wanna try and draw every penalty they can on him. Simply because of who he is. Yet if he continues to play with the same dare I say "neutered" lack of physicality as he did last year, he loses his effectiveness.
In a way he can't win.
What I like about Cooke, he is the only guy in a team who plays with the smile on his face. Obviously, he enjoys the game. That's good.
Le Magnifique 66
Let's Go Pens
I hope he becomes a **** disturber again, we need someone like that. But nothing stupid or dirty, just play physical and bust other players balls and well get plenty of pp chances as result
JQR
Clearly it's Lovejoy
- Jan 25, 2012
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Cooke had 160 hits in 82 games last season, down from 192 in 67 games the previous season. The first two games this season he had some pretty awesome hits, tallying 8 between the two games, and getting a single penalty for something non-hit related (dumb penalty to take).
Glass has 7 hits, Kunitz has 6, and Adams has 5 so far.
It looks more to me like the Penguins as a whole will be pushing for more physical play.
Glass has 7 hits, Kunitz has 6, and Adams has 5 so far.
It looks more to me like the Penguins as a whole will be pushing for more physical play.
JTG
Registered User
- Sep 30, 2007
- 50,426
- 5,697
I was not a proponent of re-signing Mike Rupp, especially at the salary he got, but ever since he left, I think we could use another guy just like him. It never failed when the guy hit the ice, he'd come on like a bat out of hell and just start running guys through the boards. He could change moment and give the team a spark. I'm hoping Cooke and Glass can bring that type of spark.
MtlPenFan
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- Apr 14, 2010
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Good.
Hopefully this is the year that we go back to playing true "Penguins Hockey."
Yup.
People can talk about d-zone play and breakouts until they're blue in the face, but that's the one thing lacking since the Cup win that I find unforgivable.
I don't think people remember how brutish the Pens were physically during that run. They were almost openly trying to hurt guys, but since then it's a far friendlier version on the forecheck that we've seen.
I agree.
During our '09 Cup run we truly had that "seek and destroy" mentality. It was awesome.
Hopefully we really go back to grinding *****es down night in night out. Enough with being 'soff.
Til the End of Time
Registered User
very true.
i specifically remember cooke targeting datysuk (returning from injury) with several questionable (honestly they were dirty) hits when he returned to the lineup in the '09 finals. remember one where he knocked datysuk's helmet off. that's the kind of stuff the pens need to do. rough up stars, target vulnerable players, etc.
but yes, no head shots.
#66
Registered User
It was there in 08 too. I'll go to my grave saying the Pens would have won that cup if they were allowed to punish that Wings D on the end boards. You had Max, Roo, BGL, Roberts and Malone falling back into the trap... c'mon.
I really miss that perfect mix of MT and Disco's systems.
MtlPenFan
Registered User
- Apr 14, 2010
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I've rewatched those '09 games so often I've almost memorized every incident.
Game 1 against Philly: Kunitz, fresh of the birth of his kid, injures Timonnen on the very first shift of the series when Timonnen tries to avoid the freight train. He was gimpy the rest of the series. Later on in the game there's a sequence where Staal and Adams go to town on all 5 Philly skaters.
Game 3: Everyone remembers Kunitz almost killing Timmonen.
Caps Series: Cooke took every opportunity to run over Mike Green on every retrieval.
Carolina Series: Cooke essentially injures Eric Cole and Ruutu in the same period with borderline dirty hits.
After "The Geno" goal in game two, Adams goes after Gleason on 3 different occasions on the same shift, getting LaRose so flustered he goes after Adams and crosschecks him from behind.
Game 3: The game's been salted away, and for the fun of it, Geno goes after Matt Cullen with a hit so hard, Cullen's skate comes up and catches Geno in the face.
Game 4: Scott Walker starts misbehaving, and Jordan smokes him in the corner.
Detroit Series:
Cooke and Orpik go after Helm during game 3, with Jim Hughson of the CBC asking "How does Helm keep getting up after getting blasted like that?"
Game 4: Never have I seen Lidstrom get hit so many times.
Game 6: Cooke hits Datsyuk so hard his helmet flies off. Zetterberg tries to do something about it, and Cooke crosschecks him in the ribs, and Zetterberg winces as he goes back to the bench.
There's also a shift early in the game where the strange line of Geno, Duper, and Feds, each take turns one upping each other as they try to put the Wings defense into the upper stands.
All I remember from the Kings run last year is thinking "That's how we used to play"
MonsterSurge
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- Nov 14, 2011
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Darth Vitale
Dark Matter
I knew he'd eventually get back to being a **** stirrer, just not a cheap shot guy anymore. Takes time to remold your game and the way you hit, so that you can do it aggressively without getting into trouble. Last year was basically a re-training year for him. Now that he's more comfortable with how and when to hit guys, he can start adding back some of the more annoying traits of his game in order to fully accommodate the opposition. 
JQR
Clearly it's Lovejoy
- Jan 25, 2012
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There's a Cooke thread on the main boards and someone linked a video montage of Cooke's "dirty" hits. In a lot of those hits, he was just so haphazard and sloppy. Lining up for the hit, you could see he had tunnel vision and he was going to land a big hit regardless.
The new Cooke is so much more calculated with his hits, and he seems to have so much more awareness of other things that are going on. He isn't playing with that reckless abandon, he is hitting when he needs to hit, grinding when he needs to grind, shooting when he needs to shoot and looking for guys to make plays when it's appropriate. He really does look like a different player out there.
The new Cooke is so much more calculated with his hits, and he seems to have so much more awareness of other things that are going on. He isn't playing with that reckless abandon, he is hitting when he needs to hit, grinding when he needs to grind, shooting when he needs to shoot and looking for guys to make plays when it's appropriate. He really does look like a different player out there.
Darth Vitale
Dark Matter
He is a different player. A better / more valuable one IMO. A Matt Cooke who picks his spots, picks when he's going to lay the smack down or be a agitator, is much more effective on the whole than reckless Matt Cooke.
aSockalypse
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- Feb 9, 2011
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As long as he stays under control and continues to eliminate the "dirty" reputation he has had for so long, i love his physicality. Need him doing that to stay true to his role.
Just no more Savard incidents please
Just no more Savard incidents please
You can get under people's skin & hit without being as dirty as he was.
He should be a bit of a ********, but just not how he was before.
He should be a bit of a ********, but just not how he was before.
