It's writers like Brennan we should be worried about, not Cooke.

I, myself, am tired of hearing about whether or not Matt Cooke intended to injure one of Ottawa Senators' star defensemen, Erik Karlsson when his blade cut Karlsson's left achilles or whether or not he should have been suspended. I'll admit, it was a weird hit, one that we will rarely see, but that does not make the act intentional. I full-heartedly agree with the decision not to suspend Cooke because I truly believe it was an accident, just like most Pens fans and also a number of others associated with the game of hockey.

I was not going to discuss the matter because it was getting enough attention as is, but an article was brought to my attention and it was disgraceful to read. Don Brennan wrote an article for the Ottawa Sun saying that Cooke must pay for his actions and since he was dealt no suspension, Brennan is calling on a player or someone to make him pay and if it is not taken care of before, then one of the Ottawa Senators' players should take care of it when the Pens meet them next on April 22nd.

The article can be found by clicking on the title of this particular blog post or copying and pasting this URL: http://www.ottawasun.com/2013/02/14/pittsburgh-penguins-forward-matt-cooke-must-pay-for-cutting-erik-karlsson


Brennan mentions that he never believed any of the stories of how Cooke transformed his game and says, "Once a dirty player, always a dirty player."
Now, to be quite honest, when Cooke was a dirty player, I did not care for him all that much. At times, his carelessness made me rather upset and embarrassed that he was a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Therefore, when I heard that Cooke made the choice to be a more responsible player, to be a more valuable player for the Pens and a person his children could be proud of, I was quite eager to see the change. And as Pens fans, we witnessed that change first hand last season.
Perhaps the reason why Brennan doesn't believe Cooke is a reformed player is because he rarely saw him play and only saw replayed footage of the dirty hits he had delivered and is still focusing solely on the negative aspects of Cooke's career. Pens' fans know that Cooke is not the dirty player he once was and we are well aware of how beneficial he is to our team. We see this in every game Cooke plays.

It is not Brennan's opinion on whether or not Cooke should have been suspended that bothers me, it is the way that Brennan says things such as, "Matt Cooke must pay. Somehow. Somewhere. At the hands of someone. The guy is a Devil disguised in Penguin clothes."
Retaliation is a common thing in sports. Especially when a star player is injured and out of the lineup for any given time at the hands of another player. That is why we saw what Chris Neil did to Matt Cooke shortly after the injury on Karlsson. Players stick up for their teammates. It is to be expected. Neil took it a little too far in the game in my opinion, but I expected something to happen.

Now, Neil went after Cooke for the Karlsson injury, the league has ruled no suspension because they believe it was an accident. While it is an unfortunate situation and I was sad to see it happen and hope for a full recovery for Karlsson, it is time to move on. The fact that Brennan says Cooke must pay at the hands of someone makes me believe that it is people like Brennan the world should be worried about and not Matt Cooke.

Also, Brennan says that this injury has hurt the game of hockey because this will affect attendance in areas that need any advantage they can get; markets such as the Islanders, the Lightning and the Panthers, to use the examples Brennan supplied. Yes, Karlsson is a reason many hockey fans would come to see a game, but let's be honest here. These markets struggle because they don't have the strongest fan base and some don't have the best product to put on the ice. Knowledgeable hockey fans in Floirda may be more willing to buy tickets to a home game against the Ottawa Senators because of Karlsson but I am not sure that the fan base in Florida has that many people who are aware of high-caliber players such as Karlsson. What I am saying is that while the attendance for a game in Florida against the Senators may be a little higher, we are not talking about a saving grace in terms of ticket sales. Let's face it, hockey doesn't do all that well in Florida. I'm not saying there's no hope for Florida to turn that around sometime in the future, but there's a slim chance of it ever happening, a very slim chance.

Well, I digress. All in all, I find it disgraceful that as a professional writer, Brennan has written such hateful and vengeful things towards a player. Noting how Cooke and this injury have hurt the game of hockey, while I believe that hockey writers like Brennan, that bring hatred and vengance towards a player into their writing about hockey, is also doing a disservice to the fine sport of hockey. Some hockey fans don't like to see the "ugly" side of the game, let's hope those fans don't read this ugly article and decide that a game with such hateful writers (and if they believe what they read, such dirty players) is not worth their time or money. Let's really hope they're not from Florida.

Pens host Senators tonight.

It appears that looking on the bright side is already paying off. What was being reported as a broken foot for James Neal appears to be a bruise that will not get any worse apparently with playing and will heal rather quickly. Here is what coach Bylsma had to say on the injury:

"The first preliminary tests after the game indicated a fracture in his navicular area, a tough bone and tough place to heal. Further tests, an MRI done yesterday showed that what he had was a pre-existing condition. Possibly having done it as a small kid. It showed up as a crack on the X-Ray, but the MRI showed it is not a break. He does have a bone bruise and it’s a play as pain permits injury for James. That’s why we saw James Neal on the ice today.
Over time it will get better. He’s fine and able to go. He was pretty relieved to find out the news. With just a bone bruise, he should be healing as days go by." - pittsburghpenguins.com



The good news doesn't stop there either. Craig Adams is expected to play tonight as well.

Paul Martin is a game time decision for tonight's game due to illness and as a precaution, the Pens have called up Simon Despres.


Even with the good news for the Pens, they still have a tough challenge tonight against the Ottawa Senators. The Senators are 5-0-1 in their last 6 games and have moved up in the standings to 5th place in the Eastern Conference. The Pens are on their 4 game losing skid and are looking to rebound to gain some points and some spots up the Eastern Conference ladder. Brent Johnson is in goal for the Pens tonight. He has struggled a bit this season and needs to get back to his form from last season where he was a splendid back-up goalie who sometimes stole the show when he was in net. The Pens know they have to play better in order to gain some points. I'll be happy with a good, full 60 minutes of play with some consistency and great goaltending. Also, Tangradi was called up and I would really like to see him step into the offense for the big club.

Our positive thinking has already given us some good news on the injury front, now, let's hope some more positive thinking will earn us the 2 points we desperately need.

Pens blow the Sabres away!

I apologize for not posting in a few days, but it is that time of year when one can become quite busy.

After a tough loss to Ottawa, the Pens needed a strong game, a game with some goal scoring and great work on the power play and most of all, a win.

The Pens got exactly that in their 8-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night. It was a night of juggling goaltenders for the Sabres but neither goaltender in any of their attempts could stop the Pens Saturday night. They were determined and focused and it translated into scoring 8 goals. Now the Pens will have to ride that momentum into their game tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks at Consol Energy Center.



Next,...

We are all well aware of the injuries that have been plaguing the Pens this season and the Pens' website has a new way of looking at the injuries and putting them into a different perspective: The salary cap effect. The Pens spend pretty close to the cap limit almost every season since the salary cap has been put in place and this season was certianly no exception.
Just from recent games, the Pens are missing around $28 million of player salary from the lineup. Our lineup Saturday would have a salary hit of a little under $39 million, that's a lot under the salary cap of $64.3 million and even under the cap floor, the minimum each team has to pay, of $48.3 million. Shows how many of our top players are missing from the lineup, as if we needed any other reminders.

For the rest of the article by Sam Kasan: http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=607234&navid=DL|PIT|home